Battery testers. Old vs new technology

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

After years of having little trouble with batteries on the family cars we've had more than our fair share of problems over the last couple of years or so. It started with my boy's Punto which stopped doing stop/start. Now I know that our wee FIATs are well known for this problem and many say to just ignore it and carry on. I put a DVM (voltmeter) across it and voltage read around 12.4 or so (checked several times over the course of a fortnight or so) with charging voltage showing at over 14 volts consistently. The car still cold cranked well in the mornings so we decided to just let it carry on. A couple of months later it failed to start on a cold morning, managing to go over compression on a couple of cylinders only before the dreaded clicking solenoid was heard. It started easily on my big old jump battery (but I had to drive across town to help him) and showed a good charging voltage when running. Kenny at Harrison's got us a new budget battery (mentioned on the forum somewhere) and it's been fine ever since.

Around a couple of years ago stop/start stopped working on the Ibiza just before we went on our annual road trip to Devon. The car was still starting fine - it always starts with very little cranking - so we just went off hoping it would last a bit longer. It didn't, failed one morning at sister in law's in deepest Devon countryside. I think the fact it always fires up very readily and the engine only a "tiddler" so doesn't make much demand on the battery was masking the future failure of it. Luckily I had my CTEK in the boot which allowed me to charge it enough to get going and travel to Croyde Motors where they fitted and coded in a new battery (at considerable expense though)

At sometime in that timeframe Becky's battery also failed (Becky being our 2010 Dynamic Eco Panda) but she politely notifed me she was in trouble by performing slow cranks several times before actually refusing to start so I was well warned. Got a very good bargain with my trade card on a Yuasa from Halfords. - Reported on at the time in the forum.

So, with all that in mind, I've been thinking on and off about buying a battery tester. Don't want to spend a fortune on one just for home testing though but it would be nice to be able to monitor the two loose batteries I have which I use for jump starting "family fleet" and friends vehicles. I prefer not to jump start strangers cars and even feel a bit nervous doing friends what with the possibility of damage to electronics on modern cars and the resulting bad feeling of the owner if something were to go amiss. That's why I like to use a stand alone slave rather than jumping vehicle to vehicle (Which I just don't do with modern vehicles)

Back when I worked on the shop floor we tested batteries with a heavy discharge drop tester. Basically a couple of hefty probes with great big, low resistance, shunt between them and a voltmeter which was applied to the battery terminals. The shunt controlled the resultant load but it pulled a hefty current, it got pretty hot! - Maybe 100 amps or more, probably similar to what a hefty starter motor would pull? - I see a modern version of this type of tester is available: https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cla...UvNyMnYc-ZVkoLlALuBoCH-sQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds and, because I'm completely familiar with using one of these I'm very tempted to go with one. It's very affordable too!

However, there's a "new kid" on the block these days. These testers seem not to pull high current but rather send an AC pulse through the battery under test from which it calculated internal cell resistance and other "stuff" to give it's results. I'm quite attracted to this type although it's a lot more expensive. This article gives a brief description of how they work: https://trade.mechanic.com.au/news/how-electronic-battery-testers-work

There seems to be many of this type for sale on ebay and some pretty cheap options. I'm wary of the cheapest on offer but this one seems to be the most recommended and is getting some good reviews: https://www.topdon.com/products/battery-tester-bt200 so I think that's the one I'd go for if I go with this type.

I need to do more research on this type but I like the idea of them mainly because there seems very little chance of causing any electronic problems when using one to test a battery whilst still connected to the car. - I don't like disconnecting battery terminals because of the problems this can cause with memory/settings loss on modern vehicles. - If you are looking at cheaper testers of this type I think I've spotted a potential pitfall? Before performing the test these devices require to be programmed with the battery type, AGM, Wet Flooded, EFB, etc and the cranking capacity spec of the battery. They don't all, especially the tools at the cheaper end of the scale, seem to accommodate a full list of specs. for example, In America, which I'm sure is a large market for these devices, capacity is often shown as CCA - Cold Cranking Amps - The cheaper tools seem to only display this input option so here in our country you are far more likely to find the cranking amps displayed as EN (this info is on the battery label) so I think you need to buy a tool which includes this spec in it's listing. To clarify this take a look at this:

I just popped out to the cars and into the garage for my slave batteries and photo'd their labels:

Here's Becky's

You're very privileged to see such a clean thumb nail there!

Next is Twinkle's very expensive genuine SEAT replacement battery:

Notice the all important BEM code on the label which is required, and only shown on genuine VAG supplied batteries, to perform the coding of the battery to the vehicle ECU.

Then there's the old Cordoba diesel battery which I replaced barely a year before I had to scrap her:



and finally, Becky's old battery which has been subjected to a couple of "recond" cycles on the CTEK and successfully started our neighbours Renault Twingo back in the depth of the winter chill when it hadn't been started for over 6 weeks and would barely click it's solenoid on it's installed battery:



Becky's battery was being well charged by the car's alternator but after standing for a couple of days would barely turn the engine over. I wondered if it was a parasite current draw problem but I couldn't find any and the new battery turned the engine over with great enthusiasm even after she'd had to sit for a month after our Devon Gearbox debacle a week or so ago. This is the first "dud" battery which I've subjected to a full Recond procedure on the CTEK and it seems to have restored the battery to a usable condition. For how long? who knows, but it started that wee Renault with considerable enthusiasm and it didn't fire up right away either, had to cold crank for maybe 15 second I'd guess.

The point being that not one of these batteries quotes the battery cranking amps in CCA. all are in the EN rating, although the Twink's new one gives you a few options - EN, SAE and GS, none in CCA though so how do you accurately program the cheap testers? I also like that the Topdon seems to automatically compensate for temperature which might be a factor when testing in winter on a car kept outside and I think it also compensates for whether the battery is connected to the vehicle - where small permanent current drain will be going on - or off the vehicle, so open circuit. I need to research this aspect more.

So. I know there are some electronics geniuses on here, any opinions you might like to express? which type do you think I should go for? Or, am I just as well to monitor battery voltage whilst cranking an engine with the ignition disable? That option of course doesn't help with the slave batteries which is a big reason why I want one of these tools.

 

[porta]

Bloody good review there…
I, like you, hanker over the old style drop tester. I bought a battery condition tester that basically told me almost exactly the same as my ammeter and volt gauge on the dash. (I also got given one of those you stuck in the cigarette lighter socket, waste of time). I wasn’t impressed with as it was basically telling me I had 12.7 volts at rest, 14 at charge and my alternator was working, no **** sherlock…
The farmer next to me has recently bought one of those mini start and charge things no bigger than small paperback book, this thing not only started my Jeep but also told us the battery was not holding charge
A drop tester would have found this as, as we dug into the fault, the battery WAS charging but, as it got warm the plates were bending and then not accepting any more charge (no electrical but heat instead) and, more worryingly, getting hotter
He got it from our local Farm supplier which is an agent for John Deere, Stihl, SIP and Milwaukee…I should have looked at the make, but I’m almost sure it was SIP as it was blue n grey

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Bloody good review there…
I, like you, hanker over the old style drop tester. I bought a battery condition tester that basically told me almost exactly the same as my ammeter and volt gauge on the dash. (I also got given one of those you stuck in the cigarette lighter socket, waste of time). I wasn’t impressed with as it was basically telling me I had 12.7 volts at rest, 14 at charge and my alternator was working, no **** sherlock…
The farmer next to me has recently bought one of those mini start and charge things no bigger than small paperback book, this thing not only started my Jeep but also told us the battery was not holding charge
A drop tester would have found this as, as we dug into the fault, the battery WAS charging but, as it got warm the plates were bending and then not accepting any more charge (no electrical but heat instead) and, more worryingly, getting hotter
He got it from our local Farm supplier which is an agent for John Deere, Stihl, SIP and Milwaukee…I should have looked at the make, but I’m almost sure it was SIP as it was blue n grey

Now that's VERY interesting. As the plate was bending due to heat you'd need something which actually passed a fair current under test to replicate that. A heavy current drop tester would probably do that, but one of these modern, low current, pulsing testers probably wouldn't. On the other hand the modern tester could almost certainly be applied to any battery whilst still connected to the vehicle with little to worry you about any damage being caused. The old heavy current discharge type? I'm not quite so confident about. Although I tell myself it's really only causing the same circumstances/current draw as a starter motor cranking so how might that cause a damaging current/voltage spike?

Edit. There's battery condition monitors to worry about too on the newer Stop/start systems - usually a wee module on the negative battery terminal - would a heavy current discharge tester "worry" them? I now always connect the negative terminal of battery chargers of jump leads to the engine block or dedicated earth point, never to the battery negative post maybe connecting a heavy current tester negative lead in this way would protect a BCM? and allow on car connected testing?

 

[porta]

Now that's VERY interesting. As the plate was bending due to heat you'd need something which actually passed a fair current under test to replicate that. A heavy current drop tester would probably do that, but one of these modern, low current, pulsing testers probably wouldn't. On the other hand the modern tester could almost certainly be applied to any battery whilst still connected to the vehicle with little to worry you about any damage being caused. The old heavy current discharge type? I'm not quite so confident about. Although I tell myself it's really only causing the same circumstances/current draw as a starter motor cranking so how might that cause a damaging current/voltage spike?

Even though I’m a sparky I didn’t delve into how the old drop testers work other than ‘it’s basically shorting the battery out but on a protected circuit’…you certainly knew if the battery itself was shorting as they get hot, very hot! As for a duff battery, the gauge would just drop like a very fast stripper wanting to get the last bus home and wouldn’t recover…I can’t even remember the calculations we were taught at college, you just kind of remember the results…which is why I bemoan modern garages staff not knowing how to use an avo, the manuals used to have it the tables for parts, sensors/switches/thermocouples/solenoids etc with the values and ranges for amps, volts, ohms etc…it’s also why I’m lost on a lot of canbus stuff and rely on ‘you lot’ wehn I’m trying to fault find, god I’m getting old

 

[vexorg]

Old ones were pretty basic, but effective, just measure the voltage while drawing 300 odd amps. The voltage under heavy load is a measure of the internal resistance, that says how good the battery is.

 

[PAMIC]

After years of having little trouble with batteries on the family cars we've had more than our fair share of problems over the last couple of years or so. It started with my boy's Punto which stopped doing stop/start. Now I know that our wee FIATs are well known for this problem and many say to just ignore it and carry on. I put a DVM (voltmeter) across it and voltage read around 12.4 or so (checked several times over the course of a fortnight or so) with charging voltage showing at over 14 volts consistently. The car still cold cranked well in the mornings so we decided to just let it carry on. A couple of months later it failed to start on a cold morning, managing to go over compression on a couple of cylinders only before the dreaded clicking solenoid was heard. It started easily on my big old jump battery (but I had to drive across town to help him) and showed a good charging voltage when running. Kenny at Harrison's got us a new budget battery (mentioned on the forum somewhere) and it's been fine ever since.

Around a couple of years ago stop/start stopped working on the Ibiza just before we went on our annual road trip to Devon. The car was still starting fine - it always starts with very little cranking - so we just went off hoping it would last a bit longer. It didn't, failed one morning at sister in law's in deepest Devon countryside. I think the fact it always fires up very readily and the engine only a "tiddler" so doesn't make much demand on the battery was masking the future failure of it. Luckily I had my CTEK in the boot which allowed me to charge it enough to get going and travel to Croyde Motors where they fitted and coded in a new battery (at considerable expense though)

At sometime in that timeframe Becky's battery also failed (Becky being our 2010 Dynamic Eco Panda) but she politely notifed me she was in trouble by performing slow cranks several times before actually refusing to start so I was well warned. Got a very good bargain with my trade card on a Yuasa from Halfords. - Reported on at the time in the forum.

So, with all that in mind, I've been thinking on and off about buying a battery tester. Don't want to spend a fortune on one just for home testing though but it would be nice to be able to monitor the two loose batteries I have which I use for jump starting "family fleet" and friends vehicles. I prefer not to jump start strangers cars and even feel a bit nervous doing friends what with the possibility of damage to electronics on modern cars and the resulting bad feeling of the owner if something were to go amiss. That's why I like to use a stand alone slave rather than jumping vehicle to vehicle (Which I just don't do with modern vehicles)

Back when I worked on the shop floor we tested batteries with a heavy discharge drop tester. Basically a couple of hefty probes with great big, low resistance, shunt between them and a voltmeter which was applied to the battery terminals. The shunt controlled the resultant load but it pulled a hefty current, it got pretty hot! - Maybe 100 amps or more, probably similar to what a hefty starter motor would pull? - I see a modern version of this type of tester is available: https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cla...UvNyMnYc-ZVkoLlALuBoCH-sQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds and, because I'm completely familiar with using one of these I'm very tempted to go with one. It's very affordable too!

However, there's a "new kid" on the block these days. These testers seem not to pull high current but rather send an AC pulse through the battery under test from which it calculated internal cell resistance and other "stuff" to give it's results. I'm quite attracted to this type although it's a lot more expensive. This article gives a brief description of how they work: https://trade.mechanic.com.au/news/how-electronic-battery-testers-work

There seems to be many of this type for sale on ebay and some pretty cheap options. I'm wary of the cheapest on offer but this one seems to be the most recommended and is getting some good reviews: https://www.topdon.com/products/battery-tester-bt200 so I think that's the one I'd go for if I go with this type.

I need to do more research on this type but I like the idea of them mainly because there seems very little chance of causing any electronic problems when using one to test a battery whilst still connected to the car. - I don't like disconnecting battery terminals because of the problems this can cause with memory/settings loss on modern vehicles. - If you are looking at cheaper testers of this type I think I've spotted a potential pitfall? Before performing the test these devices require to be programmed with the battery type, AGM, Wet Flooded, EFB, etc and the cranking capacity spec of the battery. They don't all, especially the tools at the cheaper end of the scale, seem to accommodate a full list of specs. for example, In America, which I'm sure is a large market for these devices, capacity is often shown as CCA - Cold Cranking Amps - The cheaper tools seem to only display this input option so here in our country you are far more likely to find the cranking amps displayed as EN (this info is on the battery label) so I think you need to buy a tool which includes this spec in it's listing. To clarify this take a look at this:

I just popped out to the cars and into the garage for my slave batteries and photo'd their labels:

Here's Becky's

View attachment 422069

You're very privileged to see such a clean thumb nail there!

Next is Twinkle's very expensive genuine SEAT replacement battery:

View attachment 422070

Notice the all important BEM code on the label which is required, and only shown on genuine VAG supplied batteries, to perform the coding of the battery to the vehicle ECU.

Then there's the old Cordoba diesel battery which I replaced barely a year before I had to scrap her:

View attachment 422072

and finally, Becky's old battery which has been subjected to a couple of "recond" cycles on the CTEK and successfully started our neighbours Renault Twingo back in the depth of the winter chill when it hadn't been started for over 6 weeks and would barely click it's solenoid on it's installed battery:

View attachment 422071

Becky's battery was being well charged by the car's alternator but after standing for a couple of days would barely turn the engine over. I wondered if it was a parasite current draw problem but I couldn't find any and the new battery turned the engine over with great enthusiasm even after she'd had to sit for a month after our Devon Gearbox debacle a week or so ago. This is the first "dud" battery which I've subjected to a full Recond procedure on the CTEK and it seems to have restored the battery to a usable condition. For how long? who knows, but it started that wee Renault with considerable enthusiasm and it didn't fire up right away either, had to cold crank for maybe 15 second I'd guess.

The point being that not one of these batteries quotes the battery cranking amps in CCA. all are in the EN rating, although the Twink's new one gives you a few options - EN, SAE and GS, none in CCA though so how do you accurately program the cheap testers? I also like that the Topdon seems to automatically compensate for temperature which might be a factor when testing in winter on a car kept outside and I think it also compensates for whether the battery is connected to the vehicle - where small permanent current drain will be going on - or off the vehicle, so open circuit. I need to research this aspect more.

So. I know there are some electronics geniuses on here, any opinions you might like to express? which type do you think I should go for? Or, am I just as well to monitor battery voltage whilst cranking an engine with the ignition disable? That option of course doesn't help with the slave batteries which is a big reason why I want one of these tools.

Forget the old fashioned drop testers, they are technology of a bygone age and not suitable for modern battery technology.
Go buy a proper modern tester that can do all types of battery - and there are several types now. Topdon seem to get positive reviews on their kit.
Quite right to be concerned about jump starting vehicle to vehicle, modern electronics are easily fried and can be eye wateringly expensive to fix. Best not do it.
In my experience many modern vehicles to give indications that the battery is on the way out, some of which you have pointed out. Basically the CPU will shut down ancillary electrical items to maintain core functions. Panda electric power steering issues is a common one - always check the battery first!
Statistics still show people will coninue with a failing battery, ignoring the signs until ultimate complete failure, usually inconvenient & often end up buying a battery at a premium as a result.
When I first started in the motor trade a battery would last 12 -13 months, now life expectancy in excess of five, six or more years are quite frequent

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

The farmer next to me has recently bought one of those mini start and charge things no bigger than small paperback book, this thing not only started my Jeep but also told us the battery was not holding charge

Jump start packs? a subject I've given a lot of thought to.

At this time I have the two full size batteries from previous installations - one, a big one, from my old Cordoba diesel which is a large capacity (77Ah) and still in very good condition. It lives on maintenance charge on the CTEK a lot of the time and is my "go to" if I need extended cranking when fault finding a vehicle with a low battery. The Punto's old one is 50Ah and in much more questionable condition but good enough to start smaller engines or act as a memory saver source.

Both batteries give me the option of extended cranking if an engine doesn't fire up quickly and some more extensive fault finding is required with perhaps, several attempts to start it or to crank while fault finding. They both have the disadvantage, of course, of being impractical to carry around all the time for emergency use. This is where these modern mini jump packs are so useful as long as the car's battery involved is only partially discharged. They won't generally cope with relatively flat batteries because they contain quite small batteries which really only work to lift the overall available voltage by a small amount - enough to crank the engine for long enough to start it if there are no ther problems stopping the engine from running. They won't do extended cranking. For that you need a much bigger starting pack or a full size slave battery like I use at present. However for emergency use they work well and are very conveniently stored due to their small size.

I know several people who have them and they pretty much all bought them to get their car started because it had a flat battery so they could drive it to a workshop to get a new battery fitted. A couple of them very proudly took me out and showed me their device, and very nice they were too. Unfortunately both would have been useless if needed at that time as both were flat! They'd stuck them in the glovebox and forgotten about them, and this is the problem with battery jump packs generally, you've got to remember to periodically charge them up! The batteries too do not last indefinitely and will deteriorate with age, just like any battery does. After maybe 5 years? they may not actually work very well any more even if you are remembering to charge them up regularly and you need them to be on peak performance because with such small batteries they don't have much in reserve even when new. In other words, yes they work very well when relatively new but less so with age and, above all, you have to remember to keep them charged up.

It would be very handy to have one in my own vehicles but I've put off for the above reasons and because most of the time, although sometimes inconvenient, I can usually get a lift or drive home to collect one of the big batteries if needs be. However some time ago - I think I "wittered" on about it on the forum at the time - I became aware of Capacitor based jump start devices. Like this: https://www.sealey.co.uk/product/5637187875/800a-12v-electrostartr-batteryless-jump-starter They are quite different to battery powered devices in that they do not have internal batteries at all (I'll mention more on that in a minute, because some have "hybrid" batteries, but I don't want to confuse things just now - so just think, no batteries, for now)

Instead of batteries they contain a bank of 5 or 6 large supercapacitors which are flat - ie. contain no charge. When you need to use it, as long as your "flat" battery still has in excess of approx 5 volts it can be used to charge the capacitors. You connect the two jump leads to the "flat" battery and, If there's enough voltage, when you press the button, the "clever" electronics in the pack connect the capacitors in series to the "flat" battery (which isn't really flat at all because it's still got 5+ volts available) It only takes about 3 volts - or somewhere thereabouts to charge each individual capacitor and the pack has just connected each capacitor separately - in parallel - to the 5 volts available from the "flat" battery. Within a few minutes or so - speed of charging depends on the state of charge left in the battery I think - the capacitors charge up and the pack will tell you it's charged. Then all you do is activate the pack - on some you press a button and others you just turn the ign key - which tells the pack to reconfigure the capacitor connections to series. so think of maybe "AA" batteries all connected end to end. Each battery is around 2.5 volts, yes? so 5, end to end, and you now have 12.5 volts available. Well that's how the capacitors give you back the energy they've just used at about 3 volts from your "flat" battery to charge themselves. This voltage will be delivered through the leads to the battery connections and you have a short duration of time to crank the engine before the charge in the capacitors will dissipate. Of course the cranking time won't be anything like as long as with a big slave battery but if all that's happened is you've left an interior light on while you were in the pub for a meal and now the old girl won't start you've got a very good chance you'll get her started with one of these. You'll often find that if a start is not achieved at the first attempt you can do a couple more recharge efforts before battery voltage drops too low for the pack to energize. However if it hasn't started after two or three tries you've probably got more than just a flat battery problem.

I really like the idea of this. It's not charged while in storage so you don't have to remember to check it and charge it at regular intervals. Also it's "dead" when not in use so has no risk of short circuit or other problems. The drawback is you can't use it as an auxiliary power pack for charging phones or powering a light etc, but their manufacturers say they should have a lifetime of in excess of 10 years if stored sensibly, much much longer than a lithium type pack's expected lifetime.

Here's a couple of helpful videos: and

I said they don't contain batteries and I didn't want to confuse things earlier by saying that some do! These types are known as "hybrids" and contain a small separate rechargeable battery which can be used to charge the capacitors in situations where the car's battery is too discharged (usually less than about 4.5 volts) Of course if you buy one of these and want to use this facility you're back to having to remember to keep it charged! As you'll have seen in the above videos there are other ways you can charge the capacitors if your battery is very flat.

Finally here's a video showing a chap actually using it to start his car. It takes a long time to charge up but I think this is a very extreme case with a battery that had just, and only just, enough voltage in it to charge the unit. I'd expect nearer 3 and certainly less than 5 minutes in most circumstances. This is obviously an American video and you'll notice it's the same unit as the Sealey, but badged and branded differently? I suspect our friends in the east are rolling these out by the millions under many different brand names and that's what it sells as over there? Anyway, here's the real life video of how to use it:

 

[vexorg]

Forget the old fashioned drop testers, they are technology of a bygone age and not suitable for modern battery technology.

So what's in a modern lead acid battery that make the old tester not good?

 

[porta]

Yes, need to be recharged monthly to quarterly…used to recharge my old ‘full size’ RAC one monthly, or more, as it needed it on the old tractor and jcb, but it had the advantage of a torch, that didn’t point in the direction you needed it to but a nice touch, like putting a chocolate on your pillow

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Thanks for all the input folks. I'm continuing to research both battery testers and jump pack options and I'm in no frantic hurry to buy one like tomorrow. At this moment in time I'm definitely now leaning towards the Topdon BT200 which seems to get better reviews than it's, still very good, "little brother", the BT100.

I'm also firming up on a capacitor type jump pack, rather than a battery type. Quite like the looks of the Sealey but there are other brands and there's no urgency really until the slave batteries give out - Thinking about it though, it would be handy to have one in the car for long journeys when I can't access one of the slave batteries? Maybe I'll start dropping hints about contributions towards my birthday present later this year?

 

[portland_bill]

An alternative to carrying any jump pack, would be to carry some breakdown membership. Although, that can involve quite a wait at times, and will normally, if unable to fix at the roadside, drag you to the 'nearest' garage. Nearest is usually the current favourite of the breakdown technician, usually due to just being friends, sometimes due to kickbacks. That does leave you with a fix it here, or you're stuffed option, rather than your choice of repairer.
Something to be aware of, is that the recovery option is at the breakdown service's discretion, not your choice. Usually there's a clause about not being able to repair that day. So if you break down in the morning, and really prefer your car to be taken home, delay the call until late afternoon.

The Topdon BT200 looks useful though, might treat myself.

 

[s130]

Well prompted by this thread and recent lethargic battery I just bought a Topdon BT100 tester from Amzon. On offer with extra 5% discount so £36.79 all in! BT100 only does 12V and not 12V & 24V like the BT200 but that is OK for me. I'm not a trucker ..... yet

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Well prompted by this thread and recent lethargic battery I just bought a Topdon BT100 tester from Amzon. On offer with extra 5% discount so £36.79 all in! BT100 only does 12V and not 12V & 24V like the BT200 but that is OK for me. I'm not a trucker ..... yet

Jolly good. please do let us know how you find it in use.

I've read a few reviews of several testers of this type and the BT100 gets a jolly good rating. I doubt if you'll be disappointed with it. I decided to probably pursue the 200 not because of it's 24 volt ability - which I almost certainly will never use - but because one of the reports said it has a better display and gave more accurate results when tested. It seems to be generally priced in the low to mid £50 price point but I've seen it as low as mid £30. So, as I'm in no hurry, I'm just going to keep a good watch out. If I can't get it for £40 or less, I'll probably go with the one you bought.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

An alternative to carrying any jump pack, would be to carry some breakdown membership. Although, that can involve quite a wait at times, and will normally, if unable to fix at the roadside, drag you to the 'nearest' garage. Nearest is usually the current favourite of the breakdown technician, usually due to just being friends, sometimes due to kickbacks. That does leave you with a fix it here, or you're stuffed option, rather than your choice of repairer.
Something to be aware of, is that the recovery option is at the breakdown service's discretion, not your choice. Usually there's a clause about not being able to repair that day. So if you break down in the morning, and really prefer your car to be taken home, delay the call until late afternoon.

The Topdon BT200 looks useful though, might treat myself.

Absolutely. My insurance policy includes basic roadside and recovery with Green Flag which I upgraded, for a small additional payment, to national cover which includes electing to have the vehicle relayed to the destination or home - I checked and I can specify the destination.This isn't an option I'd like to have to take as I've heard some horror stories about long distance relay delays. However it's good to know it's there as a final option.

My youngest had a bad experience with a breakdown company. He was involved in a small accident which folded the front wing into the tyre. A local, sub contracted, tow company attended and told him the car needed workshop attention and they were instructed to take it to their holding yard while the insurance company informed them where the car was to be taken - I think this was a great big fib! We heard nothing for several days, being told when we rang, that they were waiting to hear from the insurance. We came to the conclusion this was very "fishy" so we jumped in my car and went to the yard. Luckily the girl at the yard didn't seem to know what she was doing so we were able to get a look at the car and I didn't think there was much wrong with it so told them I'd get my friend to collect it and take it to our local garage. That really stired up the hornets nest and although they let my friend take the car a - he just used a lump hammer to bend the bit of wing out of the way so the car could be driven - a few days later we got a bill, for approximately a weeks storage, from the towing company. Quite an unreasonably hefty bill it was too. It all got a bit nasty for a while until I rang the insurance company who told us not to pay the bill and leave it with them. We never heard any more except that they wanted to know where the car was and they settled for the repairs with my friend's garage. I got the impression this wasn't the first problem they'd had with this towing company. Anyway, it all turned out fine once I'd contacted the insurance company.

 

[vexorg]

I've got the full RAC cover, if they cant fix it then it's a "take me home" request, and they do without question every time. That's been abot 4 times over the years

 

[portland_bill]

Jolly good. please do let us know how you find it in use.

I've read a few reviews of several testers of this type and the BT100 gets a jolly good rating. I doubt if you'll be disappointed with it. I decided to probably pursue the 200 not because of it's 24 volt ability - which I almost certainly will never use - but because one of the reports said it has a better display and gave more accurate results when tested. It seems to be generally priced in the low to mid £50 price point but I've seen it as low as mid £30. So, as I'm in no hurry, I'm just going to keep a good watch out. If I can't get it for £40 or less, I'll probably go with the one you bought.

The BT200 I found at £34 will be sent from China.
The BT100 from Amazon seems to be around £45, the BT200 around £55. I've unearthed an Amazon gift card, for £30, had it a while, not found a use for it yet. I think it might be about to be used for this.

 

[s130]

I was was with the RAC for more years than I can remember and only had to call on them twice. Once for a no fault accident and once for a failed auxiliary belt that shredded and wound its way around the crank shaft pulley throwing the Coupe's cam belt timing off. Always recovered to home no questions asked and both were "double pickups" (to home then later to garage / body shop). Later in 2002 upgraded to Arrival service where caravan and onward travel + return is covered. The added European full cover.

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.

In 2020 they wanted £276.49 (personal cover for me & Mrs). Switched to another provider with cover for three cars for £114/2022, £114/2021, £104/2020. Only costs £42 to add annual Euro breakdown cover (for our 500X). So far I'm £489 up on the deal.

 

[s130]

The BT200 I found at £34 will be sent from China.
The BT100 from Amazon seems to be around £45, the BT200 around £55. I've unearthed an Amazon gift card, for £30, had it a while, not found a use for it yet. I think it might be about to be used for this.

I'm hoping the BT100 will pay for itself and I should have got one earlier.

Traditionally I get Halfords 5 year warranty batteries. I've never had a 5 year claim turned down however this has always been after a failure. They put their tester on, it says FAIL and I walk out with another. I strongly suspect that if I had tested the batteries at 4.5 years they would be showing as "replace" on a tester so for the ones that went on over the 5 years but failed not long after I could have tested them and then take them for testing at Halfords and got a free replacement.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I was was with the RAC for more years than I can remember and only had to call on them twice. Once for a no fault accident and once for a failed auxiliary belt that shredded and wound its way around the crank shaft pulley throwing the Coupe's cam belt timing off. Always recovered to home no questions asked and both were "double pickups" (to home then later to garage / body shop). Later in 2002 upgraded to Arrival service where caravan and onward travel + return is covered. The added European full cover.

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.

In 2020 they wanted £276.49 (personal cover for me & Mrs). Switched to another provider will for three cars for £114/2022, £114/2021, £104/2020. Only costs £42 to add annual Euro breakdown cover. So far I'm £489 up on the deal.

The basic cover came free with my car insurance. I was quite surprised to find it's provided by Green Flag - found out by ringing the breakdown number and inquiring, they didn't mind at all and in fact actually gave me a direct line number to ring if I break down which circumvents the general number my insurance company wants me to ring. Don't know what that's all about but if it means they come quicker them I'm all for that. Topping up to the all singing all dancing British cover was very affordable, although I don't remember the exact figure. I must inquire whether they would do a "double pickup" which I can see would be a great advantage if they took us back to our house at an unsociable hour and then later, maybe the next day, took the car on to our garage or other repairer. There are several rescue outfits near me who will do a delivery/recovery on a one off basis for £75 as long as it's within a 10 mile radius. They'll go further but on a pay by mile basis.

 

[s130]

The breakdown market and cover is very competitive and dare I say "a game". The likes of AA and RAC will always competitive to each other and rely on the "national" ...... "trusted" ...... positions to justify their premiums. I'm not knocking them but think that those who are willing to take the time and effort (ask the right questions ... e.g. cost of double pickup ..... etc) then one can/may be able to find a alternative that matches your particular needs.

I find the same with house insurance where a common killer is the "item value limit". e.g. all items over £x have to be listed separately. Depending on £x value then one can rapidly ramp up the insurance premium where other companies have £2x or some other higher limit for unspecified items. A lot of this is also deliberately "smoke and mirrors" to make it harder for you or price comparison websites to give you an honest, fair and transparent price "WITH MINIMAL EFFORT ON YOUR PART".