Car Battery Tester

Please, excuse the pun, Anyway we do not want this to happen to you. To ensure you get started, you need a battery tester and this should always be part of your garage equipment. Motoring experts will tell you that a battery tester is a valuable and integral part of your toolkit. An auto electric mechanic, a friend from school days, said that it was just as important to him as was a screwdriver

A car battery is a lead acid battery which uses lead plates as electrodes and an extremely strong acid as an electrolyte and preferably – well for older batteries - distilled water in each of the cells. Until you hear the groan but not the roar of the engine when you start, you’re not going to know if the battery’s going to kick in. The battery not only gets the car going but runs all the other gadgets controlled by eleven pounds of wiring – the clock, stereo, indicators, lights, heaters/coolers etc. So, it is without doubt a veritable workhorse. This is where a good car battery tester comes in handy. You do have a choice of shapes or sizes for your car battery tester and several options to choose from. It’d fair to say you do need a battery tester

For optimum efficiency, the battery should be checked regularly and preferably your car battery tester or even a simple multimeter. We do recommend the former. A car battery tester makes it so much easier for you to regularly supervise the well being of your battery. It’s a simple process monitoring the battery’s voltage level. Yet, there are three important voltage level factors.

The no load voltage level with the engine switched off.
Number two: Cranking voltage level which will drop below 12v as the engine starts.
Number three: The charging level, this happens when the alternator is functional and the battery is being charged with the engine running. You’ll need about 13.8-14v for this exercise.

If your car battery tester reveals that these three levels are under their normal measure, then there is a battery or alternator problem. So, we can see that regular use of the car battery tester is imperative, as it indicates alternator and battery troubles.

There are two types of battery testers for both analog and digital. Size wise, these car battery testers range from the small, plug into the cigarette lighter to the larger units which need to be plugged into the battery terminals. The ideal car battery tester should be able to check no load cranking and charging voltage levels. A motoring expert advised that a good idea is to check out the reviews of the car battery tester an d do so in detail before making a choice. Analog or digital – no matter, what you’re looking for is a car battery tester which provides spot on readings within 0.1volt error margin. Price wise a car battery tester is not overly expensive and you can pick up a good one for about $50.

Hope this short tutorial on car battery tester usage and features was an insightful read. Buying one is a useful investment as they form important tools in your car maintenance arsenal. You can ensure good battery health with a handy car battery tester by your side.