Schumacher BT-100 100 amp Battery Load Tester

Schumacher BT-100 100 amp Battery Load TesterThe Schumacher BT-100 100 amp Battery Load Tester is a low cost diagnostic tool from one of the top automotive electronics companies.  Every home mechanic needs a battery load tester in his garage.  The best ones will do all of the diagnostic tests on your auto, boat or motorcycle battery, alternator and charging systems.  In our mind, they should also be easy to use and most importantly, inexpensive.  Read on to find out whether the little BT-100 fits the bill.

Buy The Schumacher BT-100 100 amp Battery Load Tester At Amazon

What Do You Get With The Schumacher BT-100 100 amp Battery Load Tester?

The Schumacher BT-100 100 amp Battery Load Tester is a complete diagnostic tool that works for both 6 and 12 volt batteries and will do a 100 amp load test for the 12v and 50 for the 6v at up to 1000 cold cranking amps.  When properly hooked up you can test load, battery condition, starter motor draw as well as do a complete charging system diagnosis.  For the average home mechanic, this load tester will give you everything that you will need to track down any battery/ charging related issues.

Shumacher also makes what they call a Pro version, the Schumacher PST-200 ProSeries 100 Amp Battery Load Tester.  The main difference is an LED readout versus the older style screen on the BT-100.  For this convenience, you will pay an extra $50.  Based on sales rank for both of these products, the basic BT-100 is the obvious favorite.  Our vote is the same.  Simple is better.

Buy The Schumacher BT-100 1  amp Battery Load Tester

Does The Schumacher BT-100 100 amp Battery Load Tester Work?

This is the most important part of every review we do.  Should you spend your hard earned money as well as your time on this load tester?  In order to answer that, we read reviews, comments and blogs all over the internet.

Let’s start with the fact that this is what is called a carbon pile tester.  This means it can test batteries that are not Schumacher BT-100 100 amp Battery Load Tester Facecompletely discharged.  To test discharged batteries, you would need an electronic tester.  A carbon pile tester is sufficient for almost all users and will save you the expense and unneeded features of a resistance circuit computerized battery tester.

One thing you need to be careful with is over heating.  This type of tester works by applying a load to the battery which will cause the load tester to get hot, hot enough to burn off any dirt or debris.  It may smoke upon its first use.  This is normal and not a cause for concern.  If your business consists of load testing batteries and testing charging systems then you do not want this type of load tester.

So with that out of the way, the Schumaker BT-100 does everything it is supposed to do and at a very good price.  You will want to keep it clean as it will smoke if you allow dirt to get into it.

Are There Any Negatives with the Schumacher BT-100 100 amp Battery Load Tester?

In checking various websites and blogs, we have found very little in the way of complaints.  This is very unusual in that people like to complain, especially in an anonymous forum.  There were a few people who would like longer and/or more flexible cables.  We tend to agree with this as not all batteries are in easy to reach places, especially with motorcycles, mowers, tractors, etc.

There was also a complaint of complete failure of the unit due to overheating.  Since we could only find the one event, it can probably be chalked up to a faulty unit or over use without allowing the load tester to cool down.  Remember, it gets hot!

 

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