Originally Posted by
RL67037
Took the battery to Auto Zone, they hooked up a hand held battery tester and said that it tested good - took her less than 2 minutes to say it was good. Walmart said they had a handheld tester as well as a "bigger machine" to test batteries but I didn't take it there since AZ said it was good. This is the first battery I've had tested so is the hand held unit sufficient and reliable for testing load? It seemed pretty quick to me but I have no idea how those things work.
Randy L
The best testers are the ones that test the battery under a severe load, hand held testers do not check the ability to work under a heavy load like a starter motor. It has happened on here before that the OK was given to a battery but it subsequently failed the load test.
These heavy load testers have the battery fully enclosed just in case it shorts inside and explodes.