ISO good battery tester for CE batts

[tcsenter]

The limitation of cheapo $5.00 battery testers (supporting all common batts for consumer devices) is that a lot of defective or wonky batts will test 'good' because they are not under load other than whatever the analog voltmeter requires to function, which is trivial. I have DMM but that does not put any kind of simulated or actual load on the batts, either.

I am willing to spend more than $5, but not looking to pay the cost of some professional diagnostic device that goes for $100+. Anyone know of an affordable "better" battery tester that actually measures voltage with the batt under a realistic consumer device load? Or make my own using the DMM?

 

[LTC8K6]

http://www.radioshack.com/enercell-analog-9-range-battery-checker/2200156.html

 

[deadlyapp]

http://www.radioshack.com/enercell-analog-9-range-battery-checker/2200156.html

I still don't believe that does what he wants - it merely is a voltmeter and assumes that the battery voltage has dropped enough through use to not move the needle enough.

to OP: I know that some multimeters have a battery test function which puts some sort of load on it. This website has some hacks and says it applies some load to the battery.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Add-Battery-Test-to-a-Multimeter/

 

[Mark R]

I just use a 100 Ohm resistor connected across the DMM leads. That results in a load of 15 mA from a 1.5 V battery or 30 mA from a 3 V battery which is satisfactory for most consumer size cells, including primary lithium coin cells.

 

[LTC8K6]

I still don't believe that does what he wants - it merely is a voltmeter and assumes that the battery voltage has dropped enough through use to not move the needle enough.

to OP: I know that some multimeters have a battery test function which puts some sort of load on it. This website has some hacks and says it applies some load to the battery.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Add-Battery-Test-to-a-Multimeter/

That RS meter puts the load listed on the face, on the battery being tested.

The other sizes get a 10ma load.

1.5V (AA, C, D) 150mA
AAA and N 50mA
Lithium 3V 1mA
Button Cell 1.5V 1mA
6V Photo 10mA
9V 10mA
12V 10mA
15V 10mA
22.5V 10mA

 

[tcsenter]

Awesome, thanks for the replies! Is a resistive load ideal (or good enough)? I recall reading that because resistors merely simulate load, it can be problematic for testing some circuits? Would it be better to wire-up a real device that consumes power like LED bulb or something?

I might just get some battery holders and try to make something for use with the DMM.

 

[disappoint]

Awesome, thanks for the replies! Is a resistive load ideal (or good enough)? I recall reading that because resistors merely simulate load, it can be problematic for testing some circuits? Would it be better to wire-up a real device that consumes power like LED bulb or something?

I might just get some battery holders and try to make something for use with the DMM.

A pure resistive load will be fine. You don't need to worry about inductive loads which will have a bit higher initial current draw. LEDs are not inductive anyway they are semiconductors.