Battery Analyzer

[Puffer Fish]

Right. Let's say that you use 4 cells in your strobe. It runs out much quicker than you expect. Open the thing up, and check the batteries. The culprit will be obvious when you check the voltage of each of the 4 cells.

Checking the relative cell voltages near the end of discharge is a very sensitive way of weeding out the weak cells.

I wish I had saved those 2900's.. they appeared to charge correctly.. they tested correctly with a volt meter, but would not even provide one flash..and it was not one bad cell either.

 

[Hoosier]

The tester sold by Thomas:

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/zts-minimbt9r-battery-testerbrincludes-free-deluxe-protective-carrying-case-p-564.html?SP_id=&osCsid=e2e2b36ca6f4f0bf1108af091093aefd

Is reasonably priced and works very well... sadly, the lead acid version is fairly pricy
.

Yes, this unit has been recommended several times on the board.

Isn't this a voltage meter, too?

 

[mike_s]

How is this one from Thomas?

it's a smaller version

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/...P_id=&osCsid=e2e2b36ca6f4f0bf1108af091093aefd

 

[do it easy]

I think you'd be better off buying a cheap multimeter from Radio Outhouse- the kind with leads that you can stick just about anywhere- you never now where there might be voltage to test! The fun is only limited by your imagination!

 

[Puffer Fish]

How is this one from Thomas?

it's a smaller version

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/...P_id=&osCsid=e2e2b36ca6f4f0bf1108af091093aefd

It appears to be a simple load tester, with the voltage pattern for batteries already in the unit. I would think it would work just fine.

Note: It will only tell you the % of charge left, so a 2000 will be at 1000 with half the lights lite, while a 2700 will be at 1350..

 

[Puffer Fish]

I think you'd be better off buying a cheap multimeter from Radio Outhouse- the kind with leads that you can stick just about anywhere- you never now where there might be voltage to test! The fun is only limited by your imagination!

Multimeters will not tell you how much charge is left..and if you want a voltage meter, they sell one for batteries for like $3.00 that works very well. (some of their sales include it, so I have several)

 

[mike_s]

It appears to be a simple load tester, with the voltage pattern for batteries already in the unit. I would think it would work just fine.

Note: It will only tell you the % of charge left, so a 2000 will be at 1000 with half the lights lite, while a 2700 will be at 1350..

I was just kinda leaning towards that one based on it being small and simple.

I only want to test AA's for my camera on dive trips.


I bought one of the el-cheapo Radio Shack ones and it's decent on alkaline batteries, but useless on NiHM rechargeables that are high milli-amperage.

 

[Charlie99]

Yes, this unit has been recommended several times on the board.

Isn't this a voltage meter, too?

It and the EC-741 also linked to are similar. They look at the battery voltage and look at what terminals it is connected, and to the user selected rechargeable/primary switch to figure out what type of battery it is.

Then it applies an appropriate load and measure the voltage.

It won't be suitable for the original poster, who is looking for something to check out a battery for a cannister light.

He can do the same thing by turning on his light and measuring battery voltage. That will give him a general indication of how much battery charge is left.

As I noted above, he will be able to detect weak and bad cells much more readily if he goes in and measures the voltages on each cell every once in a while --- like after every 10 or 20 dives.

 

[do it easy]

As I noted above, he will be able to detect weak and bad cells much more readily if he goes in and measures the voltages on each cell every once in a while --- like after every 10 or 20 dives.

I'm pretty lazy and that sounds like a lot of work, especially for a shrink wrapped battery pack. I just assume my batteries are fine until I start to notice that they won't hold a charge. And I carry two LED backup lights.