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12 volt battery tester |
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Jenga Jack 
Groupie 
Joined: 12 Apr 2016 Location: Southern Oregon Online Status: Offline Posts: 63 |
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 Topic: 12 volt battery testerPosted: 19 May 2022 at 4:30pm |
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Looking for a recommendation on a basic battery tester for my 12 volt
deep cycle battery. One that shows actual charge numbers, not just
"good, average, low, dead".
All I want to know is the exact charge level of the battery when dry camping. To know when to hook up portable solar panel charger, then read again after a few hours of charging. Thanks! |
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2014 R-Pod 178 aka the "Kobra Pod"
following a 2015 4Runner wherever it may wander |
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Jenga Jack
Groupie
Joined: 12 Apr 2016 Location: Southern Oregon Online Status: Offline Posts: 63 |
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Posted: 19 May 2022 at 4:58pm |
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Per above request, I should have said "volt meter". (I do not want to test the electrolytes) Sorry, I'm not a car guy or an electrical guy.
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2014 R-Pod 178 aka the "Kobra Pod"
following a 2015 4Runner wherever it may wander |
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jato
Senior Member 
Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3340 |
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Posted: 19 May 2022 at 5:23pm |
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I picked mine up at Harbor Freight (voltmeter) for $5. It gives the basics - all I ever need to know. Recharge when voltage drops to 12.2v for maximum battery longevity. Fully charged 'at rest' the battery will read 12.72v or above. Our oldest battery is a 12v Interstate, group size 24, deep cycle - just turned 11 years old last month. Has served us boondockers well.
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God's pod
'11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
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gpokluda
Senior Member
Joined: 11 Nov 2018 Location: NM Online Status: Offline Posts: 398 |
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Posted: 19 May 2022 at 8:39pm |
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Ditto for the Harbor Freight volt meter. Picked one up to keep in the tool bag on the Rpod and it's just as good as my expensive Klein. I would also put a plug in for the Renogy battery monitor. Kind of a PIA to install, but well worth it.
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Gpokluda
2017 Rpod 179(sold 2023) 2022 Escape 5.0TA 2022 Ford F150 4X4 3.5EB Kawasaki KLR650 |
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Tars Tarkas
Senior Member
Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1454 |
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Posted: 19 May 2022 at 9:26pm |
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You can spend about as much as you want on a meter at Lowe's, Home Depot, Amazon, etc., but if you don't know about cars or electricity then a meter from Harbor Freight or Walmart is all you need. It will do what you want. TT
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2010 176
FJ Cruiser |
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TheBum
Senior Member
Joined: 26 Feb 2016 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 1407 |
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Posted: 20 May 2022 at 12:44am |
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A clamp meter is nice if you want to check the amount of current coming out of (or going into) the battery without disconnecting a cable.
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Alan
2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod" 2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4 Three cats |
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
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Posted: 20 May 2022 at 3:19pm |
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+1 on the clamp on multimeter. That is a very handy feature. All you know from a voltmeter is whether the battery is low on charge or not. The clamp on current meter will tell you where and how much current is going or out so you can sort out what is going on. They are about $40 on Amazon and have the voktmeter function and usually many others as well.
Be sure to get one that measures DC, not just AC current. That being said, a voltmeter will not give you the exact state of charge of your battery. the voltage provides and approximation of charge level only, better than high, medium, or low but still approximate. To get the actual charge level you need a battery state of charge meter that is tracking the amp hours into and out of the battery in real time. Those are available online as well and are typically permanently installed because they are continuously monitoring battery current. |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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Tars Tarkas
Senior Member
Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1454 |
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Posted: 20 May 2022 at 10:20pm |
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If you just want to check your battery this is what you need:  |
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2010 176
FJ Cruiser |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6422 |
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Posted: 21 May 2022 at 9:13am |
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This is what I installed to monitor my LiFePO4 battery. I believe it can be set to monitor lead-acid batteries also.
Sure there are better ones that can check every single parameter that you could think of, but for the basic needs of checking the charge state of your battery, this one is hard to beat. I recommend this because it uses a shunt rather than a hall effect sensor for the reading. That way, you don't have to worry about whether the wire is in the center of the loop or not. Also, with the bouncing around our units take going down the road, the wire would likely not stay in the center anyway. There are other brands that can give you things like logging or bluetooth, but they are much, much more expensive.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
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Posted: 21 May 2022 at 3:40pm |
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That one is a good choice. I agree on getting one with a shunt to measure current rather than a Hall effect donut if it's a permanent install. The Hall effect ones can drift due to stray magnetic fields. Shunts are rock solid.
For a temporary measurement using a multimeter, a Hall effect clamp on is better so you don't have to splice a shunt into the wire. Just remember to zero it before taking a reading, and keep it away from electromagnetic fields (like motors or brake magnets). |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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