ZTS – Mini Multi-Battery Load Tester Mini-MBT

THIS is what a battery testor should be. It places the battery under a pulsed load for a short time, and accurately gives the result in one of five levels: 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%. Unlike most cheap battery testers, it uses a metering curve that more accurately rates the battery's actual charge state. It is designed for alkaline 1.5V cells and NiMH 1.2v cells in the following sizes: AA, AAA, C, D and N. It also tests alkaline 9V batteries, lithium CR123, CR2 and lithium-Ion rechargeable 18500, 17650, 18650, and RCR123A cells. The unit runs on four AAA alkaline batteries - but you'll have to test them on another battery tester...

Here's the deal. This is an active battery tester. It puts a small load on the battery and doesn't just check open circuit voltage. It is small and compact, and very intuitive to use. It tests all of the common batteries, AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, and even the 3V lithium photo battery. I am disappointed that it does not check the NiMH 9V battery type, or the button cell batteries, as I use the rechargeable 9V in my guitars and driveway monitor. I also use a lot of CR2032 buttons in key fobs and remotes.That being said, the device is so compact that it might be difficult to use if you have big ole meat hooks for hands. The positive terminal of the battery touches the tester and the lead is touched to the negative of the battery. Although this lead is made of significant wire gauge size, I'm still timid with it... I think it is more mental than anything.When testing an alkaline battery and then immediately retesting, I have found that the second reading matches the initial reading. Repeatability is highly desirable with any testing device.That being said, when testing NiMH batteries that are in a degraded condition (have been through many charging cycles and have lost their ability to hold complete charge) you need to test the batteries consecutively a few times (3 or 4) to see where your charge state lies with the battery. The manual does instruct you of this, and I suspect that this is a function of the internal characteristics of the battery rather than the tester since it tests known good NiMH batteries consistently and repeatable on just two consecutive tests.I have found that when this device tells you that your rechargeable batteries are at 20% or less, it means that they have lost their ability to become fully charged. I don't think you'll find these batteries good for moderate draw devices such as cameras, flashes, games, remotes, etc. However, these batteries can be used for long periods in those cheapie flashlights you get for free with a coupon, or the other 3.6 volt flashlight applications, etc. I wouldn't depend on these batteries, but for everyday use, why throw them away when they do have some lasting capabilities. The key here is to know when you have batteries you can depend on vs. when you have batteries you expect to depend on, but really don't know the true status of the battery.This device tells you what batteries can be depended on and which ones are destined to your everyday flashlights, and so much more.If purchasing this again, I'd go for the bigger model for the button cells and 9V rechargeables.

Just arrived today. Tested on AA NiMH and AA Alkaline batteries. It seems to work well on both. As one other reviewer noted, it sometimes seems to malfunction on initial use with a new battery type by reporting battery state as 10%/failed. But upon retest (and thereafter) it seems to function correctly. An explanation of this anomaly from the manufacturer would be helpful.

I went back and forth between this model and the "big brother" model of the same brand (which is literally double the price). For the money, this unit does its job, but seems overpriced given that it excludes all button/coin batteries. I rationalized that, for 50 bucks more, just to be able to evaluate button/coin batteries (which can be had for pennies), it didn't make sense to spend the extra $$. If in doubt, the button/coin batteries could be replaced 50x over if even in doubt, rather than spending the extra $$ to test them.That being said, this is FAR more accurate and useful than non-load-applying testers. Anyone using this unit (or any similar load unit) should be aware that the first time testing a battery, you may get a reading of say, 80%, only to then get a reading of 60% a few seconds later. This is due to the fact that an actual load is being placed on the tested battery, which may show stronger than it is the first test, but give a more true value in subsequent tests within the next few minutes.A battery showing 40% or less is basically dead. Even something showing 60% is going to be of little use (IMHO, based upon my having gone through an entire box of batteries I'd saved "just in case" there was some use left in them). But having a battery cycle between 100% - 80% is not unusual (unless it's brand new, in which case, you'd expect it to show 100% regardless).The only reason I knocked off a star was because I have received a few completely inconsistent readings (100% one time, 60% the next, then back to 100%). Best I can tell, it wasn't because of probe placement, but I can't be sure if I'm being honest. But that really shouldn't affect the load measurement.I'm really disappointed that for 45 bucks this thing doesn't do any button/coin batteries, but I'm just not going to shell out 100 bucks just to add that functionality (along with a few lesser-known battery sizes). I'll keep it because it does far better than most of the junk on the market, but would be nice if it were more consistent, or the price covered more common batteries, to include at least the most common button/coins.

While you can do an OCV test on most 1.5 volt alkaline batteries ths tester does a better job. What I wanted and got half way is this tester can load test the common CR123 lithium batteries that an OCV test is worthless on.If you test alot of lithium AA or AAA this tester doesn't help.Maybe another model can. But I've bought 2 of these.over the past couple years