Associated Equipment 6042 - Manual (Page 3)

BATTERY LOAD TESTS
TESTING 12 VOLT BATTERIES:
1) The standard battery load test is to apply a load on the battery
equal to
½ the cold cranking amp (CCA) capacity of the battery
for 15 seconds. Both the voltage and temperature of the
battery under load determine whether a battery is good or not.
2) Before testing the battery be sure that:
„
Battery terminals are clean.
„ The battery does not have any physical damage.
„ The battery is not frozen.
„ The LOAD ADJUST knob is in the full counter clockwise
position
PROPER TEST PROCEDURE IS AS FOLLOWS:
1)
Attach red and black heavy duty leads to the positive and
negative battery posts. Twist or rock clamps back and forth
several times to make a good connection. Be sure the VOLTS
switch is in INT position.
2) Attach the AMPS PICKUP around either lead of the tester. Be
sure the arrow points in the direction of the current flow.
3) Adjust the AMPS meter with the AMPS ZERO ADJUST knob to
give a reading of 000.
4) Read the open circuit voltage (OCV) of the battery. If the
voltage is 14.4 volts of higher, the load test may be run. If 12.3
volts or lower, (75% state of charge) the battery should be
recharged and retested.
5) Apply a load to the battery of a ½ the CCA rating for 3 seconds
to remove any surface charge. If the voltage has fallen below
12.4 volts, recharge and retest.
6) If the battery is adequately charged, apply a load to the battery
of the
½ CCA rating of the battery for 15 seconds. Adjust the
load as necessary during the test. Note the voltage of the
battery under load and then turn the load off.
The minimum acceptable voltage for a battery at the different
temperatures is as follows:
BATTERY TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION 15 SECOND
LOAD TEST
FIGURE 2
+ -
12 VOLT
°C 21 ↑ 16 10 4 -1 -7 -12 -18
°F
70
↑ 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
MIN
VLT 9.6 9.5 9.4 9.3 9.1 8.9 8.7 8.5
IF THE CCA OF THE BATTERY IS NOT KNOWN, IT CAN BE
DETERMINED BY THE FOLLOWING PROCESS:
1)
Determine the temperature of the battery and find the minimum
accepted voltage from the chart above.
2) Apply a load to the battery until the voltage reaches the above
determined number.
3) Adjust the load as needed to maintain the voltage for 15
seconds. Note current at 15 seconds and turn load off.
4) Multiply the current reading by 2 to determine the CCA rating of
the battery. Check vehicle manufacturer
’s recommendation for
the proper battery CCA and compare to your results.
TESTING 12/24 VOLT SYSTEMS:
For best results in a 12/24 volt system that has batteries connected per the diagram above, each battery should be tested separately and the
connection between the batteries tested at the same time. Both battery tests should be run as described in the previous section.
PROPER TEST PROCEDURE IS AS FOLLOWS:
1)
Attach heavy duty leads to Battery 1 and run battery load test.
Evaluate the results. (See figure 3)
2) Attach the negative heavy duty lead to the negative terminal of
Battery 2. Attach the positive heavy duty to the negative
terminal of Battery 1. (By attaching at that point and not at the
positive terminal of Battery 2, we will check the connection
between the batteries at the same time.) Attach the negative
light gauge voltage lead to the positive terminal of Battery 2
and the positive light gauge lead to the negative terminal of
Battery 1. (See figure 4)
3) Run the battery load test on battery 2. At the end of the 15
seconds and with the load still on the battery, switch VOLTS to
EXT position and read the voltage drop across the cable
connecting the 2 batteries. Turn load off and evaluate results.
4) To evaluate the battery load test, the voltage drop read across
the cable (EXT position) has to be added to read the voltage on
the INT position to give the proper battery voltage. Evaluate
the battery based on this voltage (EXT + INT).
5) Evaluate the cable jumper between the batteries, based on the
voltage read on the EXT position. A typical acceptable voltage
drop is 0.2 volts. Check the service procedure for the vehicle if
there is any question about the acceptable voltage drop.
6042
6042
BATTERY 2 BATTERY 1
FRAME
+ - + -
12V 12V
FIGURE 3
FRAME
+ -
12V
+ -
12V
BLACK
LEAD
FIGURE 4
RED
LEAD
BATTERY 1 BATTERY 2
3