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Post by rhyds on Sept 26, 2021 16:57:14 GMT 1
Following the weekend's work to my sister's Van I've got an Yuasa EFB battery which we think isn't quite up to the job of rolling over a 2.2 Transit, but maybe useful for something else. Before I send it off to the scrapyard in exchange for some beer tokens is there any easy way for me to bench test it myself at home? I've not got access to a battery tester machine but I do have a battery charger and a multimeter.
The issue was that it seemed to have little reserve capacity if you happened to leave the van doors open, so I'm guessing to properly test it I'll need to pop it on a battery tester.
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Post by remmington on Sept 26, 2021 17:13:18 GMT 1
I think you have done the testing already.
You just can't bear to part with it...
Leave it on a battery float charger and use it for jump starting/testing - that is what I do with half good batteries.
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Post by Noberator on Sept 26, 2021 17:25:52 GMT 1
I think you have done the testing already. You just can't bear to part with it... Leave it on a battery float charger and use it for jump starting/testing - that is what I do with half good batteries. I'll second remmingtons advice. Use it as a slave battery. What voltage is the battery now before you re-charge it? |
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Post by wightdiag on Sept 26, 2021 22:08:00 GMT 1
Fully charge the battery, stick it in a vehicle, set your multimeter to record Min/max and crank the starter, minimum voltage (as measured on a meter) should stay above about 9.6v - less than that then using it in a vehicle is likely to cause electrical issues as electronics shut down.
Fully charge the battery, disconnect and leave for an hour, voltage at rest should be 12.6-12.8v
Leave 24hrs, voltage should be substantially unchanged assuming no big change in temperature at measuring time.
Connect your meter on the 10A setting, connect a couple of 4Amp bulbs in parallel (or other load) then the meter in series to give an indicated approx 8A (note how much). Measure the battery voltage regularly and see how long it takes for the battery to reach 12v, and note the reduced amp flow each time - 12v is approx 50% discharged.
When it reaches 12v multiply average amps by time then by 2 to give you a rough idea of the actual Ah capacity of the battery.
For example if your current draw averages 7.4A and it takes 14hrs to hit 12v then = 103Ah x 2 = 206Ah capacity roughly.
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Post by trickydicky on Oct 1, 2021 1:42:28 GMT 1
If it is 3 years old or older it will be scrap, that's all the warranty we give (and they know exactly what they are doing!!)
What I do as a quick simple test is hook them up to a running vehicle (without smart charge) when it's flat, with jump leads and use a current clamp on one jump cable to record how much current it will accept
A good one will accept 30 plus amps and rising
Bad ones typically about 10 amps and falling
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Post by valhalla on Oct 1, 2021 22:14:49 GMT 1
If it is 3 years old or older it will be scrap, that's all the warranty we give (and they know exactly what they are doing!!) What I do as a quick simple test is hook them up to a running vehicle (without smart charge) when it's flat, with jump leads and use a current clamp on one jump cable to record how much current it will accept A good one will accept 30 plus amps and rising Bad ones typically about 10 amps and falling I wonder if you could use a battery support unit in a workshop? Just perform the same test that you mention above, but use a constant 13.6v battery supply of a BSU capable of 30A or greater (not a CTEK MXS10, for example....  ).
My Bosch BSU allows me to select what supply voltage I want, within a moderately-large range, and then delivers whatever current needed within a couple of seconds (to stabilise), so it should replicate hooking-up to a running car quite well?
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Post by remmington on Oct 1, 2021 22:32:50 GMT 1
If it is 3 years old or older it will be scrap, that's all the warranty we give (and they know exactly what they are doing!!) What I do as a quick simple test is hook them up to a running vehicle (without smart charge) when it's flat, with jump leads and use a current clamp on one jump cable to record how much current it will accept A good one will accept 30 plus amps and rising Bad ones typically about 10 amps and falling I wonder if you could use a battery support unit in a workshop? Just perform the same test that you mention above, but use a constant 13.6v battery supply of a BSU capable of 30A or greater (not a CTEK MXS10, for example.... ). My Bosch BSU allows me to select what supply voltage I want, within a moderately-large range, and then delivers whatever current needed within a couple of seconds (to stabilise), so it should replicate hooking-up to a running car quite well?
Which model. Bosch BSU?
My GYS one is playing up - and I am in the market for a new one. |
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Post by valhalla on Oct 1, 2021 22:46:00 GMT 1
Which model. Bosch BSU?
My GYS one is playing up - and I am in the market for a new one.I will double-check tomorrow or Sunday (shop-duties for me tomorrow) for the exact model. I did a swap to an adjacent model/year at the last minute when I bought this, as it shortened the lead-time by a couple of weeks. |
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Post by trickydicky on Oct 1, 2021 23:54:58 GMT 1
I wonder if you could use a battery support unit in a workshop? Just perform the same test that you mention above, but use a constant 13.6v battery supply of a BSU capable of 30A or greater (not a CTEK MXS10, for example.... ). My Bosch BSU allows me to select what supply voltage I want, within a moderately-large range, and then delivers whatever current needed within a couple of seconds (to stabilise), so it should replicate hooking-up to a running car quite well?
Which model. Bosch BSU?
My GYS one is playing up - and I am in the market for a new one.I can't see why not, this was part of the RAC method before they "invested" in high tech digital battery testers |
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Post by trickydicky on Oct 2, 2021 0:01:52 GMT 1
If it is 3 years old or older it will be scrap, that's all the warranty we give (and they know exactly what they are doing!!) What I do as a quick simple test is hook them up to a running vehicle (without smart charge) when it's flat, with jump leads and use a current clamp on one jump cable to record how much current it will accept A discharged but otherwise good battery will accept 30 plus amps and rising Bad ones typically about 10 amps and falling The battery needs to be flat BTW when doing this test, a serviceable discharged battery will absorb a high current from the alternator (as high as 100 amps sometimes) A good battery when fully charged will drop to 5 to 10 amps A bad battery always thinks it's charged so will pull 5 to 10 amps all day long |
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Post by rhyds on Oct 2, 2021 7:03:14 GMT 1
Thanks for the suggestions chaps!
The reason I didn't want to bin it was that it looks pretty new, but I couldn't find a date code on it. My sister's had the van since January and TBH I didn't want her having to jump start it too much in case something expensive got spiked
As for testing it, I got a call last night that a mate's transit connect had gone dead and he needed to borrow my multimeter to check if the battery had anything on it. I lent him my multimeter and told him to take the old EFB as well to see if that'll start it!
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Post by valhalla on Oct 4, 2021 22:46:58 GMT 1
Which model. Bosch BSU?
My GYS one is playing up - and I am in the market for a new one.It is a BAT490 Bosch BSU. I have been very happy with it, as it is impressively-fast to react to loads on and off the battery whilst I'm working - within a second or so from low current to stabilised high current. |
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