How to Test a Battery Charger
If you're unsure whether your battery charger is working properly, there's an easy way to find out. Running a test on your battery charger is an easy process. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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1
Plug in your charger to an electrical outlet. Remove any batteries you may have charging in the unit.
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2
Turn on your voltmeter unit. Be sure there's power getting to the meter. Plug in the test probes into the voltmeter according to the meter's instructions. Set the selector switch to the highest level for DC Volt or whatever is recommended in the meter's instructions.
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3
Take a battery or battery pack that's compatible to your battery charger. Make sure the battery has no corrosion and is not leaking fluid. Touch the positive end of the battery with the red probe. Take the black test probe and place it on the negative side of the battery.
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4
Check the readout on the voltmeter and see where the pointer is indicating to. If it's on the left side, or negative side, switch the test probes. If it's on the right side, it will show that the battery is receiving some charge. Where it points to on the meter will determine how much charge it received.
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5
Check the battery charger to see how much power it's giving off, if you continue to receive a negative reading from the batteries. A negative reading will indicate a bad battery charger, and you should replace it. If the charger has sufficient amount of power flowing through it, it's more than likely the batteries are bad and just won't hold a charge.
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Tips & Warnings
Since there are so many different voltmeters on the market, you will need to check the instructional booklet that comes with yours for the directions of use.
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Comments
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thank you proofreader. I was blown away when I read this.
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proofreader
Dec 11, 2007
This is a horrible tutorial. The language is confusing and ambiguous. Step 3 sounds like instructions to test the voltage present in the battery, then step 4 says that the meter result indicates if the battery is receiving charge. How could the battery be receiving charge if its not in the battery charger? The first sentence in step 5 is confusing: "Check the battery charger to see how much power it's giving off, if you continue to receive a negative reading from the batteries." Is this sentence backwards? Is it intended to instruct that IF you get negative reading, THEN check the battery charger? And how could you continue to get a negative reading if you followed the instructions in step 4 to switch the test probes? Please. -
proofreader
Dec 11, 2007
This is a horrible tutorial. The language is confusing and ambiguous. Step 3 sounds like instructions to test the voltage present in the battery, then step 4 says that the meter result indicates if the battery is receiving charge. How could the battery be receiving charge if its not in the battery charger? The first sentence in step 5 is confusing: "Check the battery charger to see how much power it's giving off, if you continue to receive a negative reading from the batteries." Is this sentence backwards? Is it intended to instruct that IF you get negative reading, THEN check the battery charger? And how could you continue to get a negative reading if you followed the instructions in step 4 to switch the test probes? Please.
