There are some newer , user friendly car battery testers that look worth buying . I’d rather test a better every so often when it’s getting up in age to see how it’s trending versus leaving it to chance that one day it won’t start my car and leave me stranded ! Who else follows the same logic ?
Battery Testers
- Thread starter ChrisD46
- Start date
one of my cars has a battery tester buit in, it's called the automatic stop/start. When that stops working or doesn't leave the engine off long for the conditions, it's time to look at the battery, or rather a new battery.
Yup. It's called 'battery service' and has always made sense.
I've had the Solar BA-9 for about 8 years. I check all my cars at least 1x per month and help others. Nice to see when starting to drop.
I think others here also recommend Ancel BA101
I got the BA9 after watching the battery videos from Kent Bergsma (mercedes source) on a YT. I also got the CTEK 7002 charger after watching a bunch of videos and the one from Optima batteries when they showed it working to recover a dead spiral cell that others wouldn't charge. I had 3 spiral deep cycles at the time and all needed a charge at least 1x per year do to the very short trips. I use it for my batteries now as a nice solid overnight when I remember
I test them every tire rotation or oil service and record it.
I have a Foxpro tester, it's pretty simple. i compared it with another tester and it seemed consistent. Medtronic's seems to be the standard and is what most dealerships seem to use. Aoto meter also makes nice ones, both of those are pretty expensive.
I have a Foxpro tester, it's pretty simple. i compared it with another tester and it seemed consistent. Medtronic's seems to be the standard and is what most dealerships seem to use. Aoto meter also makes nice ones, both of those are pretty expensive.
I recently got this one as it combines battery testing with OBDII reporting. I haven't played with it yet but I'm sure it's smarter and more mechanical than I am. https://www.topdon.us/collections/diagnostic-tools/products/artilink500b
Gold standard test would carbon pile battery tester.
The conductive ones are good but they were really designed to do a quick test without requiring the battery to be fully charged. Quick test, show customer "replace battery" on printout and then it's just a quick exchange of $175 for a new battery and on your way.
Good point - so a useful question I believe is : “When is the best time to check the status / condition of a car battery” ? When the car has been sitting overnight ? After driving the vehicle for awhile ?
I think either will give you a good test. Gold standard test would be to charge overnight with plug in charger then test. While there will be a surface charge that will be gone quickly when you apply a 300 or 400 amp load from carbon pile load tester.
I also have the Solar BA-9 and have had it for probably 15 years or so. It works well and matches what the battery testers that I have for my scanners say when I use those. I prefer the BA-9 just because it's easier to use.