Advertiser Disclosure
​Most people don’t give their car batteries a second thought, until they’re stuck by the roadside, waiting on recovery or a good friend to rescue them. But, with a little forethought, and some planned maintenance, that person needn’t be you. Pick one of the best car battery testers and at the first sign of trouble, you can diagnose exactly what’s happening.
​Back in the day, it was only professional auto shops that access to specialized equipment such as battery testers. They paid handsomely for the privilege. They were close to $450 for a full battery tester that was capable of doing pretty much everything (and printing readouts for customers.) Some of the testers listed here will do nearly the same job, for a quarter of the price or less.
​Before you rush out and grab your battery tester, it’s important to understand just what it is you need. Some testers will check the battery, charging system, voltage, load capacity, and a myriad of other things. Others will just check the battery condition and its ability to hold a charge. Both testers have their uses, but sometimes you just don’t need it too complicated.
​The Best Car Battery Tester
Schumacher BT-100 ​Battery Load Tester and Voltmeter
- Rating: 4.9 / 5
- Brand: Schumacher
​In the middle of the price range is the BT-100 tester, capable of testing both 6v & 12v systems. It’s ideal for everything from light trucks, RVs, ATVs, motorcycles, boats, and of course, cars.
​It can check up to 1,000 CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) and give a 100A load test on 12v batteries, or a 50A test on 6v batteries. It will test the load, overall battery condition, starter motor draw and give a complete diagnosis of the charging system.
​It’s simple and quick to use. Connect it to the battery and operate the spring-mounted rocker switch to send the load through the battery. The scale is analog. The wires are all copper and heavy-duty, as they need to be for this type of tester. Smaller gauge wires would just burn out.
​It’s built-in a steel case and the gauge is shockproof. This should give you years of trouble-free service if looked after correctly. And as it’s all analog, there are no fancy electronics to go wrong. A great all-rounder.
SOLAR BA9 ​Digital Battery and System Tester
- Rating: 4.7 / 5
- Brand: SOLAR
​The SOLAR BA9 has a wide range for testing – from just 40 CCA to 1,200 CCA. It can handle a wide range of batteries and will measure from 7v to 15v. ​And there’s a built-in LCD screen to give you the readings instantly, under any lighting conditions.
​It will test a battery and the starting or charging systems, but there are a couple of drawbacks​. The first being that it’s quite small. The leads aren’t that long.
You need to know the specifications of the battery which is a slightly more complicated issue. It’s fine on a battery where the label is still intact, but if not, you may be playing a guessing game.
​It has reverse polarity and over-voltage protection built-in. The overall feel of the tester is decent. It does what it needs to, but things could be a little better.
FOXWELL BT-705 Automotive ​Battery Load Tester
- Rating: 4.6 / 5
- Brand: Foxwell
​This is labeled as both 12V and 24V, and that’s true, to an extent. It will test 24V systems but can’t check a 24V battery as a standalone test. With that said, it will test pretty much any type of battery including Flooded, AGM flat plate, Gel, AGM spiral, and all deep cycle batteries.
​Not only that, but the standards it uses are: IEC, MCA, CA, GB, BCI, JIS, EN, DIN, SAE, and CCA. So, whatever your battery type, you’re pretty much guaranteed that this tester will work. You just need to know the battery specification before you start.
​The tester itself is well made and built with quality components​. The test leads and clips and made from premium quality copper, and they’re a sensible length – 7.8′. This means you can crank the vehicle and still check the meter if you need to. It’s the only one here that you can do that with.
​The large and easy-to-read backlit display gives you all the information you need. The actual cold-cranking amps, the capability of the starting system, the state of the charging system and the overall condition of the battery​.
The device also can send all the information to a Bluetooth enabled printer. It’s perfect if you want to keep a record, or if you’re like me and want to give that record to a customer.
​The whole kit comes in a sturdy carry case and is the closest thing I’ve seen to a full professional battery tester, just without the huge price tag.
CARTMAN 12V Car Battery & Alternator Tester
- Rating: 4.5 / 5
- Brand: CARTMAN
​This is the simplest of testers here, designed for 12v use only.
​It’s very cheap (I honestly don’t know how they can make and ship it for the price), but it works if you need only simple diagnostics.
​It tests the overall battery condition, along with the alternator and charging system, using LEDs as an indicator as to whether they’re within limits or not. It will give you results for battery condition, alternator state, battery state and a check before charge state.
When I say it’s simple, the alternator check is literally revving the engine to 2,000 rpm and seeing what the LEDs says. That’s how simple it is.
​Be aware that the clips are small. They’re not actually big enough to fit over a car battery post, but they clip well enough to the clamp or cable attached to the post. This is the #1 tester if you really just need something simple, quick and easy without having to read up an instruction manual or take a mechanical engineering scholarship.
ANCEL BA101 Professional Automotive Load Battery Tester
- Rating: 4.4 / 5
- Brand: Ancel
​For 12v systems only, ​it has a wide range – 100 to 2000 CCA, up to 220Ah but will read as low as 30Ah on all types of batteries including deep-cycle, marine, maintenance-free, sealed, wet, absorption glass mat, and gel cell. It uses the same standards as the FOXWELL (JIS, EN, DIN, SAE, etc).
​The tester can tell you all you need to know about the state of the battery and the charging & starting system. It will give you voltage, charge, cranking power, unloaded voltage, load voltage, ripple status, and charging system status – all on the large LCD display.
​The ANCEL BA101 comes with a 3′ long cable, making it the second-longest here. It has the ability to print results, but it’s via a USB connection to a computer, not to a printer. It’s not exactly a mobile or quick solution.
It offers similar functionality to the FOXWELL tester, ​at a reduced price. The question you need to ask yourself is whether those little extra touches are worth the extra dollars. (If you’re looking to use this regularly, in a semi-professional way, then the answer must be yes.)
OTC 3181 ​Heavy-Duty Battery Load Tester
- Rating: 4.3 / 5
- Brand: OTC
​This battery tester would be classed as ‘old school’. This is pretty much the same tester that was around when I first started on the tools, which makes it old. It has limited functionality, but it’s reliable and accurate for what it does.
​Sure, it doesn’t have the hundred different functions of some of the other testers here, ​because really, this is designed to do one job, and do it well. It’s an analog gauged, hand-held battery tester that loads the battery up to 130A, from 0-16v.
​Need simplistic reliability? This is the battery tester for you.
MOTOPOWER MP0514A ​Digital Battery Tester
- Rating: 4.2 / 5
- Brand: MOTOPOWER
​It’s a 12V systems only, however, it does read from 4V to 20V. Essentially what you’re getting here is a simplified multimeter that uses a combination of a 4 figure LCD display and LEDs to indicate the state of the battery and charging system.
​It’s quick and accurate and uses reverse hookup and over-voltage protection to stop you from damaging any delicate components when connecting it up to the battery. The clips are rated at just 30A, and the leads are extremely short.
It does what you need it to. It’s simple quick and easy​. MOTOPOWER doesn’t actually ship it with any instructions whatsoever. This is a minus point, but ​aside from that, it does the job.
