What is the Ideal Battery Charging System?
I am a retired graduate mechanical engineer so I am not totally stupid about batteries but I have been reading many posts on this forum and I am completely overwhelmed and baffled. Specifically, I ha...
Forum Discussion
Westend and others,
Sorry for being such a pain in the butt but I know just enough that I am totally dangerous and completely confused.
How will I use this meter? Do I record voltage first thing each morning and watch the trend? If it is staying at a certain level, ie 12.60 volts, then I am recharging OK? Or is there some other measurement that I should be monitoring and trending? And what about the AMP reading; what do I do with that? How is an AMP reading useful to me? Where do I take these readings? My objective is to get good life out of my batteries with reasonable maintenance. Initially, I am willing to put in time to determine my battery charging needs but, eventually, I only want to do a quick check each day to verify its condition and be done with them.
I looked at both the Sears and the Fluke websites and became totally confused. I understand that one of the features of the meter is a 12VDC display to two decimal places.
1) What does it need for DC amp range? 100 amp, 200 amp, 5 amp, 10 ma?
2) Should it be a clamp-on type meter?
3) What other features do I need?
I am going to Green Bay, WI on Wednesday and they have a fair size Sears store. Maybe I can pick up the proper meter. They also have a Harbor Freight store. Someone mentioned having one of their less expensive ones. Are the requirements of this multimeter the same as above?
Thanks,
LeRoy
Sorry for being such a pain in the butt but I know just enough that I am totally dangerous and completely confused.
How will I use this meter? Do I record voltage first thing each morning and watch the trend? If it is staying at a certain level, ie 12.60 volts, then I am recharging OK? Or is there some other measurement that I should be monitoring and trending? And what about the AMP reading; what do I do with that? How is an AMP reading useful to me? Where do I take these readings? My objective is to get good life out of my batteries with reasonable maintenance. Initially, I am willing to put in time to determine my battery charging needs but, eventually, I only want to do a quick check each day to verify its condition and be done with them.
I looked at both the Sears and the Fluke websites and became totally confused. I understand that one of the features of the meter is a 12VDC display to two decimal places.
1) What does it need for DC amp range? 100 amp, 200 amp, 5 amp, 10 ma?
2) Should it be a clamp-on type meter?
3) What other features do I need?
I am going to Green Bay, WI on Wednesday and they have a fair size Sears store. Maybe I can pick up the proper meter. They also have a Harbor Freight store. Someone mentioned having one of their less expensive ones. Are the requirements of this multimeter the same as above?
Thanks,
LeRoy
