Hey everyone, I inherited this without any knowledge about it. Any useful tips are appreciated. Thanks Sent from my SM-N960U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
That's a good unit to have, see if you can find a model #, if you search the web using "Allen Battery Starter Tester manual .pdf" etc, it may be possible to download the manual, or at least for a similar model or might be for sale on that auction site. Should be able to figure out most of it, but there is ALWAYS some clever test or insight on troubleshooting in test equipment docs. You want the manual, nod your head "yes".... With a 500 amp scale it has a carbon pile, to perform a battery load test. The way that works is outlined in practically any general tune-up manual. The battery should be fully charged for the test using an external charger. 1/2 the CCA rating of the battery is applied for 15 seconds while measuring battery voltage. A serviceable battery will not drop below 9.6 volts, basically. There is a correction factor for the go/no go voltage depending on temperature but that's the gist of it. A good battery won't drop anywhere near 9.6 volts, it might hang around 11 volts say. Can do basically the same thing by disabling the ignition and cranking the starter over, but applying 1/2 the CCA load for 15 seconds will sort out the good, the bad, and the ugly!
Thanks, very informative . There must be some variation between some load testers because my Milton unit tells me to put the load on the battery for no longer than 10 second's.
Right, the idea though is it's a real torture test for a battery whether 10 or 15 seconds. The battery will choke fairly quickly if it's on the way out. The test requires a fully charged battery to begin, and the battery also needs recharging after the test before placed back into service. This takes time, so consequently the carbon pile testers have kind of gone away and supplanted by handheld conductance testers, especially for warranty return service. Quick and easy. I bought a entry level Midtronics, it would be just the ticket for sorting through a pile of batteries at a junk yard I'd imagine. These conductance units have the advantage of testing and detecting defects with batteries that are at a less than full state of charge, and recharging is not necessary after the test. But there is no substitute for a real load test like a carbon pile provides. I get the sense the conductance testers are pretty good at sniffing out bad batteries, if the red "X" lights up and displays "BAD", it is for certain defective. On the other hand, if it gives the green light the battery is OK at the moment, though no guarantees.
Another diagnostic that can be done with a carbon pile is testing the starter. Disable the ignition and crank the engine over for about 5 seconds, measure battery cranking voltage across the posts. (Don't crank the starter over for more than about 5-7 seconds at any one time to avoid roasting the starter windings.) Then connect the battery to the carbon pile and dial in enough resistance to achieve the same voltage reading as measured during the first test. The amp gauge will display the total current draw from the starter itself, basically. Shop manual will list the current draw for a serviceable starter. On an OHV V8 typically might be 100 to 200 amps, a starter on the way out will exceed this by quite a bit.
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