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  1. #1
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    Sep 2011
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    Gainesville, VA
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    Which battery tester

    I want to get a battery tester for all of my 12 volt batteries. Up until now I've always replaced Interstate and the Duracell batteries when they are three years old. Now I'm running a mix of AGM's in my skeeter and six interstates and duracells in my rez boat. Which battery tester should I get.
    2018 Skeeter ZX250
    2018 Yamaha SHO 250

  2. Electrical/Wiring/Trolling Motors Moderator CatFan's Avatar
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    Jun 2004
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    SW Indiana
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    26,089
    #2
    Not worth bothering IMO. If they do the job you need, they are good. If not, they are bad. There is no clear test result you can use to decide when you need new batteries.
    If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity,
    nothing else matters.​

  3. Member
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    Nov 2010
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    Gardendale Alabama
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    #3
    It’s funny you asked I just ordered this one after reading many reviews. It has not come in yet. Like the other poster said I may or may not need it. However, it might let me know if my car/truck charging system is working properly and it might be be able to tell me how much life a battery has if I was one the fence about replacing due to age. I just replaced batteries in my boat and for two years I had a charger that had one bad bank that would act like it was charging but sometimes it was and sometimes it wasn’t. It probably would have helped me trying to identify the problem sooner.

    http://www.foxwelltool.com/wholesale...r-12v-24v.html

  4. Member
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    Jan 2005
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    Texarkana
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    18,963
    #4
    Get a voltmeter instead. You don't have to get a Fluke or other name brand, just a good voltmeter and learn how to use it. You can check voltage drop along wiring as well as battery voltage. Checking batteries when you come off the lake, before charging will tell you the condition of the batteries. Checking before going to the lake, after setting 24hrs will also tell you if they are holding a charge. More useful than a battery tester.
    John
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  5. Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Summerville, Ga
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    70
    #5
    In hopes that technology had improved enough that a battery tester would work, I recently purchased one of the hand held testers that had great reviews. I took a known good 3 year old battery and a known bad 9 year old battery and charged them up and tested. My tester showed both batteries good with the bad battery a little stronger (in percentage of rated CCA) than the good battery. Took both batteries to my local auto parts stores to have tested. The first store showed both batteries good using a similar tester as mine that checked rated CCA. The second store showed the good battery good and the bad battery bad. They used a tester that put the battery under a load. Don't waste your money on these hand held testers.

    Usually I can tell when the cranking battery gets weak by noticing it is not spinning the big motor as fast late in the fishing day. The trolling motor batteries are a little harder. Since they are connected in series to get the 24 or 36 volts, it's harder to tell when a battery has a weak cell that is dropping out towards the end of the day. A test I do on my trolling motor batteries to give me confidence that they are going to last another 6 months to a year is pull 50% of rated AH out of the battery expecting the voltage to stay above 10.5v during the test. Since I run 105Ah batteries, I hook a car headlight up that puts a 5 amp load on the battery for 10 hours. I do this once a year. I ran this test on the known good battery and the known bad battery. The good battery passed and the bad battery was below 9.5v after only 1.5 hours.
    D-Dubya


    2003 Skeeter ZX225
    Yamaha VZ225HPDI
    Humminbird 898c SI
    Hummingbird 858c DI

  6. Member
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    Oct 2015
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    Pensacola, FL
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    639
    #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Jonestrollingmotor View Post
    Get a voltmeter instead. You don't have to get a Fluke or other name brand, just a good voltmeter and learn how to use it. You can check voltage drop along wiring as well as battery voltage. Checking batteries when you come off the lake, before charging will tell you the condition of the batteries. Checking before going to the lake, after setting 24hrs will also tell you if they are holding a charge. More useful than a battery tester.
    John
    This.
    There is no magic device that will substitute for basic knowledge of how batteries and DC electricity works.
    An hour or maybe two of reading should take care of it.
    You Don't Know what you Don't Know until you Know.

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