I bought a TOPDON 101 last week. Tested battery 3 times and came back with REPLACE BATTERY for CCA test. I went to 2 different autoparts places that offer free testing. They would be more than happy to sell me a battery. Both said battery is good and does not need new one.Their actual CCA numbers were way different than I got with the 101. Your video is very helpful as it demonstrates lack of consistency. My conclusion for home use it that I cannot rely on it. If I had a business that relied on accurate readings I would definitely buy a much better professional unit.
I just ordered the BT100W. They seem inexpensive compared to the analog Projecta ones. I wonder how many amps they are testing at. My more basic Sidchrome one says 120amp draw during test. The Projecta you can buy 100, 500 or 1,000 amp draw versions.
That is a good tool to have. Might have to pick up the smaller one. I am guessing the different results using the same tester same battery may have to do with moving the battery clamp around. Rust and corrosion will change the resistance depending its position and will impact the result.
SOH on the old battery was 90% when you first checked it.. When you came back you said it went up to 90 from 83 but it didn't change. SOH on the old battery with the new tester showed a 6% drop and 1% drop in SOC. A few times you called this a battery charger. Just so someone doesn't buy this thinking it will charge their battery (you know someone will), this is ONLY a tester.
I have just bought the Topdon BT50 battery tester, seems to be ok. Tried my battery load tester and it said the battery was weak, tried the BT50 and it said the battery was good, colour me confused...
hey Kenny, I have the smaller on and like it. It was free for me and good enough in my opinion. Many times I take a pic. of the meter when telling customers that their battery is on the way out.
@@KensSmallEngineRepair the tester works by measuring internal resistance then using that with the voltage to calculate the battery CCA capacity. It then uses that with the voltage and the CCA rating you put in the test to calculate the % charge and % health. The higher the internal resistance the lower the load capacity of the battery. Good connections at the battery is critical to accurate readings as it is dealing in milliohms. The percentages are just a calculation off measurements and what you said the battery capacity was. Tell the tester the battery has a 500CCA capacity and perform the test. The CCA capacity and internal resistance will be the same but will say bad battery. The percentages are like idiot lights compared to a guage. When you start getting over 12 milliohms the battery is starting to go bad. Always best to test the batteries with a full charge too.
I have the older one and it can't read the same thing twice. It will show battery is good, then retest and it will say needs replacing. Try again and it will say poor health, then health 100%. Very inaccurate
Good video Ken. Jake uses the Foxwell with printout simply because he can supply customer with a readout of the battery attached to the invoice. Great units to have we use ours to check on condition of batteries we have salvaged by using the repair desulphating mode on our Noco charger. Some of our batteries have actually come back to 100% state of health . Basically it has paid for itself in used battery sales even when selling them at reduced costs. Ya think Hank has one of these?
Nice to have the printout being in the business and lucky it is a Company tool which cost around $200 Cdn whereas the one without the Bluetooth printout ability is only $40 Cdn that being said for all the DIYers the $40 one is good enough
I notice you chose "in vehicle" but the battery leads to the mower were disconnected. Maybe the difference? Megaohms should be with a capital "M" and milliohms with a lower case "m".
Nice tractors! Other than craftsman, those are still around here and I want some!! lol Let me guess here; 1st is the tester is measure a dynamic load not a fixed one. Batteries suffer from sulfate deposition. Even small amounts cause big changes. This amount is probably small here but as electrons flow which is what your doing when that meter is connected, the electrons change the state of the battery as in 'Dynamic measurements ' are concerned. Your measuring very small changes in terms of percentage. However that tester is doing it, its using more than one aspect of the battery, I.E, current draw, voltage and impedance across the plates. That is dynamic. Not to mention if the tester has a battery in it that would affect it over a few minutes especially in a good battery! As we know, if ya wanna really test a battery, put a carbon pile load tester on it! lol I could go on but I cant text my thoughts properly Nice stuff though, I really need one of those.. Years ago ya may remember, batteries were stored dry, some still are. Just got a motorcycle battery new and we had to fill it.. This is the best way.
Topdon tester, that thing is garbage, compare it with a multimeter, and see the difference. The calculations are based on the voltage, and if that is wrong the rest of the data is junk. 😐😐😐😐
Batteries are strange creatures. I've run across similar results using a voltmeter. One would show 12.7 volts. The other would show 12.3 on the same battery. Not much difference, but... I still use the old OTC 3180 load tester. How about TOPDON vs another brand digital test unit.
My last video on testers showed the Blue one here Vs a competitor. I tested the Kingbolen product, link here. Kingbolen Battery Tester, any good? th-cam.com/video/1aggXlpwBfA/w-d-xo.html I still like the TOPDON although the Kingbolen is half the cost!
As the old saying goes... The man with only one watch knows what time it is. The man with two watch's is never quite sure!
n+1=none 😂
I bought a TOPDON 101 last week. Tested battery 3 times and came back with REPLACE BATTERY for CCA test. I went to 2 different autoparts places that offer free testing. They would be more than happy to sell me a battery. Both said battery is good and does not need new one.Their actual CCA numbers were way different than I got with the 101.
Your video is very helpful as it demonstrates lack of consistency. My conclusion for home use it that I cannot rely on it. If I had a business that relied on accurate readings I would definitely buy a much better professional unit.
I just received the latest from a competitor I’m going to test it. Nothing beats a real carbon pile tester for actual cca numbers!
What's the brand name and model of the new tester?
I just ordered the BT100W. They seem inexpensive compared to the analog Projecta ones. I wonder how many amps they are testing at. My more basic Sidchrome one says 120amp draw during test. The Projecta you can buy 100, 500 or 1,000 amp draw versions.
Ask TopDon to explain the difference. You have their ear.
I just might!
@@KensSmallEngineRepair I think it is a great question. And you da Man! to ask it.
That is a good tool to have. Might have to pick up the smaller one. I am guessing the different results using the same tester same battery may have to do with moving the battery clamp around. Rust and corrosion will change the resistance depending its position and will impact the result.
James, with your fame, I bet TOPDON already has one set aside for you!
@@KensSmallEngineRepair TOPDON would be crazy to NOT have one for Mr Condon.
SOH on the old battery was 90% when you first checked it.. When you came back you said it went up to 90 from 83 but it didn't change. SOH on the old battery with the new tester showed a 6% drop and 1% drop in SOC. A few times you called this a battery charger. Just so someone doesn't buy this thinking it will charge their battery (you know someone will), this is ONLY a tester.
Thanks for watching and clarifying, I actually have the newest model for an evaluation. I’ll watch my wording!
I have the small model you have. Now I’m not sure I trust it 😂
I have just bought the Topdon BT50 battery tester, seems to be ok. Tried my battery load tester and it said the battery was weak, tried the BT50 and it said the battery was good, colour me confused...
Ya I get confused with state of charge, state of health fetch. Resistance also
hey Kenny, I have the smaller on and like it. It was free for me and good enough in my opinion. Many times I take a pic. of the meter when telling customers that their battery is on the way out.
I got both for free as well, I’ll give the big one away, I just like the compact size of the little one! Thanks for watching Bob!
I have the smaller one. Very inaccurate for CCA as compared to test by parts store testing with their much better meters.
Ignore the % health and % charge. Look at cca capacity and internal resistance.
You have a good explanation of resistance importance?
@@KensSmallEngineRepair the tester works by measuring internal resistance then using that with the voltage to calculate the battery CCA capacity. It then uses that with the voltage and the CCA rating you put in the test to calculate the % charge and % health. The higher the internal resistance the lower the load capacity of the battery. Good connections at the battery is critical to accurate readings as it is dealing in milliohms. The percentages are just a calculation off measurements and what you said the battery capacity was. Tell the tester the battery has a 500CCA capacity and perform the test. The CCA capacity and internal resistance will be the same but will say bad battery. The percentages are like idiot lights compared to a guage. When you start getting over 12 milliohms the battery is starting to go bad. Always best to test the batteries with a full charge too.
Thanks for the info!
I have the older one and it can't read the same thing twice. It will show battery is good, then retest and it will say needs replacing. Try again and it will say poor health, then health 100%. Very inaccurate
Good video Ken. Jake uses the Foxwell with printout simply because he can supply customer with a readout of the battery attached to the invoice. Great units to have we use ours to check on condition of batteries we have salvaged by using the repair desulphating mode on our Noco charger. Some of our batteries have actually come back to 100% state of health . Basically it has paid for itself in used battery sales even when selling them at reduced costs. Ya think Hank has one of these?
A printout would be nice, I just text the customer a pic.
Nice to have the printout being in the business and lucky it is a Company tool which cost around $200 Cdn whereas the one without the Bluetooth printout ability is only $40 Cdn that being said for all the DIYers the $40 one is good enough
The new one seems to be more consistent
Maybe but the physical size turns me off!
I notice you chose "in vehicle" but the battery leads to the mower were disconnected. Maybe the difference? Megaohms should be with a capital "M" and milliohms with a lower case "m".
Thanks for the clarification Stella!
Nice tractors! Other than craftsman, those are still around here and I want some!! lol
Let me guess here; 1st is the tester is measure a dynamic load not a fixed one.
Batteries suffer from sulfate deposition. Even small amounts cause big changes. This amount is probably small here but as electrons flow which is what your doing when that meter is connected, the electrons change the state of the battery as in 'Dynamic measurements ' are concerned. Your measuring very small changes in terms of percentage.
However that tester is doing it, its using more than one aspect of the battery, I.E, current draw, voltage and impedance across the plates.
That is dynamic. Not to mention if the tester has a battery in it that would affect it over a few minutes especially in a good battery!
As we know, if ya wanna really test a battery, put a carbon pile load tester on it! lol
I could go on but I cant text my thoughts properly
Nice stuff though, I really need one of those..
Years ago ya may remember, batteries were stored dry, some still are. Just got a motorcycle battery new and we had to fill it..
This is the best way.
Arch, I better sit down with a coffee to read your response! Thanks for watching!
lol
Interesting test on those topdon battery testers.that one would be different from another
The Cubs are cool. I like the battery testers
Topdon tester, that thing is garbage, compare it with a multimeter, and see the difference. The calculations are based on the voltage, and if that is wrong the rest of the data is junk. 😐😐😐😐
I have a new version to test I will compare to a multimeter. Thanks for watching
Batteries are strange creatures. I've run across similar results using a voltmeter. One would show 12.7 volts. The other would show 12.3 on the same battery. Not much difference, but... I still use the old OTC 3180 load tester. How about TOPDON vs another brand digital test unit.
My last video on testers showed the Blue one here Vs a competitor. I tested the Kingbolen product, link here.
Kingbolen Battery Tester, any good?
th-cam.com/video/1aggXlpwBfA/w-d-xo.html
I still like the TOPDON although the Kingbolen is half the cost!
Is SOH just a SWAG?
Could be!
You’re in the ballpark low cost meters
Ya they were freebies for me!
Think ones not rite.....
Which one????
Pretty close though
old one i like more
Don’t live in a perfect world
All junk to me
Henry has spoken, the matter is settled. Henricus locuta; causa finita est
Cmon Hank you must have 10 of these by now!