potus4388 Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Hello All, I wish to purchase a hand held multi meter to test my leisure battery, there are a multitude to choose from, no doubt most of you have one and I wonder which would be the best,without going to too much expense, to get?? Also, whilst doing the wild atlantic way, I was stuck without being able to recharge my leisure battery and it fully discharged, no sun so not a lot from the solar panel. I am now on EHU and have been for a couple of days, so the battery is showing fully charged. Will it battery still be OK and be useable, it is an AGM battery. Will it have recovered? I am hoping for the best as it is an expensive battery 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 How did it not charge during driving? Any multimeter will be fine for what you plan on doing with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potus4388 Posted June 4, 2019 Author Share Posted June 4, 2019 Not too sure, I read somewhere that if a battery is fully discharged then the alternator won't be enough to charge it? I guess now the test will be to see how long it holds the charge when off EHU, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 If the battery was empty (and bad) and you went for a drive you could possibly do damage to the alternator but in any case it certainly won't recharge completely unless you drive the whole day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plwsm2000 Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 If you are looking for something just to measure voltage, then almost any cheap (less than £5) multimeter would do. They are not that convenient though for current measurements as you need to break the circuit (by pulling a fuse etc) and insert the meter leads in the circuit. By far the easiest way to measure current (and if you budget will strech to £30 or so), is to get one of these [url=] https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNI-T-DIGITAL-UT210E-100Amp-600V-AC-DC-CLAMP-METER-Multimeter-True-RMS-VFC-diode/283490531202 [/url] that I highly recommend. Clamp meters are not all the same and most will only read AC current. This one will measure DC current using the clamp (not by the leads). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 I agree with pwlsm2000, that stretching the budget to a DC clamp style ammeter will be a good choice. However as Spirou has already suggested, there seems to be something wrong with alternator charging of your habitation battery. (Allowing the habitation battery to discharge completely will shorten its service life.) When in touring mode charging from the alternator should suffice on its own, It may be that you stayed in one spot for several days without EHU, and as you say with little sunlight for solar charging, but if this is not so, I think that you may have an underlying problem. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potus4388 Posted June 5, 2019 Author Share Posted June 5, 2019 Thanks for all your comments and advice. We are moving on today after being on site and EHU for three days, the light on my solar charger is showing the leisure battery is fully charged(obviously from the hook up and there is still no sun!)and if I disconnect the hook up cable and then check the battery level on the habitation control panel, that is also showing the battery as fully charged.We will be wild camping for a couple of nights after today and I will be able to see how the battery holds its charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 You can't deduce much useful info about battery state from voltage immediately after charging, or while discharging. You need to measure voltage at least 1h after any charge (solar included) or load was going through the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/fleck_bucket/Mobile%20Uploads/Screenshot_20190605-130519_Opera.jpg Another vote for Uni-t 210e. Bought one 3 months ago, the ranges are spot on for automotive and caravans etc. And good build quality B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 Why don't photo's display anymore? :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 Charles - 2019-06-05 12:10 PM Why don't photo's display anymore? :'( Was the file size less than 200 kb? Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 174.6kb on my phone.. I presume it's no bigger now it's at Photo bucket? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.