How to Use a Clamp Meter on Car Battery

In this article, I am writing to describe to you some of my experiences with testing batteries. I have had a good experience with this Schumacher battery charger; Schumacher makes perfect battery chargers. In this article, I am using a Schumacher BT f250 battery tester. This is a digital battery tester. This is used in addition to beyond or even in a replacement of just a basic voltmeter for testing automotive batteries. It is easily deceptive the battery can read 12.6 volts which is a fully charged battery can read. Therefore, it might not have the full discharge amperage that the battery supposed to put out and to this clamp meter actually, test that and tell you what is the current cold-cranking amps in the battery!

Schumacher BT f250 Digital Clamp Meter

It can read 12.6 volts. In this case, I am testing it with this battery tester Schumacher BT f250, and it shows that the battery looks plenty of cold cranking. To start testing a car battery, whether you pull it out of the car or check it while it remains in the car, Therefore disconnect all the electronic appliances in the vehicle, t is connected to the battery. However, it is better to pull the battery out of the vehicle and check the battery life.

Modern vehicles battery’s management circuits will prevent this clamp meter from working it correctly and you may have disconnected the leads that are connected to your car. Therefore, you have to rest your clock and your radio stations.

Testing the car battery with Schumacher BT f250 Clamp Meter

First, I am putting the red clamp on the positive terminal. It is marked on the battery. Moreover, I put the negative clamp on the negative terminal in that order with the tool connected to the battery; you can see the screen of the clamp meter is lightening up automatically. Hence, we can see a few options here.

BODY OF THE BATTERY

Take a quick look at the top of the battery to see a couple of notes on the battery’s body. We find 760 cold-cranking amps, AGM chemistry or absorbing glass map so it is not a Standard flooded lead-acid battery.

How to Use a Clamp Meter on Car Battery

Body of the Schumacher BT f250 Clamp meter

The screen of the meter shows a reading of about 12.5 to 12.6 volts and the floating reading is going to change about 13-14 which is for a fully charged battery. Therefore, in this case, we are a little bit below the reading.

Now we are clicking the button to press Enter and test the battery. This is a sealed battery and this is not the starting battery.  There is another option for SLI for a lead-acid battery SAE; I have a change here on the meter of 760 you can mark it up and down to dial it to end this.

This says I need to charge it, showing slowly uncharged, I had entered again we are not going to charge it. In addition, it is telling me the current draw on it is 425 cold-cranking amps as all this battery is good for out of 760 and that is not good and we probably have a bad cell. In addition, we need to recharge the battery. Therefore, for your battery requirement, the cold cranking reading is mentioned in the body of your battery.

How do we know the battery has a bad cell or a dead cell

We assume the dead cell of a car battery, suppose when the battery cannot reach higher than 10.5 volts if it is fully charged according to the battery charger. It means the battery is sulphated because the cell plates shed debris over time. This debris falls into the bottom of the cells cavities. When this pouch is full then the battery cell is dead. Therefore, by checking the battery with a clamp meter the reading will be under 10.5 volts.

Dura last Platinum AGM technology Car Battery

I am changing the battery and Dura last Platinum is the best choice to buy. Again, I am going to check the brand new battery, place the red and black clamps onto the negative and positive terminals of the battery. In addition, change the reading to 760 mentions on the body. The reading that appears on the screen is 977, and 950 SAE is written on the top of the body of the battery, which means the new battery is above the cold cranking amp reading which is 950 above freezing. Therefore, slight recharge let us see the voltage above 13volts. Now we have a good battery to put into our car.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you know that your car battery is bad?

By checking it with a clamp meter if the reading is below 10.5volts, it means the battery is dead.

How can I test my car battery?

Usually, we check the car battery with a clamp meter.

Conclusion

In this article, I describe to you which clamp meter is good to check the battery life of a car, that is, Schumacher BT f250 I explain the whole procedure; to check the new car battery as well as a dead cell battery, and show you how you know that, the battery cell is dead or alive. Moreover, which battery is good and durable for your vehicle for long-lasting function? Buy Dura Last Platinum Car Battery and Enjoy it.

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