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Old 03-14-2024, 12:06 AM
jhein's Avatar
jhein jhein is offline
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Default Battery tester

I was thinking about getting a tester but see that there are many in the several hundred dollar price range and higher, which I'm not willing to spend for the convenience.

There are some more affordable alternatives. Wondering of they are any good or a waste of money?

Things like this:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cbc-bt175

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cbc-bt453

Thanks.

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Old 03-14-2024, 12:31 AM
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Jack Gifford Jack Gifford is offline
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My Chicago Electric load tester (from Harbour Freight) has worked flawlessly for 40 years. Yeah, it's big and bulky, but I prefer the honest loading of the old fashioned carbon pile resistor.

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Old 03-14-2024, 01:14 AM
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jhein jhein is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Gifford View Post
My Chicago Electric load tester (from Harbour Freight) has worked flawlessly for 40 years. Yeah, it's big and bulky, but I prefer the honest loading of the old fashioned carbon pile resistor.
That sounds awesome. Now, if only Harbor Freight sold a time machine for me to go back and get one!!. LOL.


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Old 03-15-2024, 04:18 PM
Goatracer1 Goatracer1 is offline
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Sometimes you can find a Sun VAT-40 tester on ebay cheap. They were almost indestructible and worked great.

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Old 03-15-2024, 06:40 PM
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Bill Hanlon Bill Hanlon is offline
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Don't know if this is cheap. Not mine.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/276336438152

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Old 03-15-2024, 07:05 PM
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unruhjonny unruhjonny is offline
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I used to have one of those conventional battery chargers;
I hated that thing.

Luckily, several years back I was given the following Snap-On battery tester - I love this thing:

Snap-On EECS500

I also got from "that jungle website" an off-short smart/pulse repair chargers - other than the chords being covered in the cheapest "rubber" (it cracks in the cold weather that I need to use it in) it was great;
I replaced the plug in chord with one salvaged from an old electric device.

Between these two devices, I'm now covered.

The Snap-On tester is actually (I believe) a discontinued tool that has been superseded with a newer/smarter device - so you may be able to find one for a reasonable price on the secondary market.

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Old 03-16-2024, 11:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Gifford View Post
My Chicago Electric load tester (from Harbour Freight) has worked flawlessly for 40 years. Yeah, it's big and bulky, but I prefer the honest loading of the old fashioned carbon pile resistor.
Well, I joked about needing a time machine to find a carbon pile tester like yours, but it turns out I just needed Amazon. I found this one which has several reviews on Youtube and it's not very expensive so I'm gonna give it a shot.

Thanks again for the advice.

https://www.amazon.com/Clore-Automot...p?ie=UTF8&th=1

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70 TA, 467 cid IAII, Edelbrock D-port heads, 9.94:1, Butler HR 236/242 @ .050, 520/540 lift, 112 LSA, Ray Klemm calibrated Q-jet, TKX (2.87 1st/.81 OD), 3.31 rear

https://youtube.com/shorts/gG15nb4FWeo?feature=share
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