Vecky with this exhaust must be a scream driving around your workplace (I know the area well as I grew up there) and probably makes the local lads turn to see what's making the noise and then promptly collapse in fits of laughter when they see Vecky, something akin to a Reliant Robin with a formula 1 engine fitted 😂😅😂 Massive smiles per minute of driving 😊
I watched this video on Saturday, and ordered a BM520 that evening. Cost was £40.91 with a 10% reduction for first purchase and including postage and Paypal conversion from dollars to pounds sterling. The unit arrived safely this morning, so I'm about to try it on my car, which has a problem with battery voltage stability even though both battery and alternator have been replaced recently. I'll let you know how the BM520 performs.
At my previous job, we were using a Midtronics battery tester, well over £1,000 worth of kit, and I didn't fully trust it. For clarity, I was using it on buses, so almost all 24 volt systems using two huge 12v batteries (compared to what you're testing here) The amount of times it said "replace battery" but the battery would be fine for months like that, if I could've had £1 each time, I could've bought a couple of those midtronics testers 😂 It's good as a guide, but my advice would be don't immediately go out buying batteries on the say-so of any battery tester, I'd look for other evidence the battery is goosed first (not keeping charge, sluggish starting etc)
A fair comment. Being someone who spends their days around cars and could change a battery pretty easily if I wanted to, I'd side on your advice tbh. But for someone living remotely who doesn't really work on their own car, and only has the one vehicle, it could be different. My advice is to just treat it as a type of multimeter with added functions.
@@dizzy2020 I have to say I can see the other side of that coin for a garage too - they don't want a customer coming to them and going away with a message of "your battery is OK" only for the car to non-start on the first cold day, and an unreasonable customer then blames the garage - they're out there. I go entirely with what Mr UpNDown says above - as a DIYer or even professional working on your own car, then you can quite easily ignore the message. It might even lead to you perhaps charging the battery from time to time with something like a CTEK battery charger/maintainer. But if you're a commercial garage perhaps serving a customer in a rural area, you don't want your customer stranded miles from home and expecting you to help them. I suppose the message is this: like all diagnostic tools, you need to be able to interpret the results and factor in your situation before coming to a course of action.
I have one similar at work and I use it on routine major services and use it as a comparison to track battery life. I.e if I get two bad readings over a 16 week interval, I advise the customer that the battery is failing. The wave test feature is helpful for visualisation.
We've come a long way from a set of tongs placed across the battery to measure its short-circuit current, haven't we? Last time I saw that particular test method done was when I bought a replacement battery for my Datsun Sunny estate, which failed in precisely the manner you describe in mid-winter... at 3am. At a railway station.
My 208 sat around a lot during the first lockdown so the battery, that was quite old to begin with (possibly over 7 years?), was starting to struggle - no stop-start, and the occasional system error on the touch screen. I purchased a cheap Sealey solar panel and though I doubt its effectiveness (what's 1.5W going to do on a car with lots of electrical gubbins?), it may have helped a bit whilst I wasn't driving. As I started to drive more again, I had the inkling that the old battery was soldiering on, despite a higher frequency of system errors, as it would start okay most of the time, and would occasionally allow stop-start to work. It certainly wasn't as bad as the one I had in a 206 which was so low on charge, the struggles to start would throw an airbag light. It was only this February when I actually had it replaced. It would've been really interesting to see the state of what I believe was a 10 1/2 year old Exide AGM battery.
Lovely to see Vecky again, still waiting for their dyno slot ... guessing a red [edit: rwd, damn auto correct!] vehicle sticks out further rather than faces the other way - the latter would be difficult for Vecky! Wishing I could rehome Vecky I've got the space (though perhaps not after the divorce it may cause!) but not the time or the budget ... I did 'own' a T reg Iveco chassis cab (4.05t 4x4) with a custom (demountable) body fitted with cameras I was paid to play with. When it was clear that it was too heavy for road use I managed to convince my employer to replace it with a Y reg 6.5t chassis cab with a large fixed frame, a 10m mast for cameras and a 10kva generator - it didn't have the same angular charm of Vecky, but with a 1.75t trailer is the heaviest vehicle I've driven on public roads
It ould be interesting to test it on a battery that has had a session on a Ctek or similar. Before and after to see if these things actually condition and revive batteries.
I wonder if it can detect the difference between a tired battery before and after pulse repair charging. I have “repaired” several batteries that have been too far discharged or left too long on solar charging without exercise. I was very sceptical about the claims but it works well for me.
I'd like to see what you think of those capacitor type jump starters that use the dead battery. Would be handy for people who don't check their conventional portable jump starter...
it measures the internal resistance, which you can not do with the multimeter - values are too low for that. The load test I don't believe, you need power resistors for that, creates plenty of heat, this is in a plastic housing. Say you use a load of 1 ohms, 500As for cold cranking that is 500Ws. Plenty of heat already and even the battery is not big.
Errr.... you've made an error in your calculation. Power is current *squared* times resistance (I²R), so your example would actually result in a theoretical dissipation of 500² x 1 = 250 kilowatts. However, on a 12V battery it would be limited to much less - power here being V²/R, so 12x12/1 = 144W.
@@kornelschwarcz9104 - quite. But it may only apply the battery voltage to the load resistor briefly - as I said elsewhere, we're a long way from tongs being placed directly on a battery with an ammeter in shunt!
I'm sure you put somewhere that Vecki would go on the rolling road if Sophie's legacy topped £15k, which it did after the Jag sales contribution didn't it... Oh, and nice piece of kit but wouldn't have been hard to implement a OBD2 diag into that too. Now that would be a handy piece of kit that I'd buy for a dollar.
I know things like the 2003- on Saab 9-3 is very sensitive to the condition of the battery, and if it isn't tip-top the car will start acting up. Same with the Maserati Quattroporte. So if only to rule out stuff when tracking down foibles, this tester might be a useful tool to have. Also, the Iveco sounds really good and I was not prepared for such a clean engine bay. Seems the cheap solar charger may well have saved that battery too - how long was it since it was started?
I don't mind a bit of shilling, especially if it's useful. It's always goodto know if a cheap gadget is going to do what it sayson the tin. Also, you tubers deserve to get renumeration above and beyond adsense imo.
i wouldn't order from kingbolen again, their shipping time is 2-3 days ...... 4 days and counting and mine hasn't been despatched and yes it is in stock ... SHOCKING !
Dear Reader, I wanted to eat a sandwich, but after this test I know I can recharge myself directly with new power. Michel F. van den Brun Pedestrian with a little bit of a burned smell
Come here for the content, learn history about King Henry VIIIs wife!!!! Well, her surname anyway. Irony is - I was looking for a battery tester anyway!!!! :O
Vecky on tickover is music to my ears. Love the old school diesel chugging.
Becky sorry
Vecky
Vecky with this exhaust must be a scream driving around your workplace (I know the area well as I grew up there) and probably makes the local lads turn to see what's making the noise and then promptly collapse in fits of laughter when they see Vecky, something akin to a Reliant Robin with a formula 1 engine fitted 😂😅😂 Massive smiles per minute of driving 😊
That's a decent tester. Like the on screen graphics. Vecky action! 🔥
After we got midtronics testers at work looking after a massive fleet spend on batteries went up a lot , now lots of good batteries in scrap box
I watched this video on Saturday, and ordered a BM520 that evening. Cost was £40.91 with a 10% reduction for first purchase and including postage and Paypal conversion from dollars to pounds sterling. The unit arrived safely this morning, so I'm about to try it on my car, which has a problem with battery voltage stability even though both battery and alternator have been replaced recently. I'll let you know how the BM520 performs.
Yeh, " Vecky Video" that van wants to live,the sound of that exhaust is brilliant,made me re watch the video when you drove her with the new exhaust.
Good little Demo Rich, quite a handy little product, may have tk upgrade my Lidl/Aldi Battery Tester.
Also good to hear Vecky fire up.
I think Vicky proves you should never judge a book by it's cover
At my previous job, we were using a Midtronics battery tester, well over £1,000 worth of kit, and I didn't fully trust it. For clarity, I was using it on buses, so almost all 24 volt systems using two huge 12v batteries (compared to what you're testing here)
The amount of times it said "replace battery" but the battery would be fine for months like that, if I could've had £1 each time, I could've bought a couple of those midtronics testers 😂
It's good as a guide, but my advice would be don't immediately go out buying batteries on the say-so of any battery tester, I'd look for other evidence the battery is goosed first (not keeping charge, sluggish starting etc)
A fair comment. Being someone who spends their days around cars and could change a battery pretty easily if I wanted to, I'd side on your advice tbh. But for someone living remotely who doesn't really work on their own car, and only has the one vehicle, it could be different.
My advice is to just treat it as a type of multimeter with added functions.
@@dizzy2020 I have to say I can see the other side of that coin for a garage too - they don't want a customer coming to them and going away with a message of "your battery is OK" only for the car to non-start on the first cold day, and an unreasonable customer then blames the garage - they're out there.
I go entirely with what Mr UpNDown says above - as a DIYer or even professional working on your own car, then you can quite easily ignore the message. It might even lead to you perhaps charging the battery from time to time with something like a CTEK battery charger/maintainer.
But if you're a commercial garage perhaps serving a customer in a rural area, you don't want your customer stranded miles from home and expecting you to help them.
I suppose the message is this: like all diagnostic tools, you need to be able to interpret the results and factor in your situation before coming to a course of action.
I have one similar at work and I use it on routine major services and use it as a comparison to track battery life.
I.e if I get two bad readings over a 16 week interval, I advise the customer that the battery is failing.
The wave test feature is helpful for visualisation.
Most fun promotional video I have seen! I don't own a battery tester but almost tempted to get one even though I actually don't need one. Tool envy :)
The "magic eye" green light on a battery only monitors one cell. So you could have 5 completely shot cells and one good one.
The magic eye never works in any environment I am ever in when trying to use it.
Ah, I didn't know that! So only a very basic indication of S.O.C. then?
@@UPnDOWN I only found out recently, courtesy of the 12v Boating Group on Facebook.
A neat bit of kit!
I'm very impressed that you provide a van for your cat to sleep in: ours just get a basket by the washing machine!
It's not even my cat, that's the ridiculous bit! It roams the whole estate and lives in the housing estate next door.
We've come a long way from a set of tongs placed across the battery to measure its short-circuit current, haven't we? Last time I saw that particular test method done was when I bought a replacement battery for my Datsun Sunny estate, which failed in precisely the manner you describe in mid-winter... at 3am. At a railway station.
My 208 sat around a lot during the first lockdown so the battery, that was quite old to begin with (possibly over 7 years?), was starting to struggle - no stop-start, and the occasional system error on the touch screen. I purchased a cheap Sealey solar panel and though I doubt its effectiveness (what's 1.5W going to do on a car with lots of electrical gubbins?), it may have helped a bit whilst I wasn't driving. As I started to drive more again, I had the inkling that the old battery was soldiering on, despite a higher frequency of system errors, as it would start okay most of the time, and would occasionally allow stop-start to work. It certainly wasn't as bad as the one I had in a 206 which was so low on charge, the struggles to start would throw an airbag light. It was only this February when I actually had it replaced. It would've been really interesting to see the state of what I believe was a 10 1/2 year old Exide AGM battery.
Lovely to see Vecky again, still waiting for their dyno slot ... guessing a red [edit: rwd, damn auto correct!] vehicle sticks out further rather than faces the other way - the latter would be difficult for Vecky!
Wishing I could rehome Vecky I've got the space (though perhaps not after the divorce it may cause!) but not the time or the budget ... I did 'own' a T reg Iveco chassis cab (4.05t 4x4) with a custom (demountable) body fitted with cameras I was paid to play with. When it was clear that it was too heavy for road use I managed to convince my employer to replace it with a Y reg 6.5t chassis cab with a large fixed frame, a 10m mast for cameras and a 10kva generator - it didn't have the same angular charm of Vecky, but with a 1.75t trailer is the heaviest vehicle I've driven on public roads
It ould be interesting to test it on a battery that has had a session on a Ctek or similar. Before and after to see if these things actually condition and revive batteries.
Surprised that Vecky started. Looks a decent tester. All good 👍
I wasn't, Vecky's unstoppable!
@@UPnDOWN I think Vecky's a keeper!
I wonder if it can detect the difference between a tired battery before and after pulse repair charging. I have “repaired” several batteries that have been too far discharged or left too long on solar charging without exercise. I was very sceptical about the claims but it works well for me.
Cmon Vecky get ya clag out !!
Careful, that's for OF
Sitting here, hoping for Vecki Rolling road in the future!!!
OMG, you're right! It should be 'Vecki' not Vecky!
I'd like to see what you think of those capacitor type jump starters that use the dead battery. Would be handy for people who don't check their conventional portable jump starter...
I could use one actually!
I have one and it does work really well. I was sceptical too but the evidence is irrefutable. Just have to remember to keep it charged too!😂
That chassis sure looks interesting 🧐👍
Which one?
Great video， thank you for sharing BM520
Have to send one of these to Ian for his Matiz 😂 Great video, gotta love Vecky content 💪
Items sold in the USA priced in $ tend to end up the same price in £ when sold here, ie we get ripped off in the UK
You need to do a toaster load test first after charging to get rid of the surface charge. Then do this test.
It works out at £43.34 before postage so it's not a bad price
R.I.P. Clement - Hi again Vecky - where ya been?
it measures the internal resistance, which you can not do with the multimeter - values are too low for that. The load test I don't believe, you need power resistors for that, creates plenty of heat, this is in a plastic housing. Say you use a load of 1 ohms, 500As for cold cranking that is 500Ws. Plenty of heat already and even the battery is not big.
Errr.... you've made an error in your calculation. Power is current *squared* times resistance (I²R), so your example would actually result in a theoretical dissipation of 500² x 1 = 250 kilowatts. However, on a 12V battery it would be limited to much less - power here being V²/R, so 12x12/1 = 144W.
@@HowardLeVert correct, thanks for noting. Still you will not dissipate that heat in a closed plastic housing.
@@kornelschwarcz9104 - quite. But it may only apply the battery voltage to the load resistor briefly - as I said elsewhere, we're a long way from tongs being placed directly on a battery with an ammeter in shunt!
What he said!
I'm sure you put somewhere that Vecki would go on the rolling road if Sophie's legacy topped £15k, which it did after the Jag sales contribution didn't it...
Oh, and nice piece of kit but wouldn't have been hard to implement a OBD2 diag into that too. Now that would be a handy piece of kit that I'd buy for a dollar.
Ebay £30 they should have given you a discount code 😉 nice demo looks useful 👍
I know things like the 2003- on Saab 9-3 is very sensitive to the condition of the battery, and if it isn't tip-top the car will start acting up. Same with the Maserati Quattroporte. So if only to rule out stuff when tracking down foibles, this tester might be a useful tool to have. Also, the Iveco sounds really good and I was not prepared for such a clean engine bay. Seems the cheap solar charger may well have saved that battery too - how long was it since it was started?
Whenever the last time I started it on video was! I'm pretty sure it was about a year ago, but not certain.
I don't mind a bit of shilling, especially if it's useful. It's always goodto know if a cheap gadget is going to do what it sayson the tin. Also, you tubers deserve to get renumeration above and beyond adsense imo.
Testing batteries whilst wearing an AC/DC hoody. Nice! 😀
Haha! Someone noticed it...
my internet security didn't like your link to the Kingbolen website which has never happen on my computer before
Weird, mine was fine with it (at home and at the unit)
Nice to see Vicky get some attention
Vecky, too! Or Vecki, as it now is...
i wouldn't order from kingbolen again, their shipping time is 2-3 days ...... 4 days and counting and mine hasn't been despatched and yes it is in stock ... SHOCKING !
I need a Vecky!!
IVECO = It Vibrates Everything Comes Off
Dear Reader,
I wanted to eat a sandwich, but after this test I know I can recharge myself directly with new power.
Michel F. van den Brun
Pedestrian with a little bit of a burned smell
that van sounded delicious😀
😀
❤Vecky
👍👍😍😍
Come here for the content, learn history about King Henry VIIIs wife!!!! Well, her surname anyway.
Irony is - I was looking for a battery tester anyway!!!! :O
Is it built as cheap and nasty as it looks?
Not really. The box is a bit cheap-feeling (but then it's also quite cheap to buy), though the cables and croc clips are pretty decent quality.
what? you have an iveco? 🤣
I haven't mentioned it ..
@@UPnDOWN can't think why 🤔
Now she running again can we have her on the dyno please just for shit and giggles
Maybe...