JHZR2
Staff member
Quick review on a Cen-Tech battery analyzer. Part 66892. It pains me to buy HF, but this one really is the best of the handheld units that I saw. Solar and oother companies make them, but they are either similarly priced with less info, or a LOT more $ with possibly a bit more info but not necessarily...
What I really wanted was battery resistance. Calling companies like Solar, they essentially said that CCA was all that techs understood, so that is what they provided. I may not just use this with starter batteries, so that value is useful to me.
The unit was on sale for $69.99, but used an HF coupon.
The unit's box:
On an old group 49 battery I keep on float for backup:
Here you can see what you get out, voltage (test doesnt need to be dont on a fully charged battery), impedance, total capacity and CCA versus the OE amount (which is programmed in before the start of the test). This is on the group 49 AGM battery in my 91 BMW, this car seemingly not fully charging my battery even after long drives (this car was just driven 150 miles last night and showed 12.5V today):
Overall: the unit feels good, solid, like a piece of modern electronics. Clamps work good, they are wired with a supplimental lead wire to each half of the clamp, likely to serveas a referense measurement or something. The clamps dont open quite as wide as I'd like, but as you can see in the far lead (the black + wire) on the BMW, which is 4/0, it can cover that. I do wish the leads were longer, as it would be nice to be able to access another solid ground to determine differences in the grounding and its potential issues on the electrical system.
I called HF and they confirmed that the unit is good for use on AGM batteries, not just flooded batteries as is stated on the unit. I was concerned with this, but HF stated that it had been tested to properly operate.
My primary complaint, being technically-minded, is that they dont use the algorithm built in to provide an Ah capacity, but rather the bar shown across the top (0-100%) is percentage capacity of the battery. Interesting that the claimed capacity is so high. Not sure if it is correct. My batteries should be fully desulfidated and well maintained besides the low voltage on the one in the BMW.
Like the machine, recommend it.
What I really wanted was battery resistance. Calling companies like Solar, they essentially said that CCA was all that techs understood, so that is what they provided. I may not just use this with starter batteries, so that value is useful to me.
The unit was on sale for $69.99, but used an HF coupon.
The unit's box:
On an old group 49 battery I keep on float for backup:
Here you can see what you get out, voltage (test doesnt need to be dont on a fully charged battery), impedance, total capacity and CCA versus the OE amount (which is programmed in before the start of the test). This is on the group 49 AGM battery in my 91 BMW, this car seemingly not fully charging my battery even after long drives (this car was just driven 150 miles last night and showed 12.5V today):
Overall: the unit feels good, solid, like a piece of modern electronics. Clamps work good, they are wired with a supplimental lead wire to each half of the clamp, likely to serveas a referense measurement or something. The clamps dont open quite as wide as I'd like, but as you can see in the far lead (the black + wire) on the BMW, which is 4/0, it can cover that. I do wish the leads were longer, as it would be nice to be able to access another solid ground to determine differences in the grounding and its potential issues on the electrical system.
I called HF and they confirmed that the unit is good for use on AGM batteries, not just flooded batteries as is stated on the unit. I was concerned with this, but HF stated that it had been tested to properly operate.
My primary complaint, being technically-minded, is that they dont use the algorithm built in to provide an Ah capacity, but rather the bar shown across the top (0-100%) is percentage capacity of the battery. Interesting that the claimed capacity is so high. Not sure if it is correct. My batteries should be fully desulfidated and well maintained besides the low voltage on the one in the BMW.
Like the machine, recommend it.