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Old 12-02-2017, 12:26 PM   #7
aussiblue
FG XR6 Ute & Sedan
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Bibra Lake WA
Posts: 24,088
Technical Contributor: For members who share their technical expertise. - Issue reason: Has been floating around the oze tech section for a long time and is always there to give advice when people have an issue. 
Default Re: Battery and/or Alternator Testers?

The cheap battery load testers like this http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BATTERY-L...IAAOSw9eVXVl6m work fine for load testing and the scale on the gauge is calibrated to show the reading for different CCA batteries. They are really only useful when a battery is not holding it's charge and you want to know if the battery is dying or the charging system is at fault; but in those situations it is extremely useful. The carbon pile ones like this don't tell much more (essentially just a current reading) http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Battery-L...UAAOSwtJZXW3dy
A clamp on AC/DC multimeter is useful as it allows you to more readily test the alternator output by placing the clamp around it's output wire to measure amps. A clamp on meter also allows you to more readily track parasitic drain by moving the clamp along the wiring harnesses from the battery to the drain source. Like this http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Pro-Serie...EAAOSwv0tVXPP7

Watch out and read the spec carefully before buying a clamp on meter as many like this http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Clamp...kAAOxyf~hRzZ0n while describing themselves as AC/DC clamp on meters, only read AC amp with the clamp function. Jaycar and Altronics both sell suitable clamp on meters such as https://www.jaycar.com.au/400a-ac-dc...meter/p/QM1563 and http://www.altronics.com.au/p/q0968-...c-clamp-meter/
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Last edited by aussiblue; 12-02-2017 at 12:34 PM.
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