Will this be good for a noob

What do you think about this battery tester for 18650s to test for a noob Embarassed

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/images/zts/D3S_4119-mbt-1-1028.jpg

Well, it seems to be able to measure Lithiom rechargeables (along with a bunch of other battery types available), so basically, the answer is yes. Does look expensive though. My advice would be, get a digital multimeter. Does the same job, you can get them fairly cheap, and they have a ton of uses besides checking your 18650ies. All you need to know is the voltage your cell should have when it is full and empty.

Li-Ion: Full at 4.20 V, recharge at 3.7 V, throw away when under 2.5 V.

NiMH: Full at 1.2V or slightly above, empty at 0.9 V

Alkaline: Full at 1.55 V or so, empty when flashlight says so.

This is no rocket surgery

Yeah I know I just want to make darn sure I don't blow up......Smile

I have quite a few DMM's, and would also recommend getting and learning one.

However, I also use this a lot for convenience. http://www.dealextreme.com/feedbacks/BrowseReviews.dx/sku.24219. It needs to be modded slightly, and then it will fit unprotected cells. In that use case, it'll be precise but not entirely accurate since it's a battery tester w/ a load calibrated to 1.5v, but it's good enough for our purposes.

@agenthex

so what do I have to mod for it to work? and it only work on un protected what about protected

thanks...

By default it doesn't open far enough to squeeze in a 18650. You can take it apart and shave some off the tracks and red plastic bit to extend the range of movement, but you can't quite do enough to fit a protected one in and not have the red thing fall out (still usable but not convenient which is rather the point). It works out for me because I mostly have unprotected cells, so if you have mostly protected, obviously not as useful.

The ZTS tester you linked is just overprice, at least for cheap ass bastards.

Or you take a cheap multimeter:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-LCD-Digital-Voltmeter-Ammeter-Ohm-Multimeter-DT830B-/330460212019?_trksid=p4340.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC.OPJS%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUA%26otn%3D5%26pmod%3D280689091141%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D1754754444044114517

I have one of them in my car (if I have a longer trip, to check my batteries). The measurements of Volt are similar to a Fluke multimeter (cheap multimeter: 3,71V, Fluke 3,721V).

If you measure the Ampere on the tailcap all under 1A is ok (older LEDs like P4 or Q5), all XM-L measurements fail (it shows something about 1,4A, the Fluke 2,9A, but if you use better test leads, you got 2,88A).

For $3,44 you get something to measure Volt and if you buy better test leads (ok, they cost more as the multimeter or you build them by your self, if you have cable (2,5mm or 4mm) ) you can do a lot of other things with it.

LOL yeah.. Im cheap too but since Im new at this stuff and I got that big ole sst-90Smile coming I just want

to make sure Im takeing all the right steps and I have been told protected battries are the way to

go and I thank everybody for pointing me the right way......since I got caught up in all the bright lightsLaughing

rocket surgery, that's funny.

Equus 3320 Auto-Ranging Digital Multimeter

built in tester for regular batteries and car