Looking to test AA, AAA etc batteries. There seem to be 4 testers commonly available;
Any comments?
Many people find a multimeter quite adequate for doing this
Should have said, obviously I have a DMM, but the scale on DC volts doesn't give a meaningfull result with batteries, besides which I want to keep it in a drawer in the kitchen, not in the van :-)
Best to get a DMM with 1.5 and 9v battery test ranges that put a heavy load on the battery, otherwise the no load voltage is not a good test.
eg. Powercraft PMM-940 that Aldi sell from time to time for about =A36.
rusty
Ah. Interesting. Didn't realise that - thanks.
Rapid online do a =A32.44 multimeter that has current loaded 1.5v and 9v scales.
NT
It happens that Djornsk formulated :
The problem with using a multimeter, is that they don't put any load on the battery - so a battery might produce the voltage, but due to high internal resistance not be able to produce the current.
I have one of the cheapest ones and it works reasonably well. You won't gain anything by buying the LCD display one.
A standard multimeter is not an ideal way of testing a battery - since one wants to see how it performs under load. Modern DMMs are designed to impose a little load as possible on the item under test (unless you happen to have one that has a battery test range).
I agree that an multimeter alone is not a 100% reliable way of confirming that a battery is good, but I've found it at least 99.9% with common non-rechargeables. In cases where the battery is being used to supply a high current relative to what it is designed for then it could well be better to test it under load in situ with a multimeter.
j
How about this then, one for the drawer and another for the van, I have two and they work for me, I have two boys that have a lot of battery operated toys and this finds the dead one in a set of 4.
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember harry saying something like:
How very handy that would be if you have a dozen or more to test - not.
From memory one big problem with battery testers is that different types of battery run down at different rates - the same reading on one type may mean another hours worth of use, while on another type the battery is effectively dead, or may conk out without notice at any minute,
When using a cheap yellow mulitmeter on all types of battery I've found there's always one position on the dial which will give a reading within the range I'm looking for. Basically it's then a matter of waiting until a battery or set of batteries is exhausted, and then comparing the readings on those with the readings from the new replacement set. That should then give some idea of the likely range for that type of battery.
michael adams
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- All battery testers do is put a small load on the battery and measure
- the voltage. You can easily concoct something to do this. Even a small
- torch with filament bulb not LED. Put battery in, switch on look at
- bulb. No need to buy these gismos..
Torches ?
Sheer Luxury !
In my day dad would send us all out looking for a short bit of copper wire. And tell us not to come back till we found one. Then he'd show us how to make a loop in one end of the wire, put the loop round the bulb, press the bulb on the top of the battery while putting the other end of the wire on the table and stand the battery on that.
In winter time that was out only source of illumination. And so we all had to take turns holding the bulb while dad read the evening paper.
michael adams
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But it depends on the intended use of the battery as well. A battery that's got too weak for a torch or Walkman will drive a clock for many months.
I can tell when the battery in my travel alarm clock is dying; if I switch its light on, the clock stops ...
I have one which only works on its back otherwise it gets stuck at quarter to.
quarter to what? :o)
In message , Harry Bloomfield writes
I've always used a proper multimeter with a needle, on a suitable amps range. Just one dab of the leads on the various batteries and you soon see the dud ones.
Really you need to load the battery so that there is current flowing
A multimeter presenting what, 100megs?, Won't do this
I'm surprised that you don't carry a DMM around all the time!
Others have pointed you at dedicated battery testers but if, like me, you have a DMM with a 10A range*, a quick dab across each cell will soon sort them out. Expect ~7A or more from an alkaline AA, but even 4A shows a lot of useful capacity is left. An exhausted cell will, even if it registers a highish initial current, drop to nigh on zero virtually immediately
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