The ZTS Multi-Battery Tester

I have two battery testers from this company the small one that tests cr123, 9 volt and 1.5 alkaline etc. And this larger one. They both work very very well I've had them for years and I've tested literally hundreds of batteries through each one. The small one does require a couple of batteries to make it operate. I actually like the fact that the large one uses the power from the batteries you're testing to utilize the testing process which makes it better for leaving in a garage or a recreational vehicle where you don't really need to worry about the batteries leaking. These testers are second to none... they're extremely convenient. Most people just throw away all the batteries from a device assuming that both, or all four of them are all six of them are bad. I generally find that only one or two of them are low or dead and that's making the whole thing inoperable, whatever device you're looking at. So being able to properly stress each battery individually so that you understand if it's 60 80 or 100% is really very important. I actually keep aside batteries that are only 60 or 80% and group them together so that I can use them and things like remote controls for TVs and other low drain devices that I don't really need brand new batteries every time. In my case I generally pitch the battery if it's 40% or less because there's not much use in holding on to it. But again the big plus here is that you can take a handful of batteries from a device find out exactly which one or two might be bad and replace just those and put them all back in without spending a bunch of money on them. It's well worth the money, I know it's pricey but if you think about how much you pay for batteries over a period of many years this device is well worth it and an extremely good quality. If you use a lot of button batteries, double A or Triple A lithium batteries like I do you're going to need the large one as it's the only one that tests those.

This is the best cell tester I know of on the market. This package does not include the separate fitted soft neoprene case that I recommend to all purchasers to protect their investment in the instrument, which can be found at ZTS SC-MBT1 - Protective Soft Case for MBT-1 Battery Tester . This MBT-1 tester bundled with the soft case is The ZTS Multi-Battery Tester With Case - MBT-1 . I've had an MBT-1 tester for four years and use it quite frequently. Although a knowledgeable technician can replicate this pulse battery test with appropriate resistors and an inexpensive digital multimeter (DMM), the ease of use, speed of use, and unambiguous results make the MBT-1 worthwhile to anyone who works with cells ('batteries') or keeps cells on hand in various states of charge. I use four Energizer lithium cells to power mine, mostly because this type of cell has a reduced change of leaking and damaging the expensive MBT-1. To test, each cell is held by hand with the positive or button end down against the appropriate contact point on the tester, while the attached probe is pressed to the negative end. The scanning LED sweeps visibly back and forth across the face during the scanning, which lasts three seconds, and then clearly stops at the indicated charge level. You can hear the relay clicking inside the unit as it gives your readout, and again afterward as you break the circuit. Testing questionable cells will definitely prevent those with life from heading to the garbage bin. It's not surprising that I've used the MBT-1 to test cells from the battery recycle bin and found new and nearly-new matched sets discarded by others. The ZTS MBT-1 is also extremely useful for verifying that matched sets of cells all retain the same level of charge -- having a weak nonrechargeable cell get charged by other cells in a series frequently leads to alkaline battery leaks. (This is also why single-cell devices like flashlights are useful to use up the remaining life from unmatched single cells.) I've tested AA, AAA, C, D, and 9-volt alkaline cells, AA and AAA 1.5V lithium cells, CR123, CR2032, CR2016, and CR2 3.0V lithium cells in the nonrechargeable (primary) category. In rechargeable (so-called secondary cells) I've tested 3.7V nominal conventional lithium-ion cells, mostly in size 18650. The MBT-1 doesn't test LiFePO4 chemistry, but despite the best efforts of several firms that chemistry remains rare in both cells and chargers The MBT-1 is labeled 'Made in U.S.A.' and serial numbered on the rear. The outer perimeter is a bumper made of stiff rubber-like synthetic, and has a form-fitting groove to hold the probe at the end of its attached wire. It's very solidly constructed and seems like it would last decades with proper care. Now to the downsides. Besides being a fairly large and weighty device for an electronic instrument, there is only one disadvantage: price. Used appropriately, this tester could save its purchase price in a year or two of frequent use. What's unexpected, though, is that the price of this tester seems to rise steadily every year, like vintage champage. It seems unlikely any patent protection remains on basic pulse load-testing of cells, but even so it doesn't seem like anyone has produced a comparable alternative as yet. If ZTS follows the pattern set by other firms, the price will stay high until a competitor appears, then they'll quickly lower the price to match the competitor. Even so, ZTS might want to think about increasing their products' value before they get disrupted by a nimble offshore competitor. For example, ZTS can bundle the optional soft neoprene case without decreasing the price point of the product.

I have one in the shop and one at home.

That’s how much I love it. This is expensive for a “battery checker” but if you have several battery-operated devices in your home/work it becomes indispensable. This creates a load on the battery so it can truly be tested. The amazing part is I’ve never had a battery I couldn’t test. I have four different button batteries. It tests them all. I’m a geek so I have many strange contraptions with weird batteries. I’ve been able to check them all. It has eight ‘states.’ Dead, 10%, 10%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%. As long as you identify the battery correctly, place it on the interface…positive down…and place the probe on the negative pole, you will receive an accurate reading. I even used it as a diagnostic tool for a device I built. I felt I was pulling more current than I should be because I was running through batteries. I found a piece of solder that, while the device was still working, it was draining the batteries. I also discovered some name brand batteries purchased over a few weeks were arriving almost dead but a multimeter (VOM) did not indicate an issue. I’ve used their customer service. Suddenly many of my batteries were failing the tests after a year of using the MBT-1. Turns out the meter was failing. I contacted them and had a new one before I could even box up the old one. So they stand behind their products. So, yes, it’s expensive but so are batteries…especially the Lithium ones. So for me this was very much worth the cost. It’s been especially handy at Christmas when some of the battery-powered lights still had last year’s batteries in them. I was able to make a solid determination whether the batteries I tested could last the four weeks our decorations were up. And finally I dropped a certain brand of rechargeable batteries because I discovered they were draining much faster in disparate devices. So this has saved me both time and money. I’m about to replace my second one. It’s not the fault of the tester. I have a weird nerve disease that assists gravity often. ;-) But definitely treat it gently or maybe leave it in a case.

This is the most useful battery tester I have owned. I test all my batteries with it. It has consistently performed well. I like that it tests under load. It covers a wide range of batteries. I dropped one star only because of one test. My digital caliper screen started blinking after a few minutes of use, indicating the possibility of a low battery. The battery in the caliper was an LR44 1.5 volt coin battery. I tested it with the MBT-1 Pulse Load Battery Tester. The only option it provided was for a 44 battery, which I assume includes all variations of LR44, SR44, etc, both alkaline and silver oxide. It displayed that the battery was fully good. When I tested it with my multimeter, it read 1.342 volts. A Google search told me a new LR44 should read 1.5-1.6 volts. The replacement threshold is 1.35-1.35 volts. That was the only miss I've experienced for this tester. Further research suggested I should use a silver oxide SR44SW in my caliper rather than the original alkaline LR44, as silver oxide batteries have a flatter discharge curve and are better for precision equipment such as digital calipers. Overall, I am very happy with this tester and would really like to give it 5 stars, except for this glitch.

Accurate, simple to operate, and fairly comprehensive in terms of battery coverage. This is slightly expensive but a big step up over most of the battery check meters out there. Batteries that appeared all right based on other meters, which included load testing, missed a number of batteries that were no longer viable. The ZTS identified these.

This is an excellent Device for Testing your batteries. It tests.”under load” making it a much more reliable tester than the cheaper type. The readout indicates whether the batteries are fully charged, half charged or throw them out - they are dead! It saves you from hanging onto bad batteries or even worse, discarding good batteries.

The ZTS MBT-1 battery charger is fantastic...by far the most accurate & solid tester I've ever used. I work as a production sound mixer in reality/documentary TV, & go through dozens of expensive batteries per day to power my various pieces of audio gear. In my work batteries are often discarded part-way through the day with varying levels of charge remaining to ensure the sound (such as from a wireless mic) doesn't drop off in the middle-of-the-scene & force an unscheduled battery swap. Larger productions can afford this battery waste, but when I'm working on a lower-budget production where I must supply my own batteries, it can get super expensive to have to always buy boxes of new batteries. So to save money I usually re-use the batteries that are discarded from larger productions. Tonight with my first night of using the charger I tested over 100 batteries, discovering 15 that were fully charged, 40 that were 80% charged, and 20 that were 60% charged. The remaining 25 batteries were either completely dead or too low to risk using on a shoot. So now instead of having a bag of 100 batteries of unknown strength, (some of which would die instantly if I put them in a wireless mic), I can recycle 25 of them & reuse 75 of them, knowing exactly how much charge remains...that's 50-75 less batteries I'll have to buy new...saving myself nearly $200. (again, these are top-of-the line lithiums I'm testing, as regular store alkalines discharge so quickly in professional audio gear that they're not even worth trying) Yes the tester seems expensive, but it works flawlessly, is solidly-built, accurately tests the remaining strength, and you'll quickly get a return on your investment & end up saving money by using old-but good batteries instead of prematurely buying new fresh batteries. Skip the other cheap testers...they test voltage only...the MBT-1 actually tests load...giving your batteries a little workout to find out how much strength they can continue to provide in the future. Solid product, works exactly as advertised, & I'll recommend it to all my colleagues!

It is HUGE in size compared to many other battery testers. However, it does a very good job of measuring the voltage. Easy to read LED bar.

This is a great product for finding the charge of most batteries. It's easy to use and very accurate.

Zuverlässiger Batterietester für echte Messungen

It's quite big, but by far the best I've had to test batteries.

Fantastico, funciona muy bien. Hay algunos comentarios poco fiables pero he de decir que es lo mejor que he encontrado. No hace falta que tenga boton de inicio/apagado. El cable de prueba parece muy endeble, pero recuerden que un cable multihilo debe ser muy flexible y ademas evita romperse en poco tiempo. Se encienden los led entre 10 y 100% perfectamente. El medidor adapta la carga a cada tipo de pila para hacer el test. Indudablemente es lo mejor para alguien que maneja multitud de pilas y quiere conocer el estado y carga de ellas. Inmejorable. recomiendo su compra . Lo unico que hecho en falta es una funda de proteccion que no esta disponible aqui pero existe y sino que deberia traerla de fabrica. No hay nada igual, el 99% de los probadores de pilas y pequeñas baterias no sirven para nada. El test de una bateria no se hace midiendo solo su tension .