Battery testers. Old vs new technology

[portland_bill]

Another consideration with breakdown services, is age of vehicle and intended use. AA and RAC have maximum age limits for the car. I think Green Flag does too, but theirs is longer. None of them like 'commercial' use, which was difficult when needing cover for the school car. AA and RAC wanted a significant premium hike to cover the school car. GEM Motoring Assist had no problems including it in their normal policy.

 

[vexorg]

My only complaint with the "Reindeer Appreciation Club" is that every year the system would automatically heavily increase the premium leaving me to phone and get them to reduce or loose me. They became too expensive in the end and I was fed up with having to fight every year.

Yeah, I find that very annoying, same with insurance, automatically hike it up, phone and they bring it down. The RAC is £200-ish for me, but have got it covering 4 cars since they cover me and my wife, plus the two cars. The two cars dont need to be ours, so the kids cars are coverd (their suggestion!).

 

[portland_bill]

To return to the original thread, I took the plunge, and ordered a BT200. I had an old Amazon gift card for £30, still valid, and Amazon were offering 10% discount too, so I ended up paying just over £19. At that price, no longer a "is it a need or a want?".
Parcel arrived today. No time to look at it yet, that's a job for the weekend. Have 3 vehicles, 2 with ageing stop/start batteries, teh third with a hopefully good battery, only a couple of years old. Plus two old batteries, definitely less oomph in them than when new. I will have a play, and post the results.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

To return to the original thread, I took the plunge, and ordered a BT200. I had an old Amazon gift card for £30, still valid, and Amazon were offering 10% discount too, so I ended up paying just over £19. At that price, no longer a "is it a need or a want?".
Parcel arrived today. No time to look at it yet, that's a job for the weekend. Have 3 vehicles, 2 with ageing stop/start batteries, teh third with a hopefully good battery, only a couple of years old. Plus two old batteries, definitely less oomph in them than when new. I will have a play, and post the results.

Thanks for letting us know PB. As you'll have gathered the BT200 is the front runner for me at this time so I look forward to your experience with yours with great interest.

 

[bugsymike]

Thanks for letting us know PB. As you'll have gathered the BT200 is the front runner for me at this time so I look forward to your experience with yours with great interest.

Just to contribute to the earlier debate, I used to use the high rate discharge meter type battery tester in the old days when you could remove the tops and see if one cell bubbled which would indicate a duff battery whereas if they all bubbled slightly it was just flat. The advantage of the Allen one was you could gradually increase the load plus it could test alternator volts and amps too and being clamp on then apply load you had no sparks so safer from battery fumes exploding.
On modern batteries I use the Ring tester which does most of what you referred to regarding various standards and types of battery. I use this cheap Chinese battery charger which has a repair function and other options and have used both these bits of gear for everything from the 1000amp cranking truck battery, cars , my 24volt starter pack to motorbike 12 volt batteries. I also have a 500 amp SIP starter charger, though not used for some years.

 

[portland_bill]

Well, Saturday was wet, and I had no need to test batteries in the rain, as none are causing issues.
So this morning, with a little time to spare, the BT200 was unboxed, instructions read (yes, really), and off out to do the basic test on 5 batteries. (Too many)
Firstly, the machine does not need its own batteries, taking its power from the battery being tested. That's good. If it does not start up, then the battery being tested is very dead. Also, no risk of dead inernal batteries destroying the machine.
When connected to the battery, it displays the voltage, or gives an error message of the connections are not as good as they should be.
Then you enter the menu, easy to scroll down, if necessary, but battery test is at the top of the list. Press Enter, then choose type of battery, it remembers the last type, which is handy, or not, depending on the type next to be tested. Then choose the rating type, for all mine, it was EN, which is again remembered. Next menu is for setting the Amp rating, and again, it remembers the last test, so easy to scroll up or down from there. It increments in 5A. Pressing and holding scrolls quickly, so it is not tedious.
Once done, press Enter again, and it tests. This takes about 10-15 seconds, and displays the results.
Firstly, into the garage, where there are two to be tested. Both recently charged, but then stood for about a fortnight.
Old Panda battery. (No idea why I keep this, just not got around to taking it to the tip, I suppose)
This was new around mid 2013, and replaced in April 2020, so lasted 7 years, including a period of non-use where it was left discharged for a few weeks. Since April 2020, it has just sat in the garage, and been charged a couple of times.
This is an Exide EB500, 450A EN showing a reasonable 12.44v.
Health: 17% 184A
Charge: 72% 12.43v
Internal resistance: 15.08 mΩ
Result: Replace I don't think this one would revive. This shows, especially whne compared with the next one, that the voltage is not alway sa good guide, although how much this drops on cranking would be a better guide. Can't get such a result for this battery, not going to refit it to anything just to test.

Next, a battery from my brother's 2002 Fabia. No idea how old this is, but it was left for a year, gently discharging, but seems to have responded to charging.
RAC001 520A EN 12.44v
Health: 71% 438A
Charge: 73% 12.44v
Int. Res.: 6.34mΩ
Result: Good battery. When we're ready to try to get the car going, another charge should bring a good result.

Now to the vehicles.
Panda. Exide 540A EN 12.49v Fitted April 2020, but was discharged for a fortnight, early this year. I was surprised it revived, but seems OK.
Health: 67% 442A
Charge: 83% 12.5v
Int. Res.: 6.29mΩ
Result: Good battery
This gets used 2-3 times a week, but mostly for short journeys. A few hours on the charger might do it some good.

2015 Fabia 1.2 Original battery. EFB Stop/start 640A EN
Health: 43% 422A
Charge: 35% 12.21v
Int. Res.: 5.43mΩ
Result: Good charging.
This car gets used usually twice a week, last used on Thursday, for a good run of 40 miles each way. The battery is now just over 8 years old, spent a little time sitting on a garage forecourt, and prior to that was owned by an old guy who only did short runs, a coupleof times a week. I'm impressed at how this battery is still hanging in there, and still operating the stop/start. Perhaps a few hours on the charger might help it, but it does look like it is on its last legs, but bravely carrying on.

2017 Doblo 1.4 95hp petrol. Original battery, 450A EN. Surprisingly, not marked EFB, or stop/start. Perhaps that's why the stop/start is reluctant. As a wheelchair van, it has had light use, still only 13k miles, in 6 years.
Health: 100% 472A
Charge: 50% 12.3v
Int. Res.: 5.88mΩ
Result: Good Charging
Since buying the car, early this year, I have used it frequently, mostly for journeys of about 10-12 miles each way. The state of charge shows why the stop/start is very reluctant, and restarts after about 8-12 seconds, which is amusing. A good candidate for a charge off the car.

I've not carried out the starting tests. Will do that sometime, on each vehicle separately, on a day when they are going to be used. No reason to start them just for a test. Will report them individually.

Sorry for the long post, hopefully of interest to anyone considering the BT200, or any similar tester.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Well, Saturday was wet, and I had no need to test batteries in the rain, as none are causing issues.
So this morning, with a little time to spare, the BT200 was unboxed, instructions read (yes, really), and off out to do the basic test on 5 batteries. (Too many)
Firstly, the machine does not need its own batteries, taking its power from the battery being tested. That's good. If it does not start up, then the battery being tested is very dead. Also, no risk of dead inernal batteries destroying the machine.
When connected to the battery, it displays the voltage, or gives an error message of the connections are not as good as they should be.
Then you enter the menu, easy to scroll down, if necessary, but battery test is at the top of the list. Press Enter, then choose type of battery, it remembers the last type, which is handy, or not, depending on the type next to be tested. Then choose the rating type, for all mine, it was EN, which is again remembered. Next menu is for setting the Amp rating, and again, it remembers the last test, so easy to scroll up or down from there. It increments in 5A. Pressing and holding scrolls quickly, so it is not tedious.
Once done, press Enter again, and it tests. This takes about 10-15 seconds, and displays the results.
Firstly, into the garage, where there are two to be tested. Both recently charged, but then stood for about a fortnight.
Old Panda battery. (No idea why I keep this, just not got around to taking it to the tip, I suppose)
This was new around mid 2013, and replaced in April 2020, so lasted 7 years, including a period of non-use where it was left discharged for a few weeks. Since April 2020, it has just sat in the garage, and been charged a couple of times.
This is an Exide EB500, 450A EN showing a reasonable 12.44v.
Health: 17% 184A
Charge: 72% 12.43v
Internal resistance: 15.08 mΩ
Result: Replace I don't think this one would revive. This shows, especially whne compared with the next one, that the voltage is not alway sa good guide, although how much this drops on cranking would be a better guide. Can't get such a result for this battery, not going to refit it to anything just to test.

Next, a battery from my brother's 2002 Fabia. No idea how old this is, but it was left for a year, gently discharging, but seems to have responded to charging.
RAC001 520A EN 12.44v
Health: 71% 438A
Charge: 73% 12.44v
Int. Res.: 6.34mΩ
Result: Good battery. When we're ready to try to get the car going, another charge should bring a good result.

Now to the vehicles.
Panda. Exide 540A EN 12.49v Fitted April 2020, but was discharged for a fortnight, early this year. I was surprised it revived, but seems OK.
Health: 67% 442A
Charge: 83% 12.5v
Int. Res.: 6.29mΩ
Result: Good battery
This gets used 2-3 times a week, but mostly for short journeys. A few hours on the charger might do it some good.

2015 Fabia 1.2 Original battery. EFB Stop/start 640A EN
Health: 43% 422A
Charge: 35% 12.21v
Int. Res.: 5.43mΩ
Result: Good charging.
This car gets used usually twice a week, last used on Thursday, for a good run of 40 miles each way. The battery is now just over 8 years old, spent a little time sitting on a garage forecourt, and prior to that was owned by an old guy who only did short runs, a coupleof times a week. I'm impressed at how this battery is still hanging in there, and still operating the stop/start. Perhaps a few hours on the charger might help it, but it does look like it is on its last legs, but bravely carrying on.

2017 Doblo 1.4 95hp petrol. Original battery, 450A EN. Surprisingly, not marked EFB, or stop/start. Perhaps that's why the stop/start is reluctant. As a wheelchair van, it has had light use, still only 13k miles, in 6 years.
Health: 100% 472A
Charge: 50% 12.3v
Int. Res.: 5.88mΩ
Result: Good Charging
Since buying the car, early this year, I have used it frequently, mostly for journeys of about 10-12 miles each way. The state of charge shows why the stop/start is very reluctant, and restarts after about 8-12 seconds, which is amusing. A good candidate for a charge off the car.

I've not carried out the starting tests. Will do that sometime, on each vehicle separately, on a day when they are going to be used. No reason to start them just for a test. Will report them individually.

Sorry for the long post, hopefully of interest to anyone considering the BT200, or any similar tester.

Thanks PB I found that very interesting and encourages me to buy one when I can catch Mrs J (my personal financial advisor) in a good mood.

Being "old school" I'm still of the opinion that if you really want to know how healthy a battery is, there's nothing like whacking it with a healthy load - like the old style testers did. I've been thinking about these testers quite a lot of late and I'm convinced one like this BT200 is probably the safest way to test when a battery is connected to the car, so I'm prioritizing getting one. However I'm very tempted to buy one of those cheap older style ones as well mainly for checking the slave batteries which sit in my garage.