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Thread: Battery Testers

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    Senior Member secure's Avatar
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    Default Battery Testers

    Does any one have any info on Panel battery testers that are on the market or what you use?

    Looking for a unit to test battery's.

    How well do they work?



Look Here ->
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    Junior Member Goldstorm's Avatar
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    Red face battery meters

    ahhh..
    yes they are also called false alarm meters...voltometers....and more commonly these days know as a m-u-l-t-i-me-t-e-r-. Some are automatic and detect the correct settings and voltage range....prices range from $10 - $1000 depending on features...I guess with batteries so cheap these days anything over 12 months to two years old (date hopefully written on top of the battery as per the standards) just gets automatically replaced when doing a service call

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    Quote Originally Posted by Goldstorm View Post
    ahhh..
    yes they are also called false alarm meters...voltometers....and more commonly these days know as a m-u-l-t-i-me-t-e-r-. Some are automatic and detect the correct settings and voltage range....prices range from $10 - $1000 depending on features...I guess with batteries so cheap these days anything over 12 months to two years old (date hopefully written on top of the battery as per the standards) just gets automatically replaced when doing a service call
    A multimeter will show the voltage on the battery, it does not perform an accurate load test of the battery.

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    No I not after a multimeter.

    Something that can load test a battery and give a pass or fail.

    Something like this

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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by secure View Post
    No I not after a multimeter.

    Something that can load test a battery and give a pass or fail.

    Something like this
    You have just answered your own question, whats wrong with the Autometer one?

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    Junior Member Sickpuppy's Avatar
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    What's wrong with turning AC off turning alarm system on setting all zones off into alarm and going back and test battery if any doughts in voltage drop replace it.
    Works for me and I didn't spend $$$$ on something to do it for me.

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    Senior Member secure's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by intelliGEORGE View Post
    You have just answered your own question, whats wrong with the Autometer one?
    I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. I don't want to spend $$$ and found out it doesn't work very well.

    Just looking for some recommendations?

    Otherwise it's just the spark test for me. Big spark battery ok, small spark battery dead

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    Junior Member FordTech's Avatar
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    You can buy a battery tester from Ness its actually made by Elk the ones who make the M1 panel.


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    how much sponndooly are they from Ness

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    The Act Meters GOLD-IBT Intelligent Battery Tester is the way to go but they are not cheap. I paid about $300 for a new one delivered on ebay!

    You can find them at:


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    Member tytower's Avatar
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    The best I have found is a kid of about 9 . Give him a toy that uses your chosen battery and stand back . If it lasts more than 5 minutes buy another for your panel.

    Seriously make up a dummy load with a voltmeter accross it and connect it accross the battery for a second or two. Watch what the battery voltage drops to and if below the level you want ,toss the battery or use it somewhere else

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    When I do a maintenance on a system I drop the AC for at least 30 mins.
    What would be an acceptable voltage after 30 mins and tripping a few zones (without sirens connected)?

    Andrew

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    Andrew, i do a similar thing to you but i leave the sirens for a short while aswell. That way you know that in a "real" situation the battery should be able to hold up for at least the siren run time.

    When i put the AC back on, i will leave my meter on the battery to see how quick it is re-charging. I will then breifly take AC back off again to see what voltage the battery is holding, and how quickly its is loosing voltage (when the system is in a disarmed state). From this i will then take a judgement and decide if the battery is ok or requires changing.

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