Old fashioned battery tester

My Dad showed me how to do this, when I was a boy. Take a
flash light bulb (PR-4 is good, the old screw in 112 is
better, more close to the proper voltage). Then, take about
six or seven inch long piece of #10 or #12 solid wire. Wrap
one end of the wire around the bulb. Curve the rest of the
wire, so it looks like a letter C, or G.

Touch one end of the battery to the lead spot, on the bulb.
Touch the other end of the wire to the other end of the
battery. If the bulb lights, the battery is OK. Works for
AAAA through D cells. Have to bend the wire a bit, for
different sizes.

After using this for a while, you can also roughly guess the
battery state. New, used, weak, dead. By how bright the
light is. If using a PR-4 bulb, you can also test 3 volt
lithium photo batteries.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

Stormin Mormon wrote:
My Dad showed me how to do this, when I was a boy. Take a
flash light bulb (PR-4 is good, the old screw in 112 is
better, more close to the proper voltage). Then, take about
six or seven inch long piece of #10 or #12 solid wire. Wrap
one end of the wire around the bulb. Curve the rest of the
wire, so it looks like a letter C, or G.

Touch one end of the battery to the lead spot, on the bulb.
Touch the other end of the wire to the other end of the
battery. If the bulb lights, the battery is OK. Works for
AAAA through D cells. Have to bend the wire a bit, for
different sizes.

After using this for a while, you can also roughly guess the
battery state. New, used, weak, dead. By how bright the
light is. If using a PR-4 bulb, you can also test 3 volt
lithium photo batteries.


No **** Sherlock. You are really telling me that if you put a bulb
across a battery and it lights that the battery is ok? That's amazing.
Your daddy was some guy!

"McTavish" wrote in message
...
Stormin Mormon wrote:
My Dad showed me how to do this, when I was a boy. Take a flash light
bulb (PR-4 is good, the old screw in 112 is better, more close to the
proper voltage). Then, take about six or seven inch long piece of #10 or
#12 solid wire. Wrap one end of the wire around the bulb. Curve the rest
of the wire, so it looks like a letter C, or G.

Touch one end of the battery to the lead spot, on the bulb. Touch the
other end of the wire to the other end of the battery. If the bulb
lights, the battery is OK. Works for AAAA through D cells. Have to bend
the wire a bit, for different sizes.

After using this for a while, you can also roughly guess the battery
state. New, used, weak, dead. By how bright the light is. If using a PR-4
bulb, you can also test 3 volt lithium photo batteries.


No **** Sherlock. You are really telling me that if you put a bulb across
a battery and it lights that the battery is ok? That's amazing. Your daddy
was some guy!

Go on line and buy a Press #22 flashbulb, repeat the method cited!

"Bob Larter" wrote in message
...
Just Me wrote:
"McTavish" wrote in message
...
Stormin Mormon wrote:
My Dad showed me how to do this, when I was a boy. Take a flash light
bulb (PR-4 is good, the old screw in 112 is better, more close to the
proper voltage). Then, take about six or seven inch long piece of #10
or #12 solid wire. Wrap one end of the wire around the bulb. Curve the
rest of the wire, so it looks like a letter C, or G.

Touch one end of the battery to the lead spot, on the bulb. Touch the
other end of the wire to the other end of the battery. If the bulb
lights, the battery is OK. Works for AAAA through D cells. Have to bend
the wire a bit, for different sizes.

After using this for a while, you can also roughly guess the battery
state. New, used, weak, dead. By how bright the light is. If using a
PR-4 bulb, you can also test 3 volt lithium photo batteries.

No **** Sherlock. You are really telling me that if you put a bulb
across a battery and it lights that the battery is ok? That's amazing.
Your daddy was some guy!

Go on line and buy a Press #22 flashbulb, repeat the method cited!

heh And report back after your eyes start working again.

Was an old party gag, to replace the bathroom lightbulb with a #22 loads of
fun, especially if the washroom had multiple bulbs

On Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:42:54 -0400, "Stormin Mormon" wrote:

My Dad showed me how to do this, when I was a boy. Take a
flash light bulb (PR-4 is good, the old screw in 112 is
better, more close to the proper voltage). Then, take about
six or seven inch long piece of #10 or #12 solid wire. Wrap
one end of the wire around the bulb. Curve the rest of the
wire, so it looks like a letter C, or G.

Touch one end of the battery to the lead spot, on the bulb.
Touch the other end of the wire to the other end of the
battery. If the bulb lights, the battery is OK. Works for
AAAA through D cells. Have to bend the wire a bit, for
different sizes.

After using this for a while, you can also roughly guess the
battery state. New, used, weak, dead. By how bright the
light is. If using a PR-4 bulb, you can also test 3 volt
lithium photo batteries.

Old fashioned light meter:-

Open your eyes, if you can see it is light. If you can't see it is dark.

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
My Dad showed me how to do this, when I was a boy. Take a
flash light bulb (PR-4 is good, the old screw in 112 is
better, more close to the proper voltage). Then, take about
six or seven inch long piece of #10 or #12 solid wire. Wrap
one end of the wire around the bulb. Curve the rest of the
wire, so it looks like a letter C, or G.

Touch one end of the battery to the lead spot, on the bulb.
Touch the other end of the wire to the other end of the
battery. If the bulb lights, the battery is OK. Works for
AAAA through D cells. Have to bend the wire a bit, for
different sizes.

After using this for a while, you can also roughly guess the
battery state. New, used, weak, dead. By how bright the
light is. If using a PR-4 bulb, you can also test 3 volt
lithium photo batteries.

Hardly scientific ... guess by how bright the light is?

A load test must also include a voltmeter and some knowledge to be a real
test.

But, your Dad certainly understood an important fact: A cell or battery
must be loaded to evaluate its condition.

"Charles" wrote

Hardly scientific ... guess by how bright the light is?

Reminds me of the very first camera I ever bought (no idea what brand it
was). The 'exposure metering system' on it was an eyepiece you looked
through and saw a piece of film with the numbers 1 to 10 in rows (white on a
black background). As the numbers increased, they got darker until you
couldn't see the next one. That was the number to set the exposure ring on!
Not sure what branch of the sciences this was based on (witchcraft maybe?)
but it didn't work, I do remember that...

Paul

On 3/19/09 10:41 AM, in article , "Just Me"
wrote:


"Bob Larter" wrote in message
...
Just Me wrote:
"McTavish" wrote in message
...
Stormin Mormon wrote:
My Dad showed me how to do this, when I was a boy. Take a flash light
bulb (PR-4 is good, the old screw in 112 is better, more close to the
proper voltage). Then, take about six or seven inch long piece of #10
or #12 solid wire. Wrap one end of the wire around the bulb. Curve the
rest of the wire, so it looks like a letter C, or G.

Touch one end of the battery to the lead spot, on the bulb. Touch the
other end of the wire to the other end of the battery. If the bulb
lights, the battery is OK. Works for AAAA through D cells. Have to bend
the wire a bit, for different sizes.

After using this for a while, you can also roughly guess the battery
state. New, used, weak, dead. By how bright the light is. If using a
PR-4 bulb, you can also test 3 volt lithium photo batteries.

No **** Sherlock. You are really telling me that if you put a bulb
across a battery and it lights that the battery is ok? That's amazing.
Your daddy was some guy!

Go on line and buy a Press #22 flashbulb, repeat the method cited!

heh And report back after your eyes start working again.

Was an old party gag, to replace the bathroom lightbulb with a #22 loads of
fun, especially if the washroom had multiple bulbs



Or, at night, in a dark room listening to The Doors and smoking whacky weed.

Tell your friend "Hey, I dropped the pipe, could you turn on that table
lamp?

Amazing results!

On Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:42:54 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Somewhat less effective with alkaline batteries.

I've used the bulb and wire tester on alkalines. Actually,
that's about only time and place I use it. Why would you say
less effective?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


wrote in message
...

Somewhat less effective with alkaline batteries.