I had just watched this one the other night for no other reason than it was there.
Personally, I would consider this video for entertainment purposes only.



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As long as we're posting videos...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVPLUzGyaDk

Peter, the Solar tester you showed and my Cen-tec do the same thing..measure conductance.

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The one thing I really like about my Solar tester... There's no guess work.

Thanks Mark and Paul, hope to replace it this weekend.

I had two red-top Optima's in my 84
The first one lasted 12 years. I replaced it with another one and it only lasted 3 years.
Same car and alternator. Replaced it with an Interstate. (working fine at 4 years now)

Some say Optima's are not nearly as good as they were before.

You've got me a little worried - The red-top Optima in my '84 is about 12 years old. I don't want to replace it with a lesser battery.

There was a thread about batteries some time back and Optima came up.
There were others that said the same....the old ones last much longer...the quality went downhill.

The Yellow top Optima I owned was made in Mexico I think. I can find out for sure. I still have it in the garage somewhere waiting to be recycled.

^^^ The yellows are a deep cycle battery...expensive! Start at over $300

It used to be that batteries were made "locally" in the USA or Mexico. Many of the manufacturers are now moving production to, yes, China.

In the solar business, I have not had any issues with the batteries made in Monterrey, Mexico.

That Solar tester seems pretty decent for the price.
Is there one that will test RV/Golf cart batteries that do not have a CA/CCA rating?

Same here, my old charger will work just fine, while my newer ones tell me it's a bad battery.

didnt watch any of the vid-jeos and not sure what the latest philosophy is on battery recovery. But I have been able to revive several fully discharged batteries with a simple 12v low current wall wart.

Just leave it on there until OC voltage comes up to 10v and the newer chargers will start to charge.

AT true zero state of charge you have severly dimished the performace of most 12v car batteries however.


Its sort of ironinc that new chargers wont charge batteries unless they are somewhat charged already, and car batteries only really function well if they arnt discharged which is sort of the point of a battery. Seems a bit "whos on first".

Many years ago I had a good optima, but sold the car. Bought 3 or 4 for my other cars, all short lived.

A while back Optima Jim was here pitching them, promised to help me out but never delivered, and he didn't last much longer than the dead batteries.

Optima was in the game early, but others are now making AGM. Don't know enough to suggest or slam any of them. The one big advantage to AGM as far as I'm concerned is no acid sloshing around.

If I'd known about the solar, I'd have probably chosen it. This because of my inherent suspicion of anything sold by harbor freight. I know the Cen-tec made in China...maybe the solar also? Bottom line, both are amazing bargains as far as conductance testers go.

Suspicion aside, my Cen Tec unit has performed flawlessly every time I've used it. I've read on some boards that harbor freight tools quality has improved. Maybe others can weigh in on that.

A good tip in the video I posted...I plan to take it with me the next time I go battery shopping...buy the one with the best conductance.

Newer smart chargers can identify and treat sulfated lead acid batteries. It's the semi-smart variable current chargers that don't do so well with them.

I had 2 dead batteries yesterday. The Interstate from the skid steer recovered(so far).

The Subaru did not. Exide from Costco, 4+ YO, and the car was sitting for a few months. Got our money out of that one. I'm going to head out and pick up another, $99 + core.

I've been using this charger for the last few years, it said both batteries were 100% : https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B089767MGQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I was using a Schumacher 6A automatic charger for the past 10+ years, think I'll go back to one of those.

I've read that 6 amps is too high for charging AGM batteries. 4 and below is recommended.