Fluke BT5XX battery analyzer!

[PNjunction]

Could somebody here be so kind to purchase and review any of the Fluke BT510 / 520 / 521 model analyzers so I could live vicariously through you?

erm, a little rich for my blood, but I can dream ...

[Bala]

Cant help with the Fluke but we use an SSB DBT4000 at work every day.

One model truck runs 4 batteries in parallel so have a lot of failures,

I had never used a BDT only the old style which we have as well, but they are scary.

I dont know how the DBT works but I am happy that its accurate.

Only trouble is it will read fair to good with V of 12.37 and the battery will be deemed ok to use.

I am working on that

[Sunking]

Have not used the Fluke version. I do have a Alber CRT-400 which is the same thing with more meaningful measurements. Well two of them I bought for my company. 1 is with me. Both units set on a shelf collecting dust because they do not really give you meaningful test results unless you Set a Baseline measurement when a battery is new and the plates formed in. For that it is OK, but accuracy is not its thing regardless of manufacture claims.

Most of the functions can be done on any DMM with some exceptions. Some examples:

Inter-Cell connection resistance is pretty much meaningless. To measure micro-ohms requires a 4-Point Current-Voltage Bridge using a 10-amp DC current Supply. That can only be done with a DRLO like a Megger DRLO10HD or similar product.

Internal Resistance which neither meter can measure. They measure Impedance which is done with a 1000Hz signal. Really only useful for an AGM battery and does not mean much without a baseline. What you really want to know is Ri or Internal Resistance. Only way to do that is with a Load Current of at least C/10 to be accurate and is a Static Measurement made Off-Line.

Load Test again takes a significant load on the battery. Neither meter is capable of doing that.

Capacity Test is non existent. However something like an IChargeer or Power Lab 8 is decent at doing that, just not real accurate. Even a McGyver or James Bond test is more useful with a light bulb timer, and volt meter do a decent job for ball park measurement.

To do accurate testing requires 10's of thousands of dollars of several pieces of test equipment: A good DMM will measure DCV and Ripple Voltage (aka ACV), A DRLO as mentioned, and a computerized Load Box with Analyzer to get capacity and Ri. Alber is what the pros use and my company has quite a few pieces of Alber test equipment.

Not to say it is useless as it can be useful to catch a problem on q working system if it is new and you have a baseline to work from. But meaningless on a existing system without a baseline.

If you know electrical, a DIY MacGyver can get decent results using a DMM and a few Power Resistors. No need to spend big bucks if you know WTF you are doing. PNJ, you know WTF you are doing.

[PNjunction]

I think you are right, not to mention the fact that I don't have $5K sitting around.

Add to that the fact that raw data is meaningless unless the entire system operations is taken into account. Nice piece of gear, but not a magic wand!

[Sunking]

I think you are right, not to mention the fact that I don't have $5K sitting around.

Add to that the fact that raw data is meaningless unless the entire system operations is taken into account. Nice piece of gear, but not a magic wand!

Agree. The gadgets are great especially when someone else like a company buys them. DIY OTOH even if they have the right equipment, the results do not mean anything to most of them.

Other than a DLRO to measure micro-ohms ($2000 to $5000 worth) and a hydrometer to measure specific gravity (less than $10 for a floater) everything meaningful can be done with a decent $100 DMM which is a must have,some power resistors or light bulbs, and a timer. Once you learn and understand how to do that and have a rich relative dies and leaves you a fortune, then you can buy the expensive toys.

But beetween you and I only, keep it a secret, a Power Lab 8 or Icharger is all that is needed and we can chargge any battery with them. No uni-tasker.