Also check out this DMM. It doesn’t have a battery test function, but (other than that) is more accurate, safer (CAT II/III), and has more functions that are useful for troubleshooting (capacitance, temperature, frequency, duty cycle). It is also true RMS.
You can buy a dedicated battery tester for less than $2. Someone did a teardown on it. He noted that it puts the battery under a load, which is good.
Thanks! We have a new champion! More accurate is good. Safer is very, very good!
Well crap. With everything going in the past few months, I forgot that I recently got one of those. We were sorting through her late father’s stuff and found it. My beloved gave it to me. It is a BT-168 Battery Tester. It was lost in the pocket of my winter coat for a while. I finally found it and moved it to a drawer. I haven’t used it yet and wasn’t sure if it was a piece of crap or a very useful tool. Now, I know it is the latter.
I made a post in the Hobby thread.
Cheaping out has worked fine for me: I got a couple very cheap ones last century and they have worked fine. The only thing I have done is to replace the battery every few years.
I use this guy, 8 bucks from Amazon, to test my batteries. It’s very handy, and I sometimes find that I only need to replace 1 (of 2 or 4) batteries in a given device to make it right. I used to trash all 4 and replace them.
I keep it in the kitchen junk drawer, don’t have to drag out the multimeter to test a battery.
mmm
And don’t leave the battery installed in the meter unless you use it often. Unless you like leaking batteries trashing your tools.
Wow. Thanks for that. Today I learned.
I don’t get through too many traditional dry cell batteries any more, but when I do they’re usually in sets. And installed in flaky Chinese gizmos. Trying to sort out whether the dead gizmo problem is a battery, all the batteries, or the gizmo itself can be vexing. And expensive given the price of modern dry cells.
I just searched and came up with this little winner for even less:
If the OP isn’t doing electronic projects, isn’t working on cars, and isn’t working on 120v home wiring, I’m wondering if a multimeter is really the best tool for his job(s). Rather than, like me until a few minutes ago, he’s simply assuming that’s the tool needed now because it was the only tool available 40 years ago to do the job(s).
It depends on the chemistry / use case.
Lead-acid can be tested open-circuit fairly well:
Even Lithium can give you are pretty good warning buffer before failure.
Seriously, what exactly do you mean by “electronic projects”? While I have yet to achieve the level of tinkering I would like, I did turn a bunch of junk into a translucent staff with crystal knob on the base. If you bumped the crystal knob on the floor, a variety of salvaged LED’s lit up and blinked. When you bumped it again, they shut off. Those bastard movers threw it out when they moved my stuff!
I made it years ago when the internet was young. I looked into making something that would cause LED’s to flash on and off. It was surprisingly complicated. I then realized I could take one of the blinking LED pins I had and just solder some wires so that all the current ran through that. I did and it worked. I was proud.
I eventually gave up on buying a theremin kit and assembling it. I reached a financial state where I could afford it. It would take me longer than usual due to poor dexterity. I admitted to myself that I don’t have room for a theremin, and definitely no space to play one. The last nail in the coffin was my total lack of musical ability.
I routinely buy old electronics at Goodwill and flea markets. I can handle the two most common problems now- missing battery compartment lids can be replaced by cardboard and duct tape, battery compartment contacts that are covered in crystalized battery vomit can be cleaned. I want to be able to do more.
I don’t mess around with the wiring in the walls because that can lead to a fatal shock or start an electrical fire. I would like to know more. Maintenance still hasn’t come to fix the outlet in my kitchen. There really is no other good place to plug in my microwave. Without a microwave, I cannot heat oatmeal (the oven and range don’t work. They have needed to be replaced since before I moved in. I don’t really care as I have not usd an oven or range in about a decade) for breakfast. Without a microwave, I cannot cook the Tyson chicken nuggets I buy for dinner. If the problem with the outlet turns out to be a minor repair, I would greatly like to be able to do it myself.
I had understood from upthread that you weren’t tinkering / a tinkerer. It’s now apparent I misunderstood that point.
You’re the one who knows whether you need a multimeter for your current, intended, and hoped-for projects. I don’t. Go forth and multimete to your heart’s content with my blessings.
My real point was that if your main goal is battery testing, a dedicated battery tester is better at that job than is a multimeter. And costs very close to zero. As @Crafter_Man and @Mean_Mr.Mustard also said.
If you really have your heart set on an analog meter, your best bet is to look at 2nd-hand stores.
I don’t think anyone still makes them.
Most DMMs have a bargraph display that simulates a needle. They work pretty well, but I honestly don’t miss a pointer at all.
Oh sorry, I stressed that I would not be working with the wriing in my apartment because otherwise at least half the posts would be people warning me to avoid doing that until I had a lot more knowledge. I was trying to be pro active and explain that the wiring in my walls is off limits until I can be certain of what I am doing. That could be later this year. It could be never. We shall see.
I have never owned a car. I am not about to buy one now considering that my new neighborhood is very walkable, has reliable public transit and no parking spaces ever.
But, if I think I can do a project safely, that I will not simply make things worse, and that I cannot just buy another one on Amazon, then I shall tinker.
Just so I am clear-
Considering my needs and that I already have a BT-168 battery tester, I should go ahead and order the Astro?
Thanks again, everybody for all the advice!
I think it looks pretty good. I was wishing I had the thermocouple for my own meter this weekend during some grilling and bbq & firepit sessions: just how hot is the side of the grill, etc.
I half jokingly suggest you ask your landlord for voltmeter advice with heavy implication you’ll be performing some DIY electrical work in the unit.
Hi, just wondering if the service line into the building is a plain 480 vac backhaul trunk or one of the 1200 volt high reluctance station nodes? I’m shopping for voltmeters and need to rate my d’Arsonval movement for the expected arcflash. Speaking of Arson movements, any movement on the repair of my microwave oven outlet?
Someone recommended Fluke tools, which are high quality but expensive. I have some Klein tools stuff as well, and they have some multimeters. Some of the meters that were suggested were from Chinese brands, and I prefer to buy American or European brands. They may all be made in the same plant, but I’m biased against these unknown Chinese brands.
If you are going to buy a new meter, you should spend the extra money and get a hall-effect clamp
Meter:
Much more useful.
Thanks, but while it seems to do more, they are not fthings I need or would use. Automive repair is not going to happen. Industrial work is not going to happen. Working with the wring in the walls might happen. But, it also might not.
I have an AstroAI meter (this one: Amazon.com) and I’m happy with it but I’m a piker when it comes to electrical work. I did get an additional set of leads with alligator clips, which cost half again as much as the meter but I’m glad I did.
As far as the tools are concerned. I don’t like the sets with interchangeable tips because I find that many times, the screws are recessed and the broad tip of the changeable handle won’t allow the tip to reach the screw. If I were shopping today, I’d get a set like this one instead.
A few days ago it was $31. I just clicked on the link, and it is $27 for the next two hours. I need another DMM like I need a hole in the head, but I just couldn’t resist… I went ahead and ordered it. 