Best Electrical Battery Testers
Watch in wonder as this battery tester works without batteries! That’s right – it uses voltage from the battery it’s testing to work, and even tests rechargeable batteries. The best thing about this battery organizer might be that it makes it easy to see, sort and select your batteries; no more rooting through that battery drawer. USE THE DETACHABLE BATTERY TESTER: Test your batteries (even rechargeable ones) w/ a tester that never needs a battery – it charges off the batteries you test. The Detachable Battery tester does not require a battery, its powered by the battery that is tested.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I would highly recommend to anyone who keeps their batteries in a kitchen junk drawer--you know who you are--or simply don't have the patience to open the ungodly impossible battery packaging when you're already frustrated by needing a replacement battery in the first place, always at an inopportune time."
"First and foremost it seems this unit has fixed a lot of the issues the older unit had with vertical wall mounting. Overall it seems this unit is intended more for vertical mounting whereas the other unit had flaws in that area."
"The included, simple to use battery charge tester works perfectly and eliminates the guesswork so you won't throw away a good battery."
"I could not love this battery organizer more!"
"Edit: Turns out there is one AA battery slot that won't accept a battery without forcing it, so I dropped it one star."
"If the odd battery turns up, we just use the tester to see where it belongs: trash or it's special place."
"The battery tester works fine but I prefer the "Amprobe BAT-200 Battery Tester" or the "Amprobe BAT-250 Battery Tester" for testing the batteries."
Color Name: Black |. Style: 14 Battery Range. Tests all common batteries to determine if they are charged or need replacement.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A battery tester works by putting a load on a battery and measuring the voltage at the battery terminals. The reason is that this voltage, measured with a good voltmeter that draws almost no current, changes little as the battery wears out. This tester has 9 positions which set it to select a reasonable load and voltage range for a battery type, giving you a much more reliable test than a plain voltmeter can. If a tester draws too much current, it can deplete the battery just by testing it, and a battery tested at too little load may test "Good" yet not work in your device. SPECIFICATIONS (from supplied manual). Range..............................Load Current.........Minimum Voltage for. ......................................Drain...................GOOD Indication. Button Cell 1.5V.................1 mA...................1.125V +/- 0.0W. AAA-N-1.5V.......................50 mA.................1.125V +/- 0.09V. AA-C-D-1.5V.....................150 mA................1.125V +/- 0.09V. Lithium 3V..........................1 mA..................2.25V +/- 0.18V. 6V...................................10 mA.................4.50V +/- 0.36V. 9V...................................10 mA.................6.75V +/- 0.54V. 12V.................................10 mA..................9.00V +/-0.72V. 15V.................................10 mA..................11.25V +/- 0.90V. 22.5V...............................10 mA.................16.875V +/- 1.35V. Sorry about the formatting."
"My main complaints are that the 9V contacts on the face of the meter are too small and the contacts from a nine volt battery do not easily mesh and you have to move the battery around. The second problem is that the test leads are hard wired and fairly flimsy (although probably OK if you are a little careful). When testing a AA, AAA, C, or D type battery, instead of trying to hold both probes on the ends of a battery (which is very difficult), put the positive end (one with button) into the 9V + metal contact (top one) on the face and then use the black probe to touch the bottom or flat end for the test."
"It looks almost exacty the same, works as well as its grand-daddy, testing every battery you are likely to own, including a slot for inserting button batteries, under that red thumb pad on the right, you press down and it reads the battery without using the pos/neg terminals."
"Best investment to test batteries!"
"I keep old batteries in a jar at work and when it is full I put them in the recycle bucket. When I first received the battery tester and tested all the batteries in the jar about a third of them still tested well into the green area on the dial."
Amprobe products range from an extensive line of clamp meters and digital multimeters to industry-specific tools for residential/commercial electricians, HVAC/R technicians, utilities and industrial maintenance professionals. Test standard and rechargeable batteries: 9V, AA, AAA, C, D, 1.5V Button Type.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Tried out on new batteries and they read at the top of the green range, then tested what I assumed were bad batteries and they read in the red (replace) or yellow range."
"It may take a few tries at first to learn how to make a good contact with AAA or AA and make sure you don’t dispose of a usable battery. These can be used for several months (or sometimes years) to power simple devices like clocks, small electronics, LCD displays, tiny switches, garage openers, etc... sometimes starting the new use years after the so-called used battery has “expired”. My garage door opener had a 9V Energizer battery when I bought the house which lasted for 17 more years before it stopped."
"Using rechargeable batteries is now working for our family and reducing waste."
"The only drawback is that it does not test the small 12V batteries used in some remotes and wireless doorbells."
"I bought a solar charger for rechargeable batteries, but the one thing missing was an indicator showing when the battery was fully charged."
"This accurately tests batteries."
"Tests all batteries and shows clearly whether the battery is good, low or needs to be replaced."
"The meter is easy to read and accommodates all the popular round batteries, 9V batteries, and button batteries."
Best Voltage Testers
Automatically measures volts ac and volts dc with precise digital resolution.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The little AC tester is a quick way to verify if something is hot -- I've given out dozens of these things to customers who end up carrying them in their pockets because they are so useful."
"Works perfect!"
"Got this for the husband."
"I'm very happy with this product."
"I have taken the voltage tester the amprobe and the multimeter out of my tool bag and replaced them with this one tool."
"Brilliant, can't understand why I waited so long and kept buying those garbage multi meters from the big box."
"This is the perfect meter for me."
"Good tester a true alternative to using a Duspol which is a great two handed tester ,this has many more functions great meter ,the handiest I have ever owned."
Best Multi Testers
Enter your model number to make sure this fits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"(Note: as of 2015 there are two cheaper lines made by Fluke but I know little about them aside from the fact that they are stripped down a bit.). Basically, you can work on most panel boards / switch gear and anything down stream of them (i.e. - feeders, outlets, hard wired equipment, and anything plugged into them.). CATIV is the only rating higher and it adds service drops to the list as well as underground installations. So basically CATIII is the MINIMUM rating you want on your meter and you can't probe the main drop from the power company. I love the sturdiness of this meter, it a Fluke, so it's the brick crap house of DMMs. The rubber holster offers excellent 5 side protection and it feels good in the hand. Most people fail to realize just how much force 10A can carry; this meter uses a single high quality ceramic HRC fuse and all of the standard additional suppression devices to give the user maximum protection. The case is designed with a deep lip / blast shield as well to protect against debris being blown out the sides in the event of truly catastrophic failure. This is a low impedance voltage test that operates on something close to a 3,ooo Ohm resistance. Flipping to the low impedance mode allows this ghost voltage to “dissipate” and read what's really on the line (which should be less than half a volt on a circuit that’s de-energized.). The resistance on a PCB in electronics circuit can often be much higher than 3,000 Ohms...you could short out that segment of your board by allowing current to flow through the meter as apposed in parallel to it. This is why traditional meters use mega ohm class resistors to test voltage, and most of the time that's fine. So always start out in "normal" volts AC or DC then if ghost voltages are suspect, then switch to the LoZ range. It's a latched system which means you get a positive tone every time a circuit is completed. The "Volt Alert" is a non-contact voltage detector that functions the same as those pen style testers that have been on the market for years. It's nice to test walls for live electrical lines prior to drilling or nailing into them. It features high and low sensitivity modes for different wall thicknesses. However in my opinion the amperage range is quite useful for a general purpose meter and perfectly geared for electricians or homeowners. It's written in 9 languages but it's still simple and easy to understand while at the same time giving the user all the information and data that they could possibly need about this meter. So it drops a digit every factor of 10 up to 600.0 (i.e - 6.000, 60.00, 600.0) Now having said all of that, the accuracy isn't reflected in the screen's numeric resolution. Basically, you look at the reading on the display (we'll imagine measuring against a precision voltage reference of 1.000V) The first step is to add AND subtract half of a percent to get a range (in our example 0.995V & 1.005V) then you add and subtract 2 counts. Honestly for precision testing that could be quite a bit, which is why high accuracy bench top meters costs hundreds or even thousands of dollars, however for general purpose measurments, this is actually is really good accuracy. This would leave my other hand free to hold the meter and push the button. Just mark the price up another 2 bucks and give us a pouch for our meters here Fluke! A set of alligator clips would've been nice, but alas nope... Sold separately. Honestly, I have a few Fluke products and a disappointing lack of accessories is actually a common problem. If you find a Fluke Kit for the meter you're interested in at a reasonable price...GET IT! Sure Fluke has a "market" and therefore a "price" in mind, but they build their units to a "standard" first. At the end of the day, they know that these units have been tested rigorously and "proven" so that when they need quality and survivability, as well as maximum personal protection these meters will perform."
"Best meter I have!"
"It does what it is meant to do."
"Awesome Voltage meter at a really good price."
"You can't go wrong with Fluke."
"The NCV checker is a great little extra just to quickly check if a panel is really dead."
"I use it to trouble shoot access control and alarm security systems."
"Just an awesome meter if you want to step up from the basic $20-$25 ones."
Best Circuit Testers
Power Supply to Activate Electronic Components, Power and Ground Feed Tester, High Impedance Circuit Tester with Digital Volt Meter and Diagnostic Tester Modes with Complete Lead Set and Adapters to Fit, to Extend and to Reach for Unsurpassed Connectivity. Cigarette lighter adapter | 3 feet probe tip. The red cables are found under the printed manual sheet.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm just a casual home mechanic with 4 or 5 old cars that I keep to work on."
"Awesome product and a must have for anyone wanting to troubleshoot automotive electric bugs...Or any 12v system really."
"Great product...A must have for anyone working on cars,truck,bikes,trailers,tractors."
"Always handy to have the best in your tool arsenal to scare away the buggers."
"My favorite feature of this power probe is testing fuses quickly."
"This is a great package."
"I love this product."
"Once you get the modes figured out the PP3 makes troubleshooting much easier than a light pen and meter."
Best EMF Meters
Therefore, the Trifield Meter can be scanned rapidly across an area without having to stop at each point to search for the orientation that gives a maximum reading. Can locate wiring in walls (using the 100XE version) and major RF/microwave sources such as leakage from microwave ovens, or the field near cell towers. The TriField Meter will accurately measure EMF pollution from these "hot spots" in your home, office, or work environment so you can take steps for "prudent avoidance": poorly grounded wiring, microwave oven doors, dimmer switches, strong analog RF transmitters, automobiles, TV's & computers, and other electronic equipment. Omni-directional electric and magnetic sensitivity.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The service and integrity of both companies are superb, and so are the products. And I have determined where in our Dodge van the magnetic fields are the lowest so she can sit in relative safety. Some of the cardio machines emit almost no fields, some produce medium magnetic fields, and one an astoundingly strong magnetic field (the Fit Stride 95xi by Life Fitness). The earlier versions of this elliptical cross trainer are fine (the 9500 HR) for her to use, but she dares not get on the newer version. The magnetic field in the rear is astoundingly strong, especially when you are actually on the machine. She thought the hit was from the TVs or the elliptical machine, and so did I; but measurements yesterday determined that the TVs and the elliptical trainer were fine and that the problem was a set of three dimmer switches on the back side of the wall where she was leaning to stretch. So far, the dimmer switches have been the most dangerous thing we have yet encountered. One thing I have learned in measuring various fields is that, even for an engineer (biomedical engineering with a bunch of EE courses), much of this field strength measurement and detection is somewhat counter-intuitive. First, as the description of this product mentions, it is capable of measuring magnetic fields in any plane because it has three separate antennae inside. Thus, it is much simpler to use than one requiring a particular orientation to be effective."
"I avoided the EMF issue for a while, but after reading/listenting to books, lectures and websites on the topic, now was the time to assimilate and mitigate. Every 8-10 seconds, rapid spiking to the top of the meter for 2-3 seconds. Initiate or receive call, spiking for a LONG time. OMG, cell phones are out of control dangerous if this meter means anything."
"I've been told this meter has issues with accuracy for certain frequency."
"This meter seems very accurate, but I returned it because it was too bulky to easily carry with me."
"The two main problems: (1) in most places in my house, it reads twice as high for EMF versus a higher-end digital EMF meter owned by my power company, thus making it look like my house's EMF problem is much worse than it is and (2) it doesn't seem to discriminate between different frequencies of EMF so it registers high EMF both for 60 Hz hum and for higher frequency electrical hash that doesn't seem to bother me. I suppose if I were take this meter's readings at face value, I could rewire my house, install EMF shields, apply EMF paint, and install plug-in EMF filters in an effort to resolve an EMF problem that really isn't a problem, so I'm glad I had the chance to see another EMF meter in action as a sanity check. (The meter does read high EMF in those areas, but it also reads high EMF most everywhere else too.). Just this: the meter's poor accuracy for detecting EMF fields prevented it from showing a stronger EMF field in the vicinity of the miswired light fixture versus other areas of the house. Some time ago, when I had a rep from my electrical utility do an EMF scan using a higher-end meter, he DID detect a higher EMF reading in the vicinity of the light fixture, whereas the Trifield meter showed no difference in reading whether it was near the light fixture or in an entirely different room. UPDATE # 2: I've learned that the Trifield EMF meter sold at this page reads high for EMF because of a feature called "frequency weighting." Since writing the original review and update #1, I've obtained a flat EMF meter (EMI Magnetic field gauss Meter detector MG-2000T Triple Axis Professional use Magnetic Interference from MRI Machines Industrial and Medical Equipment Power Lines Appliances EMF inspections) so I've been comparing it with the Trifield in many areas of my house. Even in the evening, when I get somewhat higher EMF readings than in the daytime, the flat meter reads 1.5 - 2.0 mG which looks a lot better than the 3-4 mG presented by the Trifield. My advice: if you're going to get an EMF meter, steer clear of the frequency-weighted Trifield and invest in a flat EMF meter instead."
Best Capacitance & Resistance Meters
It is easy to operate and features many different functions for measuring current, voltage, and resistance, as well as continuity, transistor, and diode testing. Other features include a low battery indicator, continuity buzzer, and overload protection. Power: 1 x 9V 6F22 Battery Included (Low Battery Indication). Continuity Test: Yes. 1 x Etekcity MSR-R500 Digital Multimeter. EASE OF USE: data hold and backlit LCD with large digits for visibility in dimly lit areas.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"And for really low voltage, like 0.1, 0.2, ... 0.5 DC voltage the inaccuracy could be up to 150% but that's only a concern if you'd like to test small electronics like Arduino boards or something of the sort."
"First one the sent didn't work on resistance setting and continuity check just constantly beeps."
"I have thought about purchasing a multi meter for years, and finally had a real reason -testing of a suspect battery charging device, along with the battery itself for a DR Power Grader."
"Have only used it a couple of times so far but it appears to be well constructed and certainly covers all functions that I will be using it for."
"This multimeter doesn't feel cheap at all."
"I bought the meter to cover home issues as they come up."
"I've bought other Multimeters in the past at this price or a bit more and they have never come close to the quality of this mulitmeter."
"It completely destroys the Amazon rating system, and I can't trust the reviews of any product that is sold by one of these companies."