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What precautions must be followed when using a battery load tester?
a) Wear ANSI-approved safety goggles during set up and use of the Battery Tester. b) Test in a well ventilated area. Explosive gases may be produced during testing. Do not smoke, cause sparks, or strike matches near the battery when testing.
How many amps should a battery be load tested at?
The Load Test requires a high rate discharge tester to be connected to the battery. The load should be set to 1/2 the Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) or 3 times the Amp-Hour rating. The load should be applied for 15 seconds and the voltage should not drop below 9.6V (at a battery temperature of 70°F or 21°C).
How do you do a battery capacity load test?
Take the rated CCA of the battery and divide it in half, then apply that load for 15 seconds. (For example, if your battery’s CCA is 700, you’ll apply a 350-amp load on the battery for 15 seconds.) At the 15 second mark, you need to read what the voltage of the battery is before you let the load off.
What battery load test indicates a good battery?
Load Testing As long as battery voltage remains above 9.6 volts, the battery is considered “good.” But if it drops below 9.6 volts by the end of the test, the battery may be “bad,” or the battery may have to be recharged and retested if it was not fully charged prior to the test.
How much of a load is placed on a battery that has a 500 CCA rating?
Some battery companies label their battery with the amp load for testing. This number is usually half of the CCA rating. For instance, a 500 CCA battery would load test at 250 amps for 15 seconds.
What is a 3 minute charge test?
The three minute test. Place a battery charger on the battery at a 40 amp charge rate. If the battery voltage goes above 15.5 volts at any time over the course of three minutes then the battery is bad.
At what CCA should I replace my battery?
Generally, a battery needs to be replaced when it is putting out less than 50% of its CCA rating.
What’s the difference between CA and CCA batteries?
The difference between CA and CCA is important because modern electronic conductance testing requires a CCA rating input, as does the old-school adjustable carbon pile load tester. For illustration, three 60 month warranty batteries of the same brand were tested.
What happens to a battery during a load test?
During the load test, the voltage on a good battery will NOT drop below the following table’s indicated voltage for the electrolyte at the temperatures shown:
What causes a 10 year old battery to have low CCA?
10-year-old battery A was damaged by plate sulfation, caused by disuse and a continuous low SOC. Like all new batteries, battery B produces well over its rated CCA. Similarly, battery C has been driven for about 18 months and still produces 128% of its rated CCA.
What should the CCA be on a pathfinder battery?
Plate resistance is then mathematically extrapolated into CCA. A good battery at room temperature with no electrical load should rise to about 12.60 terminal volts (full charge). On this Pathfinder’s battery, the CCA is about 80% of the CA, which indicates that the battery is 20% less efficient at 0˚F.