Anyone know of a budget DMM or battery tester with min/max V so I can check voltage drop when checking my car battery?
I’m not quite sure what you are asking for.
Any DMM will give you readings in the 8v-16v range.
Problem is, many times voltage alone won’t tell you the whole story on a car battery.
Are you looking for a load tester?
Something that puts a load on the car battery so you can get a sense of batteries ability to work under load?
All the Best,
Jeff
Instead of a load tester I was looking for a cheap dmm that would record the lowest battery voltage when I start my car so that I can rule out the battery. Normally under 9v if I remember well battery is a goner. When I look at my dmm, it's really hard to tell the low voltage figure as it all fly's by so fast when starting so not really accurate.
I get it. Hard to get a reading while the starter is cranking and the meter is just flipping through the readings.
I don’t have a recommendation, all my DMMs are old Flukes without a Min/Max Hold.
Though there seem to be quite a few around just looking through Amazon.
On thing to watch out for is meter refresh rate. Some cheap meters only update a few times a second.
That might not be fast enough to catch a min value you are looking for.
Good luck in your hunt.
All the Best,
Jeff
PS, You might POST this over in Modding section. More hardware testing type may be more likely to read it and give you some good advice.
I use this for car batteries
https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10039206/8498700-clamp-style-car-battery-tester-analyzer
It has cranking test and will show lowest voltage.
Thanks both for the help. Might just grab the load tester to be on the safe side. One from fasttech looks good but not sure I want to wait so long for delivery.
Those small units are pretty good for smaller batteries. Possibly the small end of car batteries, and the large end of “powersport” (motorcycle, ATV, jet ski, etc.) and “lawn & garden” (riding mower) batteries.
These are also good most of the time - they simulate a small load and do some sort of math to try to extrapolate the battery’s performance under real load and stuff. I’ve still had false “good” readings from them.
For anything solidly in the car battery department or larger, I will only fully trust this style of tester . Source: One of the biggest parts of my job for three years was testing car batteries, both for people wondering if theirs was still good, and for warranty purposes. Nothing but a massive carbon pile resistor that’s actually putting a heavy load on the battery will tell you the full story every time.
I’d say just take it somewhere that tests car batteries for free, but even most of those places use something like the first two testers now.
Nice find thanks. I love collecting tools but this one goes in my if I win the lottery collection. Will always have it bookmarked though just in case.
