Professional battery tester

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by *something ridiculous ?:
Ted, it must be your magic pixels again ......

lightlover<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

quoted for saying nothing! this must be a cpf first, they're sure to renew my zen license for this one..

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Empath:
A very good clue would to be separate settings for the different sizes of 1.5V batteries. Different sizes should test under different loads. More separate settings would be indicative of a greater concern for accuracy.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
..which I found out when I tried using the DM that worked fine on aa cells, to test a mercury button cell that had been running my cat's transmitter just fine for longer than the others; it read ''00" -- anyone know of a good button cell
(under load) tester?

 

[vcal]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ted the Led:

Originally posted by *something ridiculous ?:
[qb

quoted for saying nothing! this must be a cpf first, they're sure to renew my zen license for this

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> ''00" -- anyone know of a good button cell
(under load) tester?

Ted-all you need to test button cells is any meter that provides a 1mA load @ 1.5v.
-Btw, out of curiosity, what load value does your Craftsman DMM provide for testing your AAs?

 

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[/QUOTE]
Ted-all you need to test button cells is any meter that provides a 1mA load @ 1.5v.
-Btw, out of curiosity, what load value does your Craftsman DMM provide for testing your AAs?

[/QB][/QUOTE]
I don't know. I'll see if I can scare up the Craftsman manual tomorrow..how would I go about supplying a 1 ma load for the button cell? A resistor? What size? Without load the DM says the (must be nearly exhausted) button cell is 1.59 volts; good as new, but we know better...

 

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the Sears Craftsman 82-026 DM has two battery test positions, 1.5 and 9 volts...

 

[vcal]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ted the Led:
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Ted-all you need to test button cells is any meter that provides a 1mA load @ 1.5v.
-Btw, out of curiosity, what load value does your Craftsman DMM provide for testing your AAs?

[/QUOTE]
I don't know. I'll see if I can scare up the Craftsman manual tomorrow..how would I go about supplying a 1 ma load for the button cell? A resistor? What size? Without load the DM says the (must be nearly exhausted) button cell is 1.59 volts; good as new, but we know better...[/QB][/QUOTE]

Info you didn't ask for, but 99.999% of all the DMMs I've seen (w/batt.test feature) will test 1.5v @ 1mA and 9v. @ 10mA.
-You also have a very interesting meter....one that measures 1.59v for a mercury cell?!?

Incidentally, that cheap $15. analog meter that R.S. sells lets you choose between 1mA load for button cells, and 150mA load for AAs, AAAs, Cs, etc...

 

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by vcal:
Info you didn't ask for, but 99.999% of all the DMMs I've seen (w/batt.test feature) will test 1.5v @ 1mA and 9v. @ 10mA.
-You also have a very interesting meter....one that measures 1.59v for a mercury cell?!?

Incidentally, that cheap $15. analog meter that R.S. sells lets you choose between 1mA load for button cells, and 150mA load for AAs, AAAs, Cs, etc...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
oops my error, it's not a mercury cell it's a Radio Shack 393 silver-oxide..I re-measured two batteries, one old, one new, on each of three meters. Here are the results:
Beckman HD-110 old; 1.592v /new;1.609v
Centech old; 1.60v / new; 1.61v
Sears (using volt reading,not battery test)
old; 1.568v / new; 1.588v
Sears (using battery test feature);
old;1.180v and dropping fast! / new; 1.332
...I think what I did wrong when I got the zero measurement was, I grabbed the leads from a different meter

-- or-- I forgot to switch the leads on the Sears to the test position (there is a separate hole) when using the test position on the dial...but I got it right this time, I think...

 

[txwest]

This thread would probably fit better in the battery forum, but it seems to me, if someone had a list of what would be the correct resistance load for each size battery, a tester could be made with an inexpensive digital volt/ohm meter & a variable resistor. TX

 

[lightlover]

Please pardon my puzzlement, but is an oscilloscope any use for battery testing ?

I've been offered a good chance of one, but don't know what kind it is.

lightlover

 

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yes, Larry;                  
the Sears Craftsman 82-026 DM has two battery test positions, 1.5 and 9 volts...readings out to THREE decimal places...
and yes it tests under load, and, only $13 more than the tester you ordered...sometimes even cheaper when on sale... plus it'll measure up to 20 DC amps...and all the other usual digital multimeter ranges...

 

[Larry R. Pace]

Thanks a lot guys!! Especially, Michael Hansen...I have already ordered the 1.5 aa tester from Boling!! I really do like this site. Does a DMM test batteries? See how dumb I am! Larry

 

[Larry R. Pace]

Thanks for the info Ted! I will check into the 82-026 dm. I will probably get it too since it checks batteries even better than what I ordered. If you wanted a dm to just check batteries is there a specific one you would get? Thanks!

 

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yeah! the Sears...it's the cheapest full featured DM I've found. Mine has been working outdoors for a couple of years, in a doghouse, connected to my battery bank, by the ocean, untill I rediscovered it's battery test feature! Now it's replaced with the $7 Centech...