Is there a way to quickly test camera batteries, like the BP-511?

I just acquired over a dozen used Canon and third-party BP-511 batteries and was wondering if there is any way to test them without having to try each one in a camera. Any thoughts? They all seem to work on the charger ok, but I'd like to know if any of them are going bad or ready for recycling.

I don't need so many BP-511 batteries since I already had four of them, so I might sell some of them as long as I know they are "good".

Thanks!!!

The only way to accurately test a battery is under a load. As far as I know they don't make battery testers for camera batteries, so I think you're stuck testing them in the camera.

Sigh. That's what I was afraid of. It will take a long time to test all of these. Probably not worth it.

As an amateur radio operator, I used to check my portable batteries with a small incandescent lamp as the load. It only took about a minute per battery. A good battery would easily power the bulb for a minute and much more. A weak one would quickly begin to dim and die. Perhaps you can do the same with a 5 cell maglite bulb (7.5V) and a couple short wires.

Cheers
Mike

shaftmaster wrote in post #9825839
Sigh. That's what I was afraid of. It will take a long time to test all of these. Probably not worth it.

I don't know...it sounds to me like the perfect excuse to get out and shoot more. "No, I'm not going out shooting again, honey. I just need to test these batteries..."

PS - ^Good idea, Mike.

mjww wrote in post #9832074
As an amateur radio operator, I used to check my portable batteries with a small incandescent lamp as the load. It only took about a minute per battery. A good battery would easily power the bulb for a minute and much more. A weak would would quickly begin to dim and die. Perhaps you can do the same with a 5 cell maglite bulb (&.5V) and a couple short wires.

Cheers
Mike

That sounds like something easy to try. Thanks for the idea.

what you need is a multimeter to check the voltage and load. a decent one is usually a little expensive, especially if you don't plan on using it again. My suggestion is to beg, borrow, or steal one to use for this.

So-called testers only verify VOLTAGE, and the issue with BP-511 is that they lose CAPACITY after a few years (oxidation) even though they test to the correct voltage.

Wilt wrote in post #9834915
So-called testers only verify VOLTAGE, and the issue with BP-511 is that they lose CAPACITY after a few years (oxidation) even though they test to the correct voltage.

Which is why I recommended a Multimeter, a good multimeter will also measure load (capacitance).

I'm not aware of any multimeters that are able to test a battery under load and I'm not sure how you would test a battery's condition using capacitance.

Ok let me explain this one away as I missed something. in order to test the CAPACITY of your battery, you will need a circuit with a known draw of power (you can use a LED if you know the draw), usually in a mAh format; attach this to your battery somehow. Use it as your baseline, so if the circuit draws at 100mAh and if it takes 10 hours to drain the battery you know the capacity of your battery is 1000mAh.

When the battery is fully charged use the multimeter to test the voltage, it should be higher than the voltage printed on the battery, if not then it's dead. Once the battery is fully charged, use the method above and determine the charge (unfortunately there are no quick solutions here).

You will

If you had one of these remotes.. you could do it
http://cgi.ebay.com …motes?hash=item​3caa98376d

Tell the camera to never go to sleep, to display the newly taken picture for max time and take a picture every 30 or 60 minutes..
OR
Put the lens cap on, lens in MF mode and take a bulb exposure and listen to how long it lasts. This requires you to be paying attention. method # 1 can run overnight.

I do this about a week before each long trip I go on.. the batteries that last the shortest I use during the day so it doesn't hinder long exposure night time shots.

My vote is to go out and shoot pictures. Much easier than building a 'contraption' to test the batteries!

Bryan

you could send some my way and i'll test for you

bps wrote in post #9971941
My vote is to go out and shoot pictures. Much easier than building a 'contraption' to test the batteries!

Bryan

Contraption you say???