Battery Tester

[Karl Seibel]

Where can I find a battery tester (that will last), that will show how much juice I have in my trolling batteries, if they are fully charged, and so on. Thanks Seibel Again

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Battery Tester

What you are after is called a hydrometer. It is a device that measured the weight of a liquid relative to the weight of water. There are several ways to go about this. A more accurate unit will draw acid up into a glass tube where a calibrated float will float in the acid relative to the quality of the battery's charge state. You read the depth of the floating tube to know the gravity of the liquid. A division of .005 (usually .01 because you can accurately read between these lines) is desirable. You want a unit that with a scale from 1.1 to 1.3. Hydrometers with this same scale see a lot of use in wine making as an accurate way to measure the alcohol content of the vino.<br /><br />Some hydrometers designed specifically for battery use do not have a scale on the float but instead have color bars, “Good” “Ok” “Bad” “Ugly” … kind of a pass/fail approach. I don’t like them. They don’t tell you what is going on, only if it is acceptable. Another methodology is to use balls that float at different relative densities. Pass on any hydrometer that uses the ball. There is no way to make one that is reasonable accurate.<br /><br />All hydrometers require you to figure out the actual relative density of the liquid based on the temperature of the acid. Can’t do it with the floating ball or a pass/fail scale. If you have a scale on the hydrometer it’s not that big a deal. You go by ambient temperature since you aren’t going to be testing after the battery sees heavy use or immediately after charging.<br /><br />I like this hydrometer:<br /><br /> http://www.solar-electric.com/precbathyd.html <br /><br />At the bottom of that web page is a link for a FAQ on how to use a hydrometer and other good hydrometer stuff. There is also info there on doing the temperature calculation thing.<br /><br />Good luck! <br /><br />Edit: Calibrated hydrometers are very accurate. However, if you have sealed batteries you are reduced to electronics…voltage meters and “I-think-this-is-what-is-going-on” ammeters.

 

[SlowlySinking]

Re: Battery Tester

Hi Seibel, you've probably seen batteries with the "green eye", that's actually a hydrometer in disguise, however, like idiot lights it warns you too late. <br />Try a volt meter, you'll quickly learn what the battery voltage under load means in terms of time left to troll.

 

[ED21]

Re: Battery Tester

How about using a digital volt meter? I'm sure the hydrometer has its place, but a digital meter gives a pretty good indication of charge & is easier to use.

 

[zubknarf]

Re: Battery Tester

you can buy a volt meter that read's like a fuel gauge 25%- 50% -75%- 100% don't know how accurate they are but they will give you an idea what's left in your btteries.

 

[bubbakat]

Re: Battery Tester

Seibel I think this is what you are looking for.<br />I installed one of these on my boat and a battery minder to and now there is no guess work involved in my battery power.<br /> web page

 

[Major Woods]

Re: Battery Tester

I have the same one as post above. Works great easy to install and can monitor batteries right from the helm.<br /><br />On the negative side. When installing be carefull when connecting the wires to the back of the gage. The crimped on terminals are not on very well and several came off. Fixed them by recrimping.

 

[1986mariner150]

Re: Battery Tester

Have a look at the new chargers walmart just started stocking. They are a digitally controlled charger and meter in one nice package. Reads either percent of charge or battery voltage to the tenth of a volt. Is fully automatic, you can just set it and forget it. Or if you like to watch you can read it from 20 feet away with no problem. They start at $25, I payed $40 for the middle of the road one and am quite happy with it. These chargers have come a long way since the last time I bought one. The percent of charge meter on these units read in 1 percent increments.

 

[Karl Seibel]

Re: Battery Tester

Hey Thanks Guys I will check into them and see what will work for me. Seibel