Battery Testing

[fattony]

Hi

 

i called Kentec today as I wanted to check the power supply was ok to charge the size of the batteries as after 1 year my ACT battery tester tells me they have failed (considerably) 

 

The guy I spoke to who was a previous service engineer for contract fire said he had been advised by ACT that the units are only calibrated upto 12Ah and the best way to test them is to measure the current being drawn, if the battery is failing the current will be hundreds of mA opposed to the trickle charge

 

Firstly has anyone heard this from ACT before?

 

On my next panel I tried it, little Sita 200plus had 2.8Ah batteries in it (never achieving 24 hour standby) and I measured 9mA going into it and the ACT measured 1.42Ah which fails on their chart.

 

Do you use a ACT tester or measure the current?

 

What I’m trying to avoid is failing the batteries too early and ensuring they are failed so 1 day / week or months after my service the panel doesn’t show a battery fault

 

Thanks 

[PeterJames]

Which model?

 

Quote

The ACT 612 is a dual voltage intelligent battery tester, designed for 6V and 12V lead acid batteries
from 1.2Ah to 100Ah, 

 

Quote

Battery Sizes 6V (1.2Ah – 12Ah) and 12V (1.2Ah to 100Ah)

 

Sounds like he got 6v and 12v confused

[fattony]

I’ve got the ACT Gold, not sure which model it is, I’ll have a look and see if it has a model number

[sixwheeledbeast]

The crocs on IBTs are fine for faston connections but if your battery has threaded terminals then your suppose to use the "3532" clamps for more accurate readings. Maybe this is what he's referring to?

There's a few threads in the trade forums talking about battery testing and what different people do

Measuring float charging current wouldn't give you the full picture of battery condition.

There is a possibility the unit needs calibrating if you've had it a while and it's consistently failing new-ish batteries.

[PeterJames]

Also you should wait for the tester to cool between tests