Michael Komadina says:

I wanted a quick, evidential (so the printer feature) battery tester that could produce a quick print-off of the batteries actual condition. Also, test the charging circuit (plus some other features it provides). Often, when buying a used car, there can be a bit of a struggle with the retailer of the vehicle as to if the battery is in good shape or not – not merely discharged “…as it’s been sat there unused for a while, it only needs to be recharged”. It’s often a struggle to legitimately prove your case independently – in such a way that it cannot be quickly dismissed (this kind of chimes with the dealer who wants to sell you a car which has done half the amount of miles before the Cam=belt / Tooth-belt / timing-belt needs changing in but same vehicle has double the age that it should be changed before – as manufacturers often change it in x thousand miles or x years whatever is SOONEST – if you get my drift). Battered age too – and having to buy a brand new battery just after buying a used car is common practice for many people I think… So any larger Land Rover / Range Rove / Discovery’s / Audi A8’s & similar are hard on batteries & classic lead acid batteries (less often used these days I point out) are never as good when fully discharged & recharged – where left flat for any length of time (& even newish AGM left discharged & not recharged quickly thereafter suffer damage). There will be some who’ll argue about certain battery chemistries / constructions here & they’d be right – but basically this meter does the hard work for you. The only subtle issue I have with it is that I have an unused well maintained Halford (Yuasa) 096 battery & testing it has yielded me fluctuating results; the maximum CCA that the manufacture claims is not necessarily reflected – and re-testing it does give varied results (you can see my results slips photographed with initial ones starting the battery was not fully charged – which – I have to assume is accurate – but they are within a certain “reasonable” tolerances – so I don’t think there’s an issue with mine. Recharging the battery (when it doesn’t need it) also changes that Health value. I suspect the algorithm is a little more harsh than it needs to be – which is probably a good thing – but I can’t scientifically test this either way but I am 98/99% certain this is as good as it can be. Topdon might read this & reach out – perhaps mine is subtly flawed or merely needs calibration?? That said; I think I can rely upon it. The printer is great – though mine has chewed the paper a few times (now that is something I should address with them). Supplied in a good carry case too as well as with some spare paper roles.