How To Test Your Lead Acid Batteries

 

 

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Hi Andy here from BRS Battery and did you know your battery can withstand temperatures of up to Minus 70 degrees celsius. 

 

This means you can leave them outside in freezing cold weather, so actually in our industry we say the colder the better. 

 

The reason we say this is because if they're really cold they won't self-discharge. 

 

Please keep in mind before doing anything like that you want to be absolutely sure that they're fully charged and the only way of doing that is with a battery hydrometer. 

 

This is a very cheap little tool and the best tool on the market to check your battery so basically what you do you just suck up some electrolyte into the chamber. Look at the needle on the side, if the needle is right up in the blue area anything above 1.265 means your batteries are fully charged. 

Now the number one question we get all the time is... 

"Well how come it's so low? What do I do?"

You keep charging... So every hour you spot check with a hydrometer, eventually your hydrometer will climb right up to the blue section. 

Now another test you can do in a very cheap and effective way is to check the battery capacity.

You want to do what we call a load test.

This is a 100 amp load tester: 

 

 

 

What you are going to do is apply 100 amps to your battery.

 

After it's been fully charged, hook up the positive and negative clamps and you just click the button.

 

Now on the 6 volt battery, it will be half the meter of course and you just read where the needle is going to be. 

 

Don't make it hard for yourselves if the needle drops like a rock your battery's done. 

 

If it holds in the weak area try to recharge and re-test.

 

A 12-volt battery, the needle obviously will be in the 12-volt range and it's just exactly same thing.

 

If it drops like a rock, your battery's done.

 

If it's weak recharge and re-test again. 

 

These are tools you're gonna have these for the rest of your life and it's a perfect way to save thousands of dollars on batteries.

 

You have to do your maintenance. 

 

One last thing, make sure you top your batteries up with distilled water. 

 

Add water just above the plates. 

 

Don't add acid, just add distilled water. 

 

All right folks I hope this helps you and be sure to check out our battery tools below. 

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