What David said.
I put a meter on the AAA & read 1.2v, the print on the batt says 1.5v ... I
get rid of it.
Simple & a cheap multimeter will do the job .

Rob
vwrobb@gmail.com
On Nov 5, 2015 4:29 PM, "Dave Mcneely" <mcneely4@cox.net> wrote:

> David, while that is technically correct, whenever I test a battery with a
> multimeter for voltage, if it is low, and I try it in an appliance, I don't
> get the desired response.  If it reads close to or slightly above the
> nominal voltage, I get the desired response, such as bright light with a
> torch.  I realize that the voltage I measure is not the voltage the
> appliance sees due to load and loss variables, but it must be close
> enough.  Maybe if I were powering a scientific instrument which provides an
> analog or digital readout, the readout would be off, but for everyday
> household devices, I've had no problem.  mcneely
>
> ---- David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET> wrote:
> > At 05:30 PM 11/5/2015, Anthony Egeln wrote:
> > >I've been looking for a good excuse to buy a
> > >moderately priced multimeter for quite some
> > >time, and I think I may have one now.
> > >Can you use a multimeter to check household
> > >batteries? Â I have a box full of AA, AAA and 9V
> > >batteries that my late mother had accumulated,
> > >and while they may be out of date I want to make
> > >sure they are really done before taking them to
> > >our community hazmat pick up this Saturday. Â
> > >I was going to buy a "battery checker" on Amazon
> > >and I started thinking that a multimeter might
> > >be able do this just as well and I'd have my excuse to buy the
> instrument.
> > >There are a lot of recommendations on the
> > >archive for which multimeter to buy, but none
> > >very recent. Â I'd love to have a current
> > >recommendation for a moderately priced instrument, digital or analog.
> > >Thanks, Ant
> >
> > Not really.  To test a dry cell or dry battery
> > you have to load it with something approximating
> > a working load.  Digital meters in general have
> > ten megohms input resistance.  My Radio Shack
> > puts a 50 mA load on AAA, 150 mA on AA, C, D
> > cells. 3 mA on button cells and I'm not sure on
> > the rest.  Ideally you'd dial in your desired
> > load and cutoff voltage for your particular applications.
> >
> > Yours,
> > David
>
> --
> David McNeely
>