Battery Tester??

[cehowardGS]

+1 for the ZTS-1. A DMM won't tell you the condition of the battery, just the voltage at the terminals. Do correct me if wrong.

As I read the feedback, it looks like I be in good shape with a ZTS-1 and the Craftsmans DMM. I will be the first to say that both of these devices will be over my head. However, I am just starting this flashlight thing/hobby. All I wanted was a light for my bike. And it grew to all of this!!

The ZTS-1 will help me learn and enjoy this flashlight hobby even more.. Since I just ordered a couple more flashlights and they are using the 3.7v batteries and I already have some aa, and aaa lights. I am going to pull the trigger on those two items, before the wife spends all the tax refund!!

Again, thanks for the super-feedback, it helped big time..

 

[cehowardGS]

Re: A great $30 tester everyone should own.

I stand by my original recommendation. A multimeter is better than a battery tester for a newbie.

And I listened to your recommendation too. I am getting the multimeter, along with a battery tester. These two should take care of all my testing, and analyzing of the batteries. Now, to move on to taking care of the lights, and maybe in a year or two, I might be able to mod one..

 

[LITE-BRITE]

Re: A great $30 tester everyone should own.

Skip the battery tester and buy a good hobby charger that can do discharge and graph plot.

 

[Astro]

Re: A great $30 tester everyone should own.

There are two things that put me off bothering with a ZTS. I like the idea of a decent pulse and load tester, but I would like the results in more detail than a 5 LED bar. Preferably an LCD with full stats on the battery.

Secondly I have seen many reports saying you have to retest a battery 3 or more times, which will often give wildly different readings, and then pick the reading that you believe in the most. Hmm.

 

[Bozzlite]

Re: A great $30 tester everyone should own.

And I listened to your recommendation too. I am getting the multimeter, along with a battery tester. These two should take care of all my testing, and analyzing of the batteries. Now, to move on to taking care of the lights, and maybe in a year or two, I might be able to mod one..

There you go. When in doubt, get both. The flashaholics mantra.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Re: A great $30 tester everyone should own.

There you go. When in doubt, get both. The flashaholics mantra.

I recommend both, you can do ok with a multimeter using rechargeable batteries but primaries such as alkalines and heavy duty cells require a load as they can maintain a high enough voltage after resting without a load to make someone assume they still have plenty of capacity left in them. I once came across batteries that measured 1.5v (no load) that came with my tv remote. After a few years the remote wasn't working well and with a voltmeter the battery looked find but put on a load meter it caved in below 1.0v. I got a $10 load tester at steves wholesale tool and use it to test all my batteries. If you are getting a meter invest in a digital meter as once you get used to testing with it you will remember number ranges for batteries/type and can have an idea of capacity left (of healthy batteries) by voltage alone.

 

[mccririck]

Re: A great $30 tester everyone should own.

I recommend both, you can do ok with a multimeter using rechargeable batteries but primaries such as alkalines and heavy duty cells require a load as they can maintain a high enough voltage after resting without a load to make someone assume they still have plenty of capacity left in them. I once came across batteries that measured 1.5v (no load) that came with my tv remote. After a few years the remote wasn't working well and with a voltmeter the battery looked find but put on a load meter it caved in below 1.0v. I got a $10 load tester at steves wholesale tool and use it to test all my batteries. If you are getting a meter invest in a digital meter as once you get used to testing with it you will remember number ranges for batteries/type and can have an idea of capacity left (of healthy batteries) by voltage alone.

How do I make a load meter?

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Re: A great $30 tester everyone should own.

How do I make a load meter?

You just have to get the right sized resistor or load and a voltmeter and put the resistor in line with the voltmeter. The larger value of the resistor the more voltage difference there will be between loaded and unloaded measurements.

 

[mccririck]

Re: A great $30 tester everyone should own.

What size of resistor is best for flashlight load?

 

[jayflash]

Re: A great $30 tester everyone should own.

How do I make a load meter?

It seems that nobody noticed my post, above, regarding using a DMM by itself, without any resistors or "load meter". I've been using this simple method for 30+ years. This "flash amp" test isn't recommended for over three volts or so, and, especially with large lithium cells or SLA types which may dump over 20 amps into a short. Limiting test time to one second or less will prevent overheating of components.

Many DMMs have a mA test for 1.5v & 9v batteries. While not good for testing at high loads, this function is fine for a rough test and small button cells.

 

[hiuintahs]

Under load conditions? I am a newbie.. Liking this stuff a lot, but not versed by a long shot. In about a week or so, I should be able to absorb some of this..

Thanks

You don't need to test the battery under load. That is just over-kill for this technology. Sure when you put a load on it, it will sag a bit but for the most part, the relationship of a batteries open circuit or unloaded voltage pretty much tells you how much its used up. Almost all the batteries I've tested if the voltage is way down there, the battery is dead. It's very rare to actually come across a battery that isn't good but still reads an acceptable voltage.

With that said,

Sanyo Eneloop data sheet: note the blue line in the "Discharge Capacity" chart as represented by the lowest discharge rate which is pretty much what you will measure as the open circuit voltage too.
http://www.eneloop.info/fileadmin/EDITORS/ENELOOP/DATA_SHEETS/HR-3UTGA_data_sheet.pdf

Sanyo Eneloops are close to 100% charged at voltage above 1.35V and are pretty much used up by 1.20 volts and so you can interpolate how much capacity is left by just measuring the open circuit voltage. You can do the same for other battery types once you learn what the range of voltage is for fully charged and discharged.

For the most part people just want to know roughly where their batteries stand and its not necessary to get expensive equipment. A basic digital voltmeter (say around $29) is great for the hobbyist that would like to measure other things like continuity (resistance) and amps.............and as a useful tool for other things.

 

[Ualnosaj]

You don't need to test the battery under load. That is just over-kill for this technology. Sure when you put a load on it, it will sag a bit but for the most part, the relationship of a batteries open circuit or unloaded voltage pretty much tells you how much its used up. Almost all the batteries I've tested if the voltage is way down there, the battery is dead. It's very rare to actually come across a battery that isn't good but still reads an acceptable voltage.

With that said,

Sanyo Eneloop data sheet: note the blue line in the "Discharge Capacity" chart as represented by the lowest discharge rate which is pretty much what you will measure as the open circuit voltage too.
http://www.eneloop.info/fileadmin/EDITORS/ENELOOP/DATA_SHEETS/HR-3UTGA_data_sheet.pdf

Sanyo Eneloops are close to 100% charged at voltage above 1.35V and are pretty much used up by 1.20 volts and so you can interpolate how much capacity is left by just measuring the open circuit voltage. You can do the same for other battery types once you learn what the range of voltage is for fully charged and discharged.

For the most part people just want to know roughly where their batteries stand and its not necessary to get expensive equipment. A basic digital voltmeter (say around $29) is great for the hobbyist that would like to measure other things like continuity (resistance) and amps.............and as a useful tool for other things.

If this forum was just about what we need, flashlight companies like Fenix would cease to exist


___________
Posted from my phone.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

You don't need to test the battery under load. That is just over-kill for this technology. Sure when you put a load on it, it will sag a bit but for the most part, the relationship of a batteries open circuit or unloaded voltage pretty much tells you how much its used up. Almost all the batteries I've tested if the voltage is way down there, the battery is dead. It's very rare to actually come across a battery that isn't good but still reads an acceptable voltage.

With that said,

Sanyo Eneloop data sheet: note the blue line in the "Discharge Capacity" chart as represented by the lowest discharge rate which is pretty much what you will measure as the open circuit voltage too.
http://www.eneloop.info/fileadmin/EDITORS/ENELOOP/DATA_SHEETS/HR-3UTGA_data_sheet.pdf

Sanyo Eneloops are close to 100% charged at voltage above 1.35V and are pretty much used up by 1.20 volts and so you can interpolate how much capacity is left by just measuring the open circuit voltage. You can do the same for other battery types once you learn what the range of voltage is for fully charged and discharged.

For the most part people just want to know roughly where their batteries stand and its not necessary to get expensive equipment. A basic digital voltmeter (say around $29) is great for the hobbyist that would like to measure other things like continuity (resistance) and amps.............and as a useful tool for other things.

If you are wanting to test alkaline and heavy duty batteries a load meter is a must. I agree with rechargeable batteries once you get an idea of their voltage ranges a load does almost nothing unless you are putting a rather high drain on them. I have seen alkaline batteries drop 0.3v under a normal tester load going from about 1.2v to 0.9v.

 

[hiuintahs]

I guess my point is that its just not that critical on checking alkaline batteries..............too much effort for a 50 cent battery. I have a Dekka AGM deep cycle 50 amp-hour battery in a portable power station and I check capacity all the time via open circuit voltage. If I suspected that something was going bad on the battery then a load test is mandatory. But just to check capacity and get a rough idea, a load test isn't necessary.

 

[TEEJ]

I think the convenience of a pulse load meter is nice for non-Lions, say NiMH D cells for a TK70, etc...as the voltage is not as good an indication as to if the cells are a good match, etc....when you have 4 in a row in your battery tube.

The mAh can be more useful for example, but hard to do with a DMM.

A hobby charger, etc...can be best, but most newbies will not really be ready to learn what they'd need to to use it...quickly enough to have confidence in the cells they want to slam into that new light and go play in the dark.

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

You could make your own CBA once you have a multimeter or two. The basic idea is just about measuring the battery's voltage regularly as it discharges. So, you can make a linear CC driver, drive an LED, drive some 1n4004 diodes, who cares as long as it's CC. Then, use a timer and the volt meter and measure the volts every few minutes or so. Once the volts reach the low voltage cutoff limit for the cell, as specified in the datasheet, stop the timer. Now, maths will tell you your capacity.

 

[MacDiver]

I found this ZTS tester. Impressive.
https://www.ztsinc.com/mini9RL.html

How do you get the test grafts that are posted here and on other threads? Does it take computer software and if so where do I get it and are there special connectors needed?

 

[MacDiver]

I too am a noob at all this. I just purchased the ZTS MBT-1 on advise from this thead.
I have a Sperry DM 6400 DMM used some to test AW 14500s for vaping and to test ohms on the atomizers, Low Resistance 1.5 ohms. Too bad I have no clue how to use them as described here. I want to test the 9 volt batteries and the smoke detectors I have, 6 of them. I got five at once from Amazon. They are First Alert, evidently made by Intertek. I have regretted getting them from the get-go. They claim 10 year batt life but over the several years I have replaced all the Batts as many as three times in six months for example using high quality, brand name Batts.
How can I test the alarms?

Do I need any leads that doesn't come with the batt tester? Would the DMM leads be compatible with the tester so I could buy less stuff? The alarms begin to chirp. I have removed the batts and let them sit for a few day then no issues. One is sitting now with the batt disconnected cause it started chirping and not long ago I put a new battery in it, sheez! I could have bought 20 alarms for what I have spent on Batts. I didn't even think about testing the batts when removed. Duh!
Much advise would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks much!

 

[HKJ]

I did take a look at a ZTS tester here: http://lygte-info.dk/review/BatteryTester ZTS Mini-MBT UK.html

When I test batteries with charts I use a computer to log data and control an electronic load and a power supply. I have made my own software for it, making my system fully automatic.

You can get cheaper systems for it:
Any hobby charger with a computer connection can do it, but you may need to buy/make a connection to the battery, the software can be found on the internet.
The SkyRC MC3000 charger can do it, again connected to a computer.
There is some cheap loads with computer connection that can be used.

 

[dragosios]

Before having a hobby charger, i used a multimeter in parallel with a 10 ohm power resistor. This will produce around 300mA for a 1.2V rechargeable, which is more than enough to cause a decent drop in load.
Any multimeter is good enough for testing cells, but beware, if you are using the multimeter for high voltages, consider one with proper CAT ratings.