Larry wrote in
:

So what does Joe Boater do with HIS voltmeter? He opens that battery
box with the Battery Switch to OFF and measures 13.5VDC with NO LOAD,
declares the batteries in great condition because they are AGM
batteries and closes it back up. "It doesn't need maintenance.", he
declares to noone in particular. "These are Cadillac Supreme AGM
batteries I paid $1299 each for!", proudly. Joe has no idea cell 3 is
deader'n a doorknob because he didn't LOAD TEST the cell. Dead cells
have great voltage with NO LOAD!



Speaking of the ability to measure their voltage, It's most unfortunate
that manufacturers have chosen, for economy, to discontinue batteries
with replaceable cells with EXTERNAL crossover leads. With each cell's
terminals coming out the top of the battery, one could measure the loaded
voltage for each cell very easily to compare them. That's unfortunately,
no longer possible. Even if we could just get them to put a test point
on each cell it would be wonderful. Now, the only way I can load a
battery and measure individual cell output voltage is with some stainless
steel, sharp-tipped probes I made. Only the probe tips are exposed, the
shaft of them is coated with nail polish to keep as much acid as possible
off them.

To use them, obviously only on wetcells, you take the caps off and poke
the probe points into the lead plate, directly, one in each cell. If you
measure around 2V, it's one cell. 4V, use the other plate as you have
two cells in circuit. You'll soon see how they're connected and use the
same polarity plate in each hole. Harbor Freight has a great 50A battery
tester from China really cheap. It has a nichrome load "heater" you
switch on with a momentary contact switch and an analog meter I find is
very accurate tested against my DVM.
Item No. 93784-2VGA
http://www.harborfreight.com/
HOLY SMOKE, LOOK! It's on the front page of their website ON SALE for
$9.99 again! I'll go down in the morning and buy a few more....boat
buddy Christmas presents...(c; Those without a store can order online...
$10! BUY IT!! While you're there, buy several of those 9-LED mini
flashlights for $5! Hell, that's less than Waste Marine wants for a
BULB!

Loaded, the "dead cell" shows up really fast with nowhere near 2V across
it. Weak cells show up as in imbalanced cell with less voltage than the
other ones.

Larry
--
Why is it, in any city, all traffic lights act as if they have rotary
timers in them, like they did in 1955, and are all set to create
maximum inconvenience and block traffic movement, entirely?