Can you recommend a good battery tester for my 12v boat battery?

[haring]

Can you recommend a good battery tester for my 12v boat battery?

 

[mmmbelows]

You mean like an inline tester gauge you would mount on the boat, or just a hand held? If a hand held, anything that checks DC current will work, you can buy them at home depot, sears, auto supply stores, probably walmart...

Here is one for $12
https://www.amazon.com/Gardner-Bend...id=1467851603&sr=8-11&keywords=battery+tester

 

[guruboy]

Get a free/cheap multi-meter from Harbor Freight

Maybe also get a battery charger/tender. You can find them for pretty cheap.

 

[SCRedWolf]

Can you recommend a good battery tester for my 12v boat battery?

If all you're wanting to do is check the voltage level of the battery from time to time, perhaps before pulling out of the driveway to the marina, then just about any DMM (digital multimeter) is fine. I use one made by Fluke but that's overkill. I use it because I already had it. If you're to buy one find one that's autoranging - they have fewer settings and therefore generally easier to use. This one at Sears fits the bill for not much money or pick from this list at Amazon.

If you're wanting to keep your battery in good condition I highly recommend a battery tender from Deltran. They monitor the condition of a battery and makes sure it's 'topped-off' without overcharging it. I have a couple of them that I use to keep motorcycle batteries alive during the winter. Use these and your battery should have a longer service life since it'll actually be maintained rather than normal abuse. One of the motorcycle batteries is now 12 years old and it spends every winter on the tender. (The other bike got ridden during the winter so it was only occasionally hooked up).

 

[haring]

Thanks so much for the answers! I would like to test my 12volt boat battery. I have been charging it with my pro charger and it is telling me that there is a problem with my battery. It does crank my 115hp yamaha but I usually have two kids on boards so I don't want to stuck outside on the water.

I have used volt meters and hydrometers before but they are not totally giving the correct result. In the past they told me that my battery was ok but the battery didn't give its full cranking power.

What do you think about the "Solar" battery testers? They test cranking power....

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Not to interrupt this thread - but how about buying a spare battery? Bring both and if one craps out - you have a spare... I assume you have a wrench so you can change the batteries.

I am only suggesting since you mentioned two kids and not wanting to be stuck...

My boat has two batteries and I use a switch to toggle between the two...

 

[tbone1004]

battery testers in terms of what can check the cranking capacity are typically rather expensive. Just remove the battery and take it over to an Advance Auto or Autozone type place and they will usually do battery checks for free. The absolute key to this is even if it is a marine type battery you should try to separate your deep cycle loads from your starting loads. The battery composition is different for them and the "jack of all trades" batteries they sell to the marine industry don't do either particularly well. The other one is to look at investing in a solar smart charger since lead batteries like to be kept full

 

[mmmbelows]

Thanks so much for the answers! I would like to test my 12volt boat battery. I have been charging it with my pro charger and it is telling me that there is a problem with my battery. It does crank my 115hp yamaha but I usually have two kids on boards so I don't want to stuck outside on the water.

I have used volt meters and hydrometers before but they are not totally giving the correct result. In the past they told me that my battery was ok but the battery didn't give its full cranking power.

What do you think about the "Solar" battery testers? They test cranking power....

If you're talking about an outboard motor, you should be able to hand start your outboard, this is a necessary skill to learn and have up your sleeve just in case.

Back to your issues -The volt meter is the right tool, make sure you have it set correctly, you should typically be seeing about a 13v reading while charging and the battery at rest is typically in the 12.6 v range. If you think there is a problem with it fully charge it and monitor it over a week or two it should not drop below 12v. If it does you might have a bad cell and you can take it in to have it tested. If in doubt of any of this just buy a brand new marine battery and be done with it.

 

[tbone1004]

multimeters only tell you about a batteries ability to hold voltage, nothing about their capacity. you can very easily have batteries that hold voltage with no problem but have lost their capacity, and others that still have capacity that aren't able to hold their voltage.

 

[haring]

You are right. I already have deep cycle battery sitting next to my cranking battery. I run radio, gps, phone charger, pump, etc. By the end of the day it is close to empty. It is a slow discharge battery.