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Battery Tester

T

Too_Many_Tools

Jan 1, 1970
0
Does anyone have a favorite battery tester that they would recommend?

Other than what Radio Shack sells I see little else available.

Thanks

TMT
 
J

Jeff Liebermann

Jan 1, 1970
0
Too_Many_Tools said:
Does anyone have a favorite battery tester that they would recommend?
Other than what Radio Shack sells I see little else available.

Look again, this time using "battery tester" as Google search keyword.

Sure. For automobile batteries, I use one of these:
<http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91129>
<http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90636>
I have one of the 500A variety. If it gets hot and tries to catch
fire, the battery is good.

For smaller batteries, I just use a DVG (digital volts guesser).
Depending on battery chemistry, I can usually determine whether the
battery is totally dead, shorted, or otherwise ready for recycling.
What I can't determine with a DVG is if the capacity of the battery is
anywhere near the specified values. For that, I have to create a
discharge curve, and compare it to a known good battery. I built my
own long ago consisting of a test socket (for AA, C, D cells),
constant current load, and an ancient strip chart recorder. I can
tell if a battery or battery pack are dying by comparing the original
curve, with the current test curve.

A more modern version can be found for about $100 at:
<http://www.westmountainradio.com/CBA_ham.htm>
<http://www.westmountainradio.com/pdf/QST CBA PG40.pdf>
I don't own one of these, yet.
 
J

Jamie

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff said:
Look again, this time using "battery tester" as Google search keyword.

Sure. For automobile batteries, I use one of these:
<http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91129>
<http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90636>
I have one of the 500A variety. If it gets hot and tries to catch
fire, the battery is good.
Is that anything like back in the witch hunt days?
If they drowned when held under water, I guess that
meant they weren't a witch ?
what analogy :)
 
J

Jeff Liebermann

Jan 1, 1970
0
Is that anything like back in the witch hunt days?
If they drowned when held under water, I guess that
meant they weren't a witch ?
what analogy :)

Ummm... that was during the Salem witch hunts. Back then, they didn't
have the benefit of industry and government approved inspections,
standards, and testing procedures. Forced to invent their own, they
produced something similar to hiring a competitor to design your QA
procedures. Everything was guaranteed to fail.

In this case, the basic assumption was that a witch would float while
a non-witch would sink and drown. It would have been simple enough to
just throw the test sample into a pool of clean water with a known and
controlled pH. If they couldn't swim underwater, they were a witch.
If they floundered around thrashed about, they were either a witch or
at least a good candidate for swimming lessons.

Since the local church was deemed to be the competition of witchcraft,
they added an unrealistic time limit. Instead of waiting for the
floatation test to culminate, they attempted to accelerate the test by
holding the test sample under water. The results were predictable.
Everyone drowned.

This is terrible QA testing, but is very similar to battery testing.
If you give the battery time to discharge properly, it will simply
heat up the load and incinerate everything nearby. However, if you
attempt to accelerate the process by shorting the battery, you're more
likely to have an explosion.

Were we to suffer an infestation of witches today, the methodology
would be quite different. Various industry trade organizations would
immediately engage in a turf war to inscribe the necessary test
standards. One is selected by virtue of the size of the consortium
they can collect, the conglomeration of academics, pundits, industry
burnouts, and newly minted engineers meet to hammer out a suitable
standard for witch testing. Each group contributes its best practices
and patented rituals. After years of expense accounts, travel costs,
voluminous email, and multiple votes, a miserable compromise is
reached. The standard is then published and sold an exorbitant cost.
Of course, by then it's too late to do anything about the witch
infestation, so the test procedure expands to include warlocks,
werewolves, vampires, and such. By this time, researchers have
discovered various security holes and inconsistencies in the original
test procedures, and amendments and annexes are inscribed.

Sometimes, I wonder if the Salem witch hunt method wasn't all that
bad.
 
T

Too_Many_Tools

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jamie <[email protected]> hath wroth:






Ummm... that was during the Salem witch hunts. Back then, they didn't
have the benefit of industry and government approved inspections,
standards, and testing procedures. Forced to invent their own, they
produced something similar to hiring a competitor to design your QA
procedures. Everything was guaranteed to fail.

In this case, the basic assumption was that a witch would float while
a non-witch would sink and drown. It would have been simple enough to
just throw the test sample into a pool of clean water with a known and
controlled pH. If they couldn't swim underwater, they were a witch.
If they floundered around thrashed about, they were either a witch or
at least a good candidate for swimming lessons.

Since the local church was deemed to be the competition of witchcraft,
they added an unrealistic time limit. Instead of waiting for the
floatation test to culminate, they attempted to accelerate the test by
holding the test sample under water. The results were predictable.
Everyone drowned.

This is terrible QA testing, but is very similar to battery testing.
If you give the battery time to discharge properly, it will simply
heat up the load and incinerate everything nearby. However, if you
attempt to accelerate the process by shorting the battery, you're more
likely to have an explosion.

Were we to suffer an infestation of witches today, the methodology
would be quite different. Various industry trade organizations would
immediately engage in a turf war to inscribe the necessary test
standards. One is selected by virtue of the size of the consortium
they can collect, the conglomeration of academics, pundits, industry
burnouts, and newly minted engineers meet to hammer out a suitable
standard for witch testing. Each group contributes its best practices
and patented rituals. After years of expense accounts, travel costs,
voluminous email, and multiple votes, a miserable compromise is
reached. The standard is then published and sold an exorbitant cost.
Of course, by then it's too late to do anything about the witch
infestation, so the test procedure expands to include warlocks,
werewolves, vampires, and such. By this time, researchers have
discovered various security holes and inconsistencies in the original
test procedures, and amendments and annexes are inscribed.

Sometimes, I wonder if the Salem witch hunt method wasn't all that
bad.

--
Jeff Liebermann [email protected]
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Excellent Jeff...just excellent.

I assume you are being held captive somewhere in a lab at a
undisclosed location monitoring a test that has no chance of
succeeding.

Usenet has saved my sanity more than once also.;<)


TMT
 
J

Jeff Liebermann

Jan 1, 1970
0
Too_Many_Tools said:
On Oct 20, 9:30 pm, Jeff Liebermann <[email protected]> wrote:
Excellent Jeff...just excellent.

Thanks. At least I can get something right today.
I assume you are being held captive somewhere in a lab at a
undisclosed location monitoring a test that has no chance of
succeeding.

That would be considered a vacation. I'm currently at home,
surrounded by tons of paperwork, various home projects, an ever
growing pile of eWaste candidates, and innumerable delayed chores.
Instead of doing all that, I've been slogging my way through the
various IEEE-802.11 documents, wondering what were they thinking when
they threw that mess together. Engineers writing like lawyers?
Anyway, I needed some comic relief to delay turning my brain to mush.
Usenet has saved my sanity more than once also.;<)

Think about what did you do Saturday evenings before you discovered
usenet news. Then, ask yourself if your sanity has really been
saved.
 
P

PhattyMo

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jamie said:
Is that anything like back in the witch hunt days?
If they drowned when held under water, I guess that
meant they weren't a witch ?
what analogy :)

LOL...I was just talking about that the other night..
You're F'ed either way..Catch-22.
 
P

Paige D'Winter

Jan 1, 1970
0
Does anyone have a favorite battery tester that they would recommend?

Other than what Radio Shack sells I see little else available.

Thanks

TMT

gugle is u r friend u sad pathetic loser wanker.
 
T

Tuner Watson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Does anyone have a favorite battery tester that they would recommend?

Other than what Radio Shack sells I see little else available.

Thanks

I got one at a local dollar store that works fine for AA, AAA, C, D, 9V and you
can even test flat 'button' batteries with it. It's a very cheap looking device
but it works. It says YUANSHIN on the front, whatever that means.
 
T

Too_Many_Tools

Jan 1, 1970
0
I got one at a local dollar store that works fine for AA, AAA, C, D, 9V and you
can even test flat 'button' batteries with it. It's a very cheap looking device
but it works. It says YUANSHIN on the front, whatever that means.

What was the dollar store's name?

TMT
 
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