Battery Testing Instruments

[MasterBuilder]

Let us take a look at battery test equipment. Ive been confused by the various specifications and claims made by some of the vendors of Battery test equipment. Could someone elaborate on how and what these instruments might be measuring and calculating beyond simple Voltage measurements.

The Fluke application note says imporatant health indicators are Internal battery resistance (impedance) and Discharge testing
https://dam-assets.fluke.com/s3fs-public/6004018_0000_ENG_A_W.PDF

The keysight application note has plenty of good background information.
https://www.keysight.com/us/en/assets/7018-06734/application-notes/5952-4191.pdf


A few notable products:

ACT 612
Powered by the battery, Claims to simulate a 20 hour discharge in seconds, how? Is this a discharge test?
https://www.actmeters.com/products/battery-testing/act-612-6v12v-lead-acid-intelligent-battery-tester/

BK precision 600B
Powered by the battery, this displays remaining battery capacity, voltage and internal resistance test presumably.
https://www.bkprecision.com/products/electrical-battery-testers/600B-12v-sla-battery-capacity-analyzer-tester.html

BK precision 603B
This does everything the 600B does, also does a discharge (load) test.
https://www.bkprecision.com/products/electrical-battery-testers/603B-6v-12v-sla-battery-capacity-analyzer-recorder.html

Fluke 500 series
Measures voltage and resistance this seems to have internal battery resistance and discharge testing
https://www.fluke.com/en-ie/product/electrical-testing/battery-analyzers/fluke-500

BK precision BA6010
While significantly more expensive then the handheld BK precision battery testers there is no mention of discharge testing? This also has Kelvin measurement features.
https://www.bkprecision.com/products/electrical-battery-testers/BA6011-300-v-battery-analyzer.html

Amprobe BAT-500
The datasheet says it calculates life from battery internal resistance and Voltage, this seems to be clear enough.
https://www.amprobe.com/product/bat-500/

[AVGresponding]

Not been impressed by the ACT units I've used. For small lead acids these work well but you have to gather your own data set:
https://www.yuasa.co.uk/chargers-and-accesssories/testers-battery-analysers/show/all.html

For bigger ones, say 24Ah and up, these are what I prefer:
https://www.interparts.uk/durite-discharge-battery-tester---612v-275a-0-524-08-7294-p.asp

Thesedo get quite warm if you've a few batteries to test...

[MasterBuilder]

I notice the Yuasa testers you linked are described as Battery analyzers. What do they mean by analyzer, I expect it does a few measurements and then a calculation. So then, is it practical to do this on some test equipment that I might have lying around; I.e. measure Voltage with the multimeter, measure impedance with an LCR meter and do a little calculation fort the capacity/ health/ state of charge?
But this leads me to the question, are these battery testers/ analyzers just LCR meters with less features?

Regarding the discharge tester, how long would you discharge the battery for? Is it worthwhile discharging at high load for a few seconds and is this much better than the battery impedance test?

[AVGresponding]

They measure the internal conductivity of the battery. Apparently it's a good measure of its health, at least as far as AGM types anyway.
I haven't been doing that job for some months now but iirc they read out in nS.

As for the idea you can simulate a 20 hour discharge "in seconds", I don't see how that can be possible.
Discharge profiles vary considerably based on load, and the internal heating that larger loads generate.
That's why datasheets for batteries show different real capacities based on discharge current, usually with lower discharge rates equating to larger capacity.

As far as I know, the only time higher current gives higher capacity is when you've a low ambient temperature and the self heating helps the chemical reaction get closer to optimal.

[jpyeron]

Let us take a look at battery test equipment. Ive been confused by the various specifications and claims made by some of the vendors of Battery test equipment. Could someone elaborate on how and what these instruments might be measuring and calculating beyond simple Voltage measurements.

I will reword this. Why should I spend more than 400$, when I can play, build, and learn. How do these devices work? How would one start to build one?

[Fungus]

ACT 612
Powered by the battery, Claims to simulate a 20 hour discharge in seconds, how? Is this a discharge test?
https://www.actmeters.com/products/battery-testing/act-612-6v12v-lead-acid-intelligent-battery-tester/

It only does it for a very specific chemistry.

It probably places three or four different loads on it, measures voltage drop at each load, then extrapolates using tables.