Personal battery load tester?

[LHaven]

I see a lot of auto battery load testers on Amazon with pretty affordable prices. I not only have to deal with my RV batteries, but have a slew of larger gel cells that run my ranch gates, security system, and a dozen or more UPSes on other critical systems. I was considering that for only around the price of two of the gel cells I typically deal with, it might be cost-effective to get my own load tester so I could perform definitive go/nogos on all my batteries as I need to.

Many of the units talk about testing cranking power. Unlike a car battery, none of the batteries I'm likely to test ever have to do any cranking. So what other stress tests does a handheld need to be able to perform, and does anybody have any specific recommendations for favorite home units?

[chuckster57]

I have and the shop has a “load tester”. Mine is 500A “carbon pile”. You hook the leads to the battery and it reads the voltage. Then you hold the momentary switch and it puts a heavy load on the battery. After a set time you let go and check the meter for voltage.

I have seen batteries show 12.7VDC and after the load test show only 10VDC. If you use 6/12 volt batteries it should work. Mine is from harbor freight, there are more extensive/expensive ones.

[LHaven]

Looks like HF no longer offers a 500A one, but does have a 100A model for $20, which is WAY cheaper than the ones I was looking at, as long as it will do the job.

[locomech]

I use a Konnwei KW208 from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/KONNWEI-100-2...33&sr=8-6&th=1

It found my 8 yr. old camper battery needed to be replaced, jeez nothing ever lasts, and a battery in my son's car was going bad. Over all a nice inexpensive item that doesn't take up a lot of room in the tool box.