Sounds like a good product. I like the comparison between the Greenlee and this one that showed why a standard multi-meter might not be the best choice. Great review, Sir! Thank you for uploading!
I have got to quit watching your videos. Every time I watch one, I slip into the "MUST HAVE" mode even if I don't really need the item. Great review. I could see needing one once every couple of years. It's one of those things that I don't need now, but wish I had when I do need it.
Hi, I have that tester, works great. I also have their charger MUS 4.3. They have a convenience cable that connects to the positive and negative posts and has a pigtail connector that allows you to plug in the charger without (1) disconnecting the negative cable and (2) removing the battery from the car. My question is this. I have a 2007 Camry, do you think the charger would hurt the electronics of the car? CTEK says no and so does my Toyota dealership technician. I'm a little nervous about connecting it up though, lol.
C-tek chargers usually cut off at 14.7 volts or less on the normal (wet) battery setting. It's a bit higher than the alternators put out, but it should be OK. Don't accidentally set the charger to AGM, or it could go as high as 15 volts, depending on temperature. Even 15 volts wouldn't normally harm car electronics, but it just might if you were unlucky. Make sure everything in the car is turned off when the charger is connected, or smart chargers can get "confused" if interior lights or other things are on & drawing current.
Just to add, up to 15 volts charging is very unlikely to harm any electronics in a car. One thing to be careful of is the recondition mode on some C-tek & other chargers. The C-tek goes up to 15.8 volts to equalise & recondition batteries, & some car electronics might not like going to near 16 volts.
Testers without the AGM feature will work, but Midtronics suggest that they'll read about up to 100 CCA too high. Therefore, either reduce the final reading shown on your tester by up to 100 CCA on a big car battery, or if it's the pass/ fail feature you want to look at, then you'd need to add 50 -100 CCA to the battery label CCA amps you put in. So a 750 CCA labelled battery could be put in the tester as 850 CCA, then see if it passed on your particular brand of tester. All conductance testers need good connections to LEAD terminal posts (not steel) or the readings will be way out & useless. The readings do vary by up to 50CCA depending on state of charge of the battery. Don't test just after charging a battery, or the readings will be be incorrect.Neither will tests on jump start posts be accurate. You must be right on the battery terminals & rock the clamps so they connect well. Be aware that ALL conductance testers can occasionally be "fooled, "& say a useless battery is good. (I have used several testers, including Midtronics).Any doubts, & I'd double check the battery with a heavy current load tester &/or ideally a discharge over several hours at C/20. NB headlights, but don't go much below about 11.4 v on load to get an idea of capacity with a standard car battery (assume a fair bit extra would be available if you went lower to the 10.5 V cut off on load manufacturers frequently rate the AH capacity to). Recharge the battery immediately after a several hours long discharge test.
@@chocolate_squiggle You are welcome. Conductance testers can be a good guide for starting ability, but only a guide. Even ACT testers can't give an accurate test of amp hour capacity on big batteries above about 10AH. Powersonic, that make batteries, give tables where you multiply meter readings shown by up to 2.7 or divide by different figures with each of their batteries to get correct ACT readings, but with other makes you might almost as well stick a pin in blindfolded into a chart of AH numbers to guess at their capacities, unless you have a brand new battery exactly the same to find out what the meter should read if a battery is OK.----useless! Have a nice day.
I don't see how this tester can work. Let's say you have 12 volts & 400 amps. The resistance required to load the battery for a test is 12/400 = 30 milliohms. That's a very low resistance which you could hardly get from applying a crocodile clip to a dirty battery terminal. You would need to load the battery at 400 amps using a large 30 milliohm resistor for say 2 seconds & measure the voltage drop. It seems to me that this tester is not doing that. It's using some other undefined parameter. I don't see why a proper tester would cost $5,000. You would need very thick cables going to a suitable load resistor connected to the battery under test & an ordinary starter motor solenoid to make the connection for say 2 seconds. An analog voltmeter - mechanical movement would let you see the voltage drop. You could probably make such a device for under $200.
Its 400 cold cranking amp, not current amp. Internal resistance doesnt tell much about starter battery condition, but useful parameter for stationary batt
Djthunder PSN Everyone is entitled to their opinions....I'm not sure whats to dislike about this video, since I kept it under 6 minutes & went over exactly how the tool worked...
Great review! I checked out your real tool reviews page the other day. Awesome, looks very professional!
Cody Robertson Thanks Cody! I told my wife you said that (she runs the site) & she was glad to hear you liked it :)
Nice video and good presentation.I want to ask if there is a ctek model for bigger bateries;
Sounds like a good product. I like the comparison between the Greenlee and this one that showed why a standard multi-meter might not be the best choice. Great review, Sir! Thank you for uploading!
Robert Johnson Thanks Robert! I thought the multi-meter comparison would help some people see the benefits of using this :)
I have got to quit watching your videos. Every time I watch one, I slip into the "MUST HAVE" mode even if I don't really need the item. Great review. I could see needing one once every couple of years. It's one of those things that I don't need now, but wish I had when I do need it.
Mike L. Haha nice :) Thanks Mike!
it does work good...had to break mine out to test 5 yellow tops all reading 12plus volts but one is only 200 cca out of 750
Nice 👍
For the 2nd battery, I would de-sulphate, charge and then retest.
Hi, I have that tester, works great. I also have their charger MUS 4.3. They have a convenience cable that connects to the positive and negative posts and has a pigtail connector that allows you to plug in the charger without (1) disconnecting the negative cable and (2) removing the battery from the car. My question is this. I have a 2007 Camry, do you think the charger would hurt the electronics of the car? CTEK says no and so does my Toyota dealership technician. I'm a little nervous about connecting it up though, lol.
C-tek chargers usually cut off at 14.7 volts or less on the normal (wet) battery setting. It's a bit higher than the alternators put out, but it should be OK. Don't accidentally set the charger to AGM, or it could go as high as 15 volts, depending on temperature. Even 15 volts wouldn't normally harm car electronics, but it just might if you were unlucky. Make sure everything in the car is turned off when the charger is connected, or smart chargers can get "confused" if interior lights or other things are on & drawing current.
Just to add, up to 15 volts charging is very unlikely to harm any electronics in a car. One thing to be careful of is the recondition mode on some C-tek & other chargers. The C-tek goes up to 15.8 volts to equalise & recondition batteries, & some car electronics might not like going to near 16 volts.
Load Tester - heat, sparks & electrolyte coming out the top of the battery (from the defective cell).
Does it also work with AGM batteries
Testers without the AGM feature will work, but Midtronics suggest that they'll read about up to 100 CCA too high. Therefore, either reduce the final reading shown on your tester by up to 100 CCA on a big car battery, or if it's the pass/ fail feature you want to look at, then you'd need to add 50 -100 CCA to the battery label CCA amps you put in. So a 750 CCA labelled battery could be put in the tester as 850 CCA, then see if it passed on your particular brand of tester. All conductance testers need good connections to LEAD terminal posts (not steel) or the readings will be way out & useless. The readings do vary by up to 50CCA depending on state of charge of the battery.
Don't test just after charging a battery, or the readings will be be incorrect.Neither will tests on jump start posts be accurate. You must be right on the battery terminals & rock the clamps so they connect well. Be aware that ALL conductance testers can occasionally be "fooled, "& say a useless battery is good. (I have used several testers, including Midtronics).Any doubts, & I'd double check the battery with a heavy current load tester &/or ideally a discharge over several hours at C/20. NB headlights, but don't go much below about 11.4 v on load to get an idea of capacity with a standard car battery (assume a fair bit extra would be available if you went lower to the 10.5 V cut off on load manufacturers frequently rate the AH capacity to). Recharge the battery immediately after a several hours long discharge test.
@@michaelthomas3105 Thanks - your reply shored up some things I was wondering about the accuracy of this type of tester. Good tips, cheers.
@@chocolate_squiggle You are welcome. Conductance testers can be a good guide for starting ability, but only a guide. Even ACT testers can't give an accurate test of amp hour capacity on big batteries above about 10AH. Powersonic, that make batteries, give tables where you multiply meter readings shown by up to 2.7 or divide by different figures with each of their batteries to get correct ACT readings, but with other makes you might almost as well stick a pin in blindfolded into a chart of AH numbers to guess at their capacities, unless you have a brand new battery exactly the same to find out what the meter should read if a battery is OK.----useless! Have a nice day.
I don't see how this tester can work.
Let's say you have 12 volts & 400 amps.
The resistance required to load the battery for a test is 12/400 = 30 milliohms.
That's a very low resistance which you could hardly get from applying a crocodile clip
to a dirty battery terminal.
You would need to load the battery at 400 amps using a large
30 milliohm resistor for say 2 seconds & measure the voltage drop.
It seems to me that this tester is not doing that.
It's using some other undefined parameter.
I don't see why a proper tester would cost $5,000.
You would need very thick cables going to a suitable load resistor
connected to the battery under test & an ordinary starter motor solenoid
to make the connection for say 2 seconds.
An analog voltmeter - mechanical movement would let you see the voltage drop.
You could probably make such a device for under $200.
They send an AC signal into the battery & the current required is tiny.
Its 400 cold cranking amp, not current amp. Internal resistance doesnt tell much about starter battery condition, but useful parameter for stationary batt
who would dislike your video!!!??? wtf gonna have to get my baseball bat lol jk
Djthunder PSN Everyone is entitled to their opinions....I'm not sure whats to dislike about this video, since I kept it under 6 minutes & went over exactly how the tool worked...
trolls man there everywhere
Good to know there is some thing reliable out there to test batteries that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
Gray Stone I definitely agree! And, no more having to drive to autozone to have them check it out either.
Great review
George S Thanks George!