I have an earlier Topdon battery tester and the leads are much shorter, only about 18in. The difference in SOC will likely be because you connected the Topdon with the vehicle off, but had woken things up when doing the Pico test. I find it very accurate and will give consistent results. If you look closely, there are two wires to each battery clip. This is because they use the "4 wire Ohms", or Kelvin connection. Two of the wires apply a pulsed load current and the other two measure the voltage drop. As there are two independent connections to each battery terminal, it removes any connection resistance error. Incidentally battery testers like this can be used at the starter B+ and ground, applying the test there will give you the resistance of the starter cables and also an indication of the current that could flow - if the battery itself can provide 800A but at the starter end the result is only 200A you know you have a high resistance connection.
Anybody know what is good or bad mOhm reading? I tested some battery with pico battery test and I know brand new battery is 2-3mOhm and worn battery is over 10mOhm, but its depens. My teacher said that if there are more than 10 the battery is out. I have tried to search for articles but have not found the answer to my question. @Super Mario Diagnostics: What battery tester U use everday? Pico?
@@aivarinno9257 Do the sums - V=IR, so if a starter pulls say 300A, with 10mOhm within the battery, there's a 3V drop across the battery during starting. There will be other losses in the circuit so the voltage getting to the starter will be marginal at that sort of internal resistance.
Mario, an AGM battery is considered to be completly charged between 12.8 and 13 volts, OCV. Looks like the pico takes care of this indicating 80% at 12.6 V, the topdon not so much. Maybe you can test the same battery once with the regular lead/acid selection and one time more as AGM type and see if the topdon reports a difference. The topdon max amperage is a calculation of the capacity based on a defined voltage drop, depending on the testing standard (DIN, EN, SAE, CCA etc) A battery can and will deliver deliver considerably higher currents but the voltage drop will be bigger, so the 720 A given by the Topdon and the 998 A from the pico is not exactly an apple to apple comparison. You could take this to the next level by measurig the AC-voltage and current the topdon sends through his battery test with the Pico connected to B+ and B- where the topdon connects to the battery. The way the topdon works is sending a (to him) known AC-current with a given frequency through the battery and checking for the impedence. THANK YOU for the video.
I like how you can do the charging system test independently. On my midtronics I must first perform battery system test before it lets me move onto the starting and charging system test. It won’t always detect rpm increase so I’m glad I got a long cord to hold it in the car.
I have a midtronics that is over 15 years old and doest work properly anymore because it fails every battery tested and I can't do software update, I'm going to buy this new tester and hope it lasts just as long
I'm not liking the overall quality of this battery tester and I question the algorithm in the testing itself. Good video overall but we're gonna continue to use midtronics units as we find them to be a professional well built unit that is made in the USA. 🇺🇸
Here's a tip for you when comparing readings of two different output tests, Add the readings together and divide the total by {of this case 2} to get the average. if the average is within 5% then accuracy is pretty dead on.
Sack him. Get Caleb Danner......Lol Nothing wrong with the camera work at all Mario. We are getting spoilt for choice with the amount of gear coming out at the moment. Nice review.
Thanks. When doing the charging test I think you should hit "enter" while you are revving your engine and not after your engine got to idle. What do you think? Also, is this model more precise than Topdon 101 and Topdon 100??? Thanks
No voltage source is perfect. They all have internal resistance (it's naturally occurring, not a physical resistor as such), which will cause the terminal voltage to drop under load. As a battery ages and the plates get contaminated or sulphated, that internal resistance goes up, meaning the amount of available current goes down. But without a load, the terminal voltage can appear healthy. The Topdon tests internal resistance with its own current pulses and voltage measurement, the Pico tests that with the actual starter load current measurement and voltage measurement.
I have an earlier Topdon battery tester and the leads are much shorter, only about 18in.
The difference in SOC will likely be because you connected the Topdon with the vehicle off, but had woken things up when doing the Pico test.
I find it very accurate and will give consistent results.
If you look closely, there are two wires to each battery clip.
This is because they use the "4 wire Ohms", or Kelvin connection.
Two of the wires apply a pulsed load current and the other two measure the voltage drop.
As there are two independent connections to each battery terminal, it removes any connection resistance error.
Incidentally battery testers like this can be used at the starter B+ and ground, applying the test there will give you the resistance of the starter cables and also an indication of the current that could flow - if the battery itself can provide 800A but at the starter end the result is only 200A you know you have a high resistance connection.
That is really smart... Great comment!
Battery internal resistance is milli ohms, rather than Mega ohms as stated. Thanks for the review !
Anybody know what is good or bad mOhm reading? I tested some battery with pico battery test and I know brand new battery is 2-3mOhm and worn battery is over 10mOhm, but its depens. My teacher said that if there are more than 10 the battery is out.
I have tried to search for articles but have not found the answer to my question.
@Super Mario Diagnostics: What battery tester U use everday? Pico?
@@aivarinno9257 Do the sums - V=IR, so if a starter pulls say 300A, with 10mOhm within the battery, there's a 3V drop across the battery during starting. There will be other losses in the circuit so the voltage getting to the starter will be marginal at that sort of internal resistance.
Thanks for that... a lot of techs really need to know this!
Mario nice review. I just recently purchased a Medtronic tester. Hope all is well thanks for sharing Artie 😊
excellent teacher in diagnostics greetings
Mario,
an AGM battery is considered to be completly charged between 12.8 and 13 volts, OCV. Looks like the pico takes care of this indicating 80% at 12.6 V, the topdon not so much. Maybe you can test the same battery once with the regular lead/acid selection and one time more as AGM type and see if the topdon reports a difference.
The topdon max amperage is a calculation of the capacity based on a defined voltage drop, depending on the testing standard (DIN, EN, SAE, CCA etc) A battery can and will deliver deliver considerably higher currents but the voltage drop will be bigger, so the 720 A given by the Topdon and the 998 A from the pico is not exactly an apple to apple comparison.
You could take this to the next level by measurig the AC-voltage and current the topdon sends through his battery test with the Pico connected to B+ and B- where the topdon connects to the battery. The way the topdon works is sending a (to him) known AC-current with a given frequency through the battery and checking for the impedence.
THANK YOU for the video.
He actually misspoke, the topdon showed 87% not 100% compared to the 80%
Good job on the camera man 👍
I like how you can do the charging system test independently. On my midtronics I must first perform battery system test before it lets me move onto the starting and charging system test. It won’t always detect rpm increase so I’m glad I got a long cord to hold it in the car.
can you extend it with jumper cables or its not safe to do that?
I have a midtronics that is over 15 years old and doest work properly anymore because it fails every battery tested and I can't do software update, I'm going to buy this new tester and hope it lasts just as long
I'm not liking the overall quality of this battery tester and I question the algorithm in the testing itself. Good video overall but we're gonna continue to use midtronics units as we find them to be a professional well built unit that is made in the USA. 🇺🇸
Great reviewed Mario thanks a lot.
I've been using the topdon artibattery 101 for a while. If I needed a printer, the price on this one looks good👍
Here's a tip for you when comparing readings of two different output tests, Add the readings together and divide the total by {of this case 2} to get the average. if the average is within 5% then accuracy is pretty dead on.
that is smart!
I like try it
Sack him. Get Caleb Danner......Lol Nothing wrong with the camera work at all Mario. We are getting spoilt for choice with the amount of gear coming out at the moment. Nice review.
They have one that is Bluetooth 🙂
That's cool because it makes the starter motor and load test easier.
Think I'd stick with the Pico, but for $80 bucks that thing's not too bad! Topdon has some good stuff!
wow, I need to get one of these, or something similar
Thanks. When doing the charging test I think you should hit "enter" while you are revving your engine and not after your engine got to idle. What do you think?
Also, is this model more precise than Topdon 101 and Topdon 100???
Thanks
just ordered one…
I was not expecting it to be that cheap. For that price you cant go wrong. My battery tester was 270$ and it doesn't have a built in printer.
Which one is your tester? Perhaps yours is more expensive because it is more precise?
@@carlosw1687 its a midtronics
What is mean by battery internal resistance on pico?
No voltage source is perfect.
They all have internal resistance (it's naturally occurring, not a physical resistor as such), which will cause the terminal voltage to drop under load.
As a battery ages and the plates get contaminated or sulphated, that internal resistance goes up, meaning the amount of available current goes down.
But without a load, the terminal voltage can appear healthy.
The Topdon tests internal resistance with its own current pulses and voltage measurement, the Pico tests that with the actual starter load current measurement and voltage measurement.
👍
Your feed is bad