Battery Cell Voltage Tester (wet)

[theoldwizard1]

About a million years ago (okay only 40), I worked at Sears. One of the jobs I had was testing and installing car batteries. They had a quick charger with a special tester I have not seen since.

It was a simple volt meter with 2 leads. The leads were attached to "probes" that were dipped in adjacent cells and read the cell to cell voltage directly (fully charged should be 2.2V). Much faster and easier than a hydrometer.

It might have been made by Sun, because all of the other test equipment around the shop at that time was Sun. Anyone else ever hear of this and are these "probes" available anywhere ?

 

[Flatland Dave]

Should be able to do it with a multimeter. I believe that as you move to each next cell you should get an increase of 2 V. Use a scrap piece of wire clipped to the good end of your lead to keep the lead out of the battery juice. My FIL showed me this several years ago and I am not quite sure on the exact procedure. perhaps some one else with more wisdom will fill in the blanks.

 

[RLYoung]

I've seen one affixed to the battery box on an Oshkosh but all you do is dip it in one cell and a small green LED turns on at the top. I've never seen ones that goes from cell to cell. If you want I could most likely find out some more info on that paticular type.

 

[Alchymist]

I just twist a short piece of copper wire around each lead on my DVM. Proceed from ground terminal to first cell, then cell to cell. Simple check. Shows up weak/dead cells quickly.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I believe you guys, but those "probes" were certainly not copper !