Dead House Battery

[Midnightsun]

One time I left my fully charged and good batteries but forgot to disconnect the auto bilge pump

You just ruined my day, I am wondering if I did disconnect mine now.

[jspin101]

A lot of great advice, thanks very much!

Question on the toaster type load testers, from what I read the temp has to be around 70 * F for a true test. Is that accurate?

I'm going to head down probably next week after I get a tester and do some troubleshooting.

Age is just a number. 60 is the new 30 from what I'm told. haha

Thanks again for the info.

[tomschauer]

I dont know about the 70 degrees. I would think it may vary a bit with lower temp.
I do know the battery should be fully charged before testing.

[Viper]

Ya ambient temperature plays a huge role in battery testing, both for the battery itself and in the case of a toaster, the element's benchmark ambient temperature. What that benchmark (testing) temperature is depends on the tester model. You could also overheat/damage the element if you run multiple tests sequentially. Those two reasons are why you must allow the element to cool off completely before the next test. Some electronic testers will also ask you to input an ambient temperature range in which you are performing the test as temperature affects a battery's performance and internal chemistry thus affecting an accurate reading if not compensated for in the measurement.