Speaking Of Harbor Freight...
This load tester costs fifty dollars. I own one. It will CORRECTLY load test a tiny garden tractor battery all the way up to a 160 lb 8-D battery. CORRECTLY The cheese grater type testers ...
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8-D batteries can have as little as 800 CCA or as much as 1,400 CCA. This tester has to be cranked up to maximum 500 amperes to test the 29 plate premium 8-D battery but it's enough to test the battery.
Make SURE the battery is "over charged" before testing then let it sit for a few hours before testing.
A battery that ALMOST passes may be merely sulfated. These batteries will sag voltage a little below 9.6 volts at the end of the test but stay steady. This is where the HYDROMETER comes into play. Usually giving an 8-D a vigorous overcharge with a manual charger (see equalization) will improve the results of the CCA test allowing the battery to pass muster.
Most bad batteries just fall on their butt when the CORRECT amperage is used for the test. Applying 100-amp "Cheese Grater" tester amperage to a larger than 200 CCA rated battery is a ridiculous "Tickle Me Elmo" exercise in futility.
This is a "load tester" good for tiny garden tractor batteries. It is utterly useless for anything else. Stores that use this tester do so because it requires no thinking for pimple faced employees who have to unzip their pants in order to count past "10". Ridiculous.
Make SURE the battery is "over charged" before testing then let it sit for a few hours before testing.
A battery that ALMOST passes may be merely sulfated. These batteries will sag voltage a little below 9.6 volts at the end of the test but stay steady. This is where the HYDROMETER comes into play. Usually giving an 8-D a vigorous overcharge with a manual charger (see equalization) will improve the results of the CCA test allowing the battery to pass muster.
Most bad batteries just fall on their butt when the CORRECT amperage is used for the test. Applying 100-amp "Cheese Grater" tester amperage to a larger than 200 CCA rated battery is a ridiculous "Tickle Me Elmo" exercise in futility.
This is a "load tester" good for tiny garden tractor batteries. It is utterly useless for anything else. Stores that use this tester do so because it requires no thinking for pimple faced employees who have to unzip their pants in order to count past "10". Ridiculous.
