testing a AA battery ?

GrahamL · #1 11-07-2010, 08:38 AM

Is there a way to test them , when i moved house recently i seemed to
of got a several dud ones lumped in with a new (large ) pack of energisers.

cheers graham

RickS (Rick) · #2 11-07-2010, 08:44 AM

Check the voltage with a meter. A fresh battery with no load should be 1.5v (probably a bit higher). If a battery has a significantly lower voltage than that, chuck it...

danielsun · #3 11-07-2010, 09:16 AM

As Rick said you will need a multi meter, set it to V- (volts DC) and you may have a switch nominating the volts eg; 3, 6, 9,12 etc Volts must be set to higher than the battery being tested. OR you can buy a battery tester from Jaycar or Dick Smith, very cheap and easy to use for all types of batteries. My 7 year old enjoyes his job of being the battery tester.

Cheers Daniel.

mithrandir (Andrew) · #4 11-07-2010, 09:35 AM

A volt meter only gives you the no load voltage. A dead battery can have close to full voltage, but can't stand any load. Battery testers do this load test.

Put the battery under load and then measure the voltage. A suitable voltage torch bulb or 100 ohm resistor across a dead battery will be enough to drop the measured voltage to about zero, and won't take much out of a good battery in the time it takes to do the test.