Advanced Marine Electrics and Electronics Troubleshooting A Manual for Boatowners and Marine Technicians

industry. In addition, the unit’s long cables—a
little more than 10 feet (3 m) in length—have
proven quite handy for accessing hard-to-
reach batteries. The instrument is versatile,
and can also be used for testing starter circuits
and charging systems. (All three capabilities
will be covered in this chapter.)
The menus on the tester’s LCD screen
prompt you through the test sequence, and once
the testing is done, you can transfer the data via
an infrared link to a mini printer. This is handy
if you are a professional technician as you can
create a report specific to your customer, includ-
ing your company name and contact informa-
tion (all user programmable). This printed
record is just one more step toward the type of
professionalism boaters have come to expect.

Battery Test

You can learn how to use a conductance bat-
tery tester in just a few minutes. To perform

testing batteries, charging systems, and starter circuits 17

this test, be sure the battery is connected to

the boat’s electrical system. If your boat has a

multiple battery configuration, test each bat-

tery separately (see illustration).

In the photo sequence that follows, the

tester is connected to the battery on a boat,

and the complete test sequence is shown.

DC –

DC +

battery

switch open

panel-

board

fuse

battery

sub-

main

breaker

fused equipment

Micro500

low-level pulsating voltage to determine internal resistance

Leave battery connected to boat’s electrical system, but test

each battery separately. USE SWITCH TO SELECT BATTERY.

Connect the meter’s red clamp to the battery’s positive

terminal and the black clamp to the negative terminal.

You can isolate multiple battery setups by using the bat-

tery selector switch installed on the boat. For really large

battery banks (with more than two batteries), isolate the

batteries by disconnecting the positive lead from each

battery you are testing in the system to ensure that the

Micro500XL is collecting data for just the one battery

and not averaging its readings for several batteries.

Wiggle the clamps attached to the battery terminals to

ensure a tight connection. These meters are extremely sen-

sitive and require a good connection. The Micro500XL

will prompt you to do this if it senses a loose or low-quality

connection.

The meter has identified a loose connection to the nega-

tive battery post clamp. Wiggle the clamp and retest.

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