Safely test car battery

Buzzard1985

How do I safely test a cat battery?  Looked on Amazon for devices- not got a clue.  Parents are not keen I do this but Ihave no idea how healthy it is and with winter coming makes sense in my view.
What is best and what must I NOT do?
Thanks

facade

You need a load tester, sometimes called a drop tester.  They are about £20, which is half way to a new battery, and you still have to buy a new battery if it shows that one is no good.

something like https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cvt2-12v-battery-tester/

You switch it off, connect the thick leads to the battery, then switch it on and read off the scale, switch off and disconnect.

Either take it to a decent motor-factors who will test it for free, or just find the date code on the battery- if it is 7+ years old, just replace it. (Not MSE I know, but if it lets you down in the winter you still need a new one, and you could be stuck somewhere, late for work and lose money or have to buy one off the RAC/AA for hundreds of pounds.)

With the lack of use most cars are getting, you would be better off spending the £20 on a battery charger and charging it every couple of weeks to a month.

Buzzard1985

facade said:

You need a load tester, sometimes called a drop tester.  They are about £20, which is half way to a new battery, and you still have to buy a new battery if it shows that one is no good.

something like https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cvt2-12v-battery-tester/

You switch it off, connect the thick leads to the battery, then switch it on and read off the scale, switch off and disconnect.

Either take it to a decent motor-factors who will test it for free, or just find the date code on the battery- if it is 7+ years old, just replace it. (Not MSE I know, but if it lets you down in the winter you still need a new one, and you could be stuck somewhere, late for work and lose money or have to buy one off the RAC/AA for hundreds of pounds.)

With the lack of use most cars are getting, you would be better off spending the £20 on a battery charger and charging it every couple of weeks to a month.

thanks I do 32 odd miles a day just for work.     Where is the date code- will have. a look the now.  Thanks for your help.

AdrianC

Why are you worried about the battery? What's made you think you need to test it?

[Deleted User]

Buzzard1985 said:

thanks I do 32 odd miles a day just for work.     Where is the date code- will have. a look the now.  Thanks for your help.

32 miles a day is good and likely to keep your battery in good condition, your battery is re-charging from the moment your engine starts. It takes only 10 mins to replace the charge used to start a car. 

If your car is used regularly it is nothing to worry about unless the battery is reaching end of life due to age, I wouldn't do anything different if your are doing 32 miles a day.

I've gone from 300 miles per week to a few short trips per week since March and not noticed any issues with my battery.

Buzzard1985

AdrianC said:

Why are you worried about the battery? What's made you think you need to test it?

I turned the car on and my clock went to zero- reset it drove to work.  Went out to turn key just to se and sure enough back to zero.  I also cout the miles- zer0-reset before coming in to work-turn off-back on- zero miles covered.
  Read it might be the battery needing replaced.  However, I have no issues such as lights.

This was not an issue until the garage replaced a starter motor- incase this might be key to somebody mechanically minded.
thanks

MX5huggy

You won’t have issues with lights, well not before the car won’t start. Is the car starting as it always has or is it a bit sluggish? 

Batteries wear out they don’t like the cold, after about 5 years you can expect to replace them. Look at the cost of a replacement from Tanya Batteries.

[Deleted User]

Buzzard1985 said:

AdrianC said:

Why are you worried about the battery? What's made you think you need to test it?

I turned the car on and my clock went to zero- reset it drove to work.  Went out to turn key just to se and sure enough back to zero.  I also cout the miles- zer0-reset before coming in to work-turn off-back on- zero miles covered.
  Read it might be the battery needing replaced.  However, I have no issues such as lights.

This was not an issue until the garage replaced a starter motor- incase this might be key to somebody mechanically minded.
thanks

Well the fact you had problems with your starter motor should have been mentioned in your original post as it is relevant. I'd expect you had problems starting your car if you had a starter motor problem and therefore you could well have hammered your battery and taken it to end of life. Context is everything with things like this - not mentioning that in your original post is silly, is there anything else we don't know?

Buzzard1985

[Deleted User] said:

Buzzard1985 said:

AdrianC said:

Why are you worried about the battery? What's made you think you need to test it?

I turned the car on and my clock went to zero- reset it drove to work.  Went out to turn key just to se and sure enough back to zero.  I also cout the miles- zer0-reset before coming in to work-turn off-back on- zero miles covered.
  Read it might be the battery needing replaced.  However, I have no issues such as lights.

This was not an issue until the garage replaced a starter motor- incase this might be key to somebody mechanically minded.
thanks

Well the fact you had problems with your starter motor should have been mentioned in your original post as it is relevant. I'd expect you had problems starting your car if you had a starter motor problem and therefore you could well have hammered your battery and taken it to end of life. Context is everything with things like this - not mentioning that in your original post is silly, is there anything else we don't know?

Wind your neck in!

Buzzard1985

MX5huggy said:

You won’t have issues with lights, well not before the car won’t start. Is the car starting as it always has or is it a bit sluggish? 

Batteries wear out they don’t like the cold, after about 5 years you can expect to replace them. Look at the cost of a replacement from Tanya Batteries.

No the car starts fine- never been an issue.  Couldn't tell you when the battery was replaced as second hand,  Somebody mentioned date code on the battery had a look can't see a date.   About £80-£100 for a new battery inc them dealing with the old one asI imagine local council wouldn't recycle these-  right enough does make me wonder folk just throw them in landfill than have dealt with.  

cymruchris

Buzzard1985 said:

MX5huggy said:

You won’t have issues with lights, well not before the car won’t start. Is the car starting as it always has or is it a bit sluggish? 

Batteries wear out they don’t like the cold, after about 5 years you can expect to replace them. Look at the cost of a replacement from Tanya Batteries.

No the car starts fine- never been an issue.  Couldn't tell you when the battery was replaced as second hand,  Somebody mentioned date code on the battery had a look can't see a date.   About £80-£100 for a new battery inc them dealing with the old one asI imagine local council wouldn't recycle these-  right enough does make me wonder folk just throw them in landfill than have dealt with.  

There's good money in recycling batteries - although there are several types - most contain materials that are worth a bob or two. If the car is starting normally - as in the starter motor turning over sounds like it always has - then it's unlikely to be a battery. The clock reseting to zero might indicate a connection problem rather than a dodgy battery. For now - I wouldn't spend the money on a new battery - but if the clock resetting thing happens often, you might need an auto electrician to test all the various connections to see where the circuit break is happening.