The tiny needles inside the jaws of the gator clip are referred to as a "bed of nails", and they are designed for taking reading THROUGH the insulation of a wire, eliminating the need to strip the insulation or find an exposed metal point of contact. The user simply opens the jaw of the gator clip, positions the wire perpendicular to the flat side of the jaw, resting the wire in the U-shaped notch, and then closes the jaws by pressing on the brass button that's on the outside of the jaw where the needles are mounted. NOTE: Be mindful of live circuits, and ensure that you're not touching the hot side and ground at the same time. The bed of nails is not meant for use on metal quick-connect terminals such as those found on many 12V SLA batteries, nor are those needles intended for use on lead battery terminals. Using the bed of nails for anything other than piercing wire insulation will ruin the needles, making them useless for their intended purpose (piercing the outside of wire insulation). The tips of the gator clips' jaws are perfectly suited for attaching to flat metal quick-connect terminals, when used as shown on the ACT tester's box.
Great info! Unfortunately both of my ACT battery testers were stolen in a break in, and not recovered with the small amount of stuff that was. May not do any more ACT videos until I can find another one. Hopefully I can get one that does LiFEPO4 and other lithium breeds.
At around 3.50 mins you disconnect it and the reading was 8.0Ah. Then you connect it again around 5.40 and it shows 7.30Ah. Really reliable stuff those meters.
Don't get me wrong ,ACT meters are as good as one could probably expect, it's just that giving accurate amp hour capacity readings on large batteries like car batteries, is asking a lot. Batteries vary depending on manufacturer,chemistry, whether wet, AGM or GEL and state of charge etc. Never discharge a lead acid battery below 10.8 volts on a normal load, or the test itself can do harm.I wouldn't discharge a car battery even down that low to test it, maybe go to 11.4 v with a 4 amp load and assume it will have a fair bit more capacity than that in reality. Recharge the battery immediately.
I have used the ACT Gold Plus, the ACT 612 and the ACT Chrome.All testers were bought new. My experience is that they are all good for testing small lead acid batteries up to about 20 amp hours. However, I have found them all often capable of giving way out readings on large batteries of 40- 100 amp hour capacities. A large battery dealer I know found exactly the same as me. In my experience, these meters can sometimes be fooled into 'thinking' that a battery still capable of a high current output for starting, has a high amp hour capacity. I have tested batteries that read close to perfect on ACT meters , but on doing accurate amp hour tests using a load over many hours discharged to 10.8volts, the capacity has been well below 50 percent. I still like the ACT meters and they are ideal for testing alarm and the smaller lead acid batteries. I use them as a guide only, for large lead acid batteries. They will certainly show if a say, a 100 amp hour rated battery is completely useless.I tend to use a conductance tester and even a heavy current load tester as well , to get an idea of how good a battery is quickly. At the end of the day, if you REALLY want to accurately know the amp hour capacity of a say, a 25 kilo leisure battery, I don't think there is an easy way, apart from a discharge test over hours, unless you spend a fortune on very expensive equipment and compare readings with known full spec. batteries. With all meters, especially the ACT ones, it is essential that the clamps make a good, tight contact with clean battery terminals.
I'd have to agree with the so called quick testers being only a general guide , have alook here where a proper 6 sigma evaluation proves them very unreliable: firewize.com/forum/2008/06/test-method-sealed-lead-acid-batteriesfirewize.com/forum/2008/06/test-method-sealed-lead-acid-batteries
@@ancelb9590 Many thanks for your comment. Sorry I've only just noticed your reply. The Firewize.com site said "page unavailable", but searching their site under "Test method for sealed lead acid batteries" brought up comments that these testers can't really do it accurately for batteries above 20 AH & are only really a rough guide. Still, unless a person has an hour or more to check a battery, then their probably the best one can do, aside from spending something like £1000 or more on high end equipment.
Michael Thomas is there a cheaper alternative to one of these amp hour battery testers? I need one to test 4-12ah security panel 12v batteries and give a full discharge test in seconds for work. I don't need one that tests car batteries or CCAs. I cannot find anything other than ACT testers. Thank you.
@@ramblin_man23 Sorry, to correct my last reply, it's called "Triplett Check A Cell." I was on a little screen before. The video on You Tube to look at is called: "ACT MID TESTING" by someone who has loads of very expensive professional test gear & seems to be connected to "Powersonic" that make the lead acid batteries.ACT testers certainly don't work well for indications of the amp hour capacities of their batteries. How accurate ACT meters are would vary from make to make & on different sizes, so you'd ideally want some brand new batteries to try the ACT meter on first, so as to know what a new battery should read on the ACT display. With hours to spare, you can't beat putting on a load & seeing how long the battery lasts down to 10.5 or 10.8 volts. I have a couple of discharge testers to do that. The FDY10 is an inexpensive one. You just set the desired current & cut-off voltage, then it will discharge automatically & tell you the capacity at the end. It beeps to let you know when it is finished. "West Mountain" do them too, or there are others, often just PCBs with fans etc. on & from China.
Hi not sure if you can help but keep getting error 3 when connecting it displays voltage then either displays error 3 or low current,I've tested this on several batteries and tried to clean the clips
The latest one is not 106 I think is 612 6/12 volt bat tester and chrome 12v bat tester 1,2-200ah and car battery have 35-to75ah not over 200ah you are confuse with cold cracking 200cc up to 500cc or over
The chrome tester 12v is one or the best testers in Europe we measure car batt in ah(ampere/h) not I cold cracking so if my car have 45ah I buying 45ah if you will ask me how mooch cold cracking have I would said f knows so those testers are handy best on the market I would say also handy if you have solar panels with battery bank easy Peasy to find witch cells are weak not holding charge probably most bad battery after charge will reach volts but not AH but if they do not for long the ah will drop quick down I call this magic tester cos tell me I second stage of the battery
Ideally you would disconnect them. It's a calibrated device, so once you start messing with resistances and adding cable and other connected devices, it will throw off the measurement. If you had a new battery setup, you could measure with everything connected, then using that as the baseline, know as the batteries age, how many aH you have lost over time.
No they are usually all less than 100ah. They usually have a ratting of RC or reserve capacity. A group 31 battery usually ranges from 180-210. Thats how many minutes at 25 amp load it takes for the battery to drain to 10.5 volts. You can calculate it out. 180÷60minutes×25amps=75ah.
Why yes, they are awesome! And, yes, they do come in multiple colors with various features(Gold, Silver & Platinum). They are so awesome in fact that both of mine got stolen in a home burglary and were not recovered when the person were caught and charged to serve multiple 20 year sentences.
The tiny needles inside the jaws of the gator clip are referred to as a "bed of nails", and they are designed for taking reading THROUGH the insulation of a wire, eliminating the need to strip the insulation or find an exposed metal point of contact. The user simply opens the jaw of the gator clip, positions the wire perpendicular to the flat side of the jaw, resting the wire in the U-shaped notch, and then closes the jaws by pressing on the brass button that's on the outside of the jaw where the needles are mounted. NOTE: Be mindful of live circuits, and ensure that you're not touching the hot side and ground at the same time.
The bed of nails is not meant for use on metal quick-connect terminals such as those found on many 12V SLA batteries, nor are those needles intended for use on lead battery terminals. Using the bed of nails for anything other than piercing wire insulation will ruin the needles, making them useless for their intended purpose (piercing the outside of wire insulation).
The tips of the gator clips' jaws are perfectly suited for attaching to flat metal quick-connect terminals, when used as shown on the ACT tester's box.
Great info!
Unfortunately both of my ACT battery testers were stolen in a break in, and not recovered with the small amount of stuff that was. May not do any more ACT videos until I can find another one. Hopefully I can get one that does LiFEPO4 and other lithium breeds.
At around 3.50 mins you disconnect it and the reading was 8.0Ah. Then you connect it again around 5.40 and it shows 7.30Ah. Really reliable stuff those meters.
Don't get me wrong ,ACT meters are as good as one could probably expect, it's just that giving accurate amp hour capacity readings on large batteries like car batteries, is asking a lot. Batteries vary depending on manufacturer,chemistry, whether wet, AGM or GEL and state of charge etc.
Never discharge a lead acid battery below 10.8 volts on a normal load, or the test itself can do harm.I wouldn't discharge a car battery even down that low to test it, maybe go to 11.4 v with a 4 amp load and assume it will have a fair bit more capacity than that in reality. Recharge the battery immediately.
I have used the ACT Gold Plus, the ACT 612 and the ACT Chrome.All testers were bought new. My experience is that they are all good for testing small lead acid batteries up to about 20 amp hours. However, I have found them all often capable of giving way out readings on large batteries of 40- 100 amp hour capacities. A large battery dealer I know found exactly the same as me.
In my experience, these meters can sometimes be fooled into 'thinking' that a battery still capable of a high current output for starting, has a high amp hour capacity. I have tested batteries that read close to perfect on ACT meters , but on doing accurate amp hour tests using a load over many hours discharged to 10.8volts, the capacity has been well below 50 percent.
I still like the ACT meters and they are ideal for testing alarm and the smaller lead acid batteries. I use them as a guide only, for large lead acid batteries. They will certainly show if a say, a 100 amp hour rated battery is completely useless.I tend to use a conductance tester and even a heavy current load tester as well , to get an idea of how good a battery is quickly. At the end of the day, if you REALLY want to accurately know the amp hour capacity of a say, a 25 kilo leisure battery, I don't think there is an easy way, apart from a discharge test over hours, unless you spend a fortune on very expensive equipment and compare readings with known full spec. batteries.
With all meters, especially the ACT ones, it is essential that the clamps make a good, tight contact with clean battery terminals.
I'd have to agree with the so called quick testers being only a general guide , have alook here where a proper 6 sigma evaluation proves them very unreliable: firewize.com/forum/2008/06/test-method-sealed-lead-acid-batteriesfirewize.com/forum/2008/06/test-method-sealed-lead-acid-batteries
@@ancelb9590 Many thanks for your comment. Sorry I've only just noticed your reply. The Firewize.com site said "page unavailable", but searching their site under "Test method for sealed lead acid batteries" brought up comments that these testers can't really do it accurately for batteries above 20 AH & are only really a rough guide. Still, unless a person has an hour or more to check a battery, then their probably the best one can do, aside from spending something like £1000 or more on high end equipment.
Michael Thomas is there a cheaper alternative to one of these amp hour battery testers? I need one to test 4-12ah security panel 12v batteries and give a full discharge test in seconds for work. I don't need one that tests car batteries or CCAs. I cannot find anything other than ACT testers. Thank you.
@@ramblin_man23 Sorry, to correct my last reply, it's called "Triplett Check A Cell." I was on a little screen before. The video on You Tube to look at is called: "ACT MID TESTING" by someone who has loads of very expensive professional test gear & seems to be connected to "Powersonic" that make the lead acid batteries.ACT testers certainly don't work well for indications of the amp hour capacities of their batteries. How accurate ACT meters are would vary from make to make & on different sizes, so you'd ideally want some brand new batteries to try the ACT meter on first, so as to know what a new battery should read on the ACT display.
With hours to spare, you can't beat putting on a load & seeing how long the battery lasts down to 10.5 or 10.8 volts. I have a couple of discharge testers to do that. The FDY10 is an inexpensive one. You just set the desired current & cut-off voltage, then it will discharge automatically & tell you the capacity at the end. It beeps to let you know when it is finished. "West Mountain" do them too, or there are others, often just PCBs with fans etc. on & from China.
Hi not sure if you can help but keep getting error 3 when connecting it displays voltage then either displays error 3 or low current,I've tested this on several batteries and tried to clean the clips
been using these for 12 years, they are awesome. want to get the latest one act do i think its the 106
How do you turn on the tester? Do u Just connect it and it will turn on?
The latest one is not 106 I think is 612 6/12 volt bat tester and chrome 12v bat tester 1,2-200ah and car battery have 35-to75ah not over 200ah you are confuse with cold cracking 200cc up to 500cc or over
The chrome tester 12v is one or the best testers in Europe we measure car batt in ah(ampere/h) not I cold cracking so if my car have 45ah I buying 45ah if you will ask me how mooch cold cracking have I would said f knows so those testers are handy best on the market I would say also handy if you have solar panels with battery bank easy Peasy to find witch cells are weak not holding charge probably most bad battery after charge will reach volts but not AH but if they do not for long the ah will drop quick down I call this magic tester cos tell me I second stage of the battery
Not consistent, at 03:46 it shows 8.00Ah and then at 5:26 it shows 7.30Ah
It’ s because it read a different temperature to bias the results. Look at the temp difference between readings.
If I’ve got 2x 12V batteries in series together would I be able to test them individually while on load or would I have to disconnect them?
Ideally you would disconnect them. It's a calibrated device, so once you start messing with resistances and adding cable and other connected devices, it will throw off the measurement.
If you had a new battery setup, you could measure with everything connected, then using that as the baseline, know as the batteries age, how many aH you have lost over time.
Can these test lead crystal type ?
I would think car battery be more than 200Ah or am I wrong, cheers Graham
No they are usually all less than 100ah. They usually have a ratting of RC or reserve capacity. A group 31 battery usually ranges from 180-210. Thats how many minutes at 25 amp load it takes for the battery to drain to 10.5 volts. You can calculate it out. 180÷60minutes×25amps=75ah.
Oh they are awesome are they? Do they come in different colors. You time waster.
Why yes, they are awesome!
And, yes, they do come in multiple colors with various features(Gold, Silver & Platinum).
They are so awesome in fact that both of mine got stolen in a home burglary and were not recovered when the person were caught and charged to serve multiple 20 year sentences.