Most shop-level testers can test the battery, starter and alternator. These testers range around $400 to $900 street price, and offer full system testing and built-in or remote printing capabilities, says Cox. Printouts and more advanced testing, on the other hand, may require a “shop-level” tester. More techs are buying a tester in this price range, says O’Hara. The average tech will spend from the mid-$100’s the mid-$300’s street price for a technician-level tester. The most current digital testers have special settings for AGM and gel batteries. A temperature button compensates if the battery is below 32 degrees F for better accuracy. In a few seconds, the technician gets a decision: good, bad, charge or charge and retest. On an entry-level digital tester, the tech just enters the cold cranking amps (CCA) of the battery, says O’Hara. This level of digital battery testing uses conductance or resistance and special algorithms to test a battery and give back a reading in just a few seconds. It’s a huge waste of time to put a battery on a charger only to find it’s bad, when a digital tester can tell if a discharged battery will hold a charge.Ī carbon pile tester is generally at a price level that makes it a shop purchase. “This type of testing is still the ‘gold standard’ for battery testing and is what most battery manufacturers use for warranty purposes,” says Associated Equipment's Mackey.īut to use a carbon pile tester, you need to have a battery that’s at least 85 percent charged, says Jim O’Hara. It’s the grand-daddy of electronic testers and, to some, it’s still considered the best battery test. A carbon pile tester basically tests a battery by putting it under a load for several seconds to see it it’s in good condition.
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