Can anyone recommend a battery load tester?

[Bruce]

This will be the 8th summer for the group 31 AGM batteries in my boat. We are getting a late start to boating due to my son having surgery. Might be able to make it to the lake in June. I am thinking that I would like to load test my batteries before hitting the water and would prefer to not remove them from the boat.

Has anyone used a portable load tester that they would recommend?

 

[RNYCLV]

We use a Foxwell, got it on Amazon.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

I said I did not want to hear the nonsense, deleted!

 

[mark_m]

This will be the 8th summer for the group 31 AGM batteries in my boat. We are getting a late start to boating due to my son having surgery. Might be able to make it to the lake in June. I am thinking that I would like to load test my batteries before hitting the water and would prefer to not remove them from the boat.

Has anyone used a portable load tester that they would recommend?

I hope everything goes well with your son.

 

[Bruce]

I hope everything goes well with your son.

Thank you.

 

[mark_m]

I have one or you can make your own with a volt meter and some jumper cables. connect the meter to the battery you want to monitor and the ends of the cables to the battery then stand away from the battery and short the cables together to get a reading on the meter if it drops below 11 volts you have a weak or low battery if you want to find a bad cell open the cells if you can gain access to them and do the same thing if a cell boils when you short the battery cables it is bad. And no I don't want to hear all the nonsense I have done this in a pinch for many decades.

I think this is effectively what the tool is doing in a more insular way isn’t it?

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

I think this is effectively what the tool is doing in a more insular way isn’t it?

exactly I learned that trick in the polish navy

 

[Bruce]

I think this is effectively what the tool is doing in a more insular way isn’t it?

A battery load tester uses a resistive load. I would not short out a battery. Too much risk of damaging the battery or starting a fire. Not saying it can not be done, just not something I would do.

Pulling the lanyard then cranking the engine with a multimeter checking the voltage would be a more reasonable test.