If you are about to embark on buying a battery tester, know exactly what you want the tester to do:

• Do you want to test batteries that have been submitted under warranty?
• Are you looking for a tool for sales?
• Do you want to test the electrical system of the vehicle?
• Or test commercial truck applications?
• Or to measure life-cycle performance?
• Have the ability to check for parasitic vehicle drains?

The first thing to consider is to make sure that the battery tester is future proof – in terms of the increase in EFB batteries, over traditional AGM and flooded products, not all tester are able to accurately test these batteries.

If you have a tester that is upgradeable then you are always ahead of the game with the latest battery testing technology products available on the market.

1. Nobody expects a piece of equipment to fail, but if it does go wrong, can it be repaired, are the leads replaceable? These are the most fragile and most used components of any tester.  You need to know that these elements can be replaced.  Make sure that the repair turnaround is speedy and to your expectations – you don’t want it to be out of your hands when you need it most.
2. Give consideration to what technical support is provided; what level of training is available? If you have a test report that is confusing, you need to have somebody to give you expert advice and support.
3. Consider the pedigree of the product – you are looking for accuracy, and tried and tested products with good-quality industry-led approvals. You want endorsement from the industry, peers and customers.
4. Make sure that the unit you are buying is robust enough to deal with the day-to-day use and abuse of a busy workshop. Many of the cheaper units on the market are not built to last and will not endure the activities of a busy workshop.  Buy cheap buy twice, maybe thrice.  Many of the cheaper units are a false economy because they will be unusable and damaged very quickly, without the ability to have them repaired.
5. If you are buying the tester with a printer, how legible and easy is it to understand? Can you personalise your printout?  Is the printout date and time stamped? You may wish to use this as a value-added element to your customer service and marketing activities.

Finally, once you have bought your battery tester, it is important to keep it in as good and serviceable condition as possible and taking these simple steps will prolong the life of your equipment:

• Keep it in its case when not in use
• Avoid wrapping the cables around the tester
• Don’t carry it around by its leads
• Keep the terminals clean and free from grease and general gunk
• Ideally it should be serviced every year and inspected for any deviations of test results and give it a general health check