I took a defective NAPA deep cycle battery in for warranty and the NAPA guy
had a cool little hand-held battery tester..Looked something like the
Harborfreight one in the link.  It worked really well on the defective
battery (found a bad cell-replaced at no $ charge) and I also tested the
battery in our junker Subaru...(showed low electrolyte, but good alternator
function) and another 'spare' I brought along that took the charge but was
losing a couple of .10 volt per day...That one hit the junk pile too.
  FWIW...the NAPA guy told me that any NAPA battery can be replaced under
warranty without your sales receipt.  I had one I bought on a trip that had
a problem and took it in...12months old, according to the punch out on the
battery itself...The NAPA store I took it into for exchange said.."Oh, I
gotta have the paperwork or I can't replace it"  which was a lie..This NAPA
guy says you can always get a replacement free under warranty if you ask for
the store owner or manager...One of NAPA's 'pride-points' their good
warranty on parts....

  Don Hanson
On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 9:00 PM, Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@gmail.com> wrote:

> You got it Paul -- you need a load tester --- and thanks for the link
> -- I didn't know these were so cheap..........
>
> Cheers,
> Doug
>
> On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 11:45 PM, Paul Guzyk <paullist08@guzyk.com> wrote:
> > This is an adequate HF load testing unit for testing strength of
> "starter" batteries.
> >
> > http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90636
> >
> > Also useful for spot checking your camping battery.
> > I got mine on sale for between $15-$20 if I remember correctly.
> >
> > Testing your start battery with a voltmeter at rest without a load
> doesn't tell you too much...a "dead" battery could still read close to 12V.
> >
> > You should at least measure voltage when cranking or headlights and
> blowers on etc ...
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
> > From:         Alan Felder <dieseldoofus@GMAIL.COM>
> > Reply-To:     Alan Felder <dieseldoofus@GMAIL.COM>
> > Date:          Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:53:15 -0600
> >
> >>Here is a device that will test your battery:
> >>
> >>*http://tinyurl.com/352k4l*
> >>**
> >>It's not portable, but you should use a load around half your battery's
> CCA
> >>rating, and since I have a diesel and 800 AmpsI needed this larger one.
>  You
> >>may get by with a smaller one which HF also has a variety of.  It puts
> your
> >>battery under a known load (inside the box) and following directions,
> will
> >>let you know what shape your battery is in, in static mode that is.
> >>
> >>Alan Felder
> >>
> >>
> >>On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 1:49 PM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >>>  Is there a way to tell about the auxilliary battery condition in a VW
> (or
> >>> any rig, for that matter)?  I've been working with all kinds of
> batteries
> >>> over the years and I always have been puzzled about how to find out
> what I
> >>> might expect from the battery.  I have a digital multimeter and I get
> >>> voltage readings but I'm told that is no real indicator of how good the
> >>> battery is charged or is capabale of being charged...
> >>>  Is there an instrument that I could wire into my systems (I have a few
> >>> different vehicles with multiple battery systems) where I might get an
> >>> actual meaningful readout that would tell me..."Hey, don't expect much
> more
> >>> from this battery till you charge it more" or "this battery is shot" or
> >>> "all
> >>> your batteries are in fine shape with 100% charge"?
> >>>  I have seen battery condition indicator gauges in yachts..I've seen
> >>> voltage indicators on some rigs.  My travel trailer has an LED readout
> and
> >>> for that matter, so does my semi-westie van...but those things seem
> pretty
> >>> much a joke...
> >>>   What should I wire into my systems to give me a better handle on how
> much
> >>> juice I have in the batteries?  Is there anything that works..or do I
> just
> >>> have to keep guesstimating as I have been doing all these years?
> >>>  Thanks, Don Hanson
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>--
> >>Alan Felder
> >>Austin TX
> >>82 Diesel Westy
> >>
> >
>
>
>
> --
> http://www.dougalcock.com
>