# IP voltmeter vs Battery condition



## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

Google Battery state of charge with temperature chart.

That’s for no load. As in battery sitting on a table disconnected.

The DIC reading will be about 0.2 to 0.6V lower. Both because of resistance and the current draw of the car.


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## 6Speed2016LT (Jun 14, 2016)

Buy yourself a cheap battery tester if you can from Amazon, I got one and I use it often. It has multiple tests, displays all the important info....Charge, Loss, CCA, In car test, out of car test etc...

Was like 40 bucks I think.....


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## Johnny B (Jun 4, 2019)

In my experience if a battery is fully charged charged, and the no-load voltage is below about 12.4V it is bad.
But to really know a load test needs to be performed, and most (if not all) of the test units will give a recommendation as part of the test result.


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## 17Hatch6MT (Dec 28, 2015)

Thanks for the replies. The local AutoZone will give a cheap-tester test for free. And I have an old & cheap Radio Shack multimeter. Should test a fresh 9 volt alkaline battery first with it to sort-of verify the accuracy, then could check the car. Just wondered if the dash readout was at all trustworthy. Seeing 11s when I turn the key to 'on' without starting it.


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## Johnny B (Jun 4, 2019)

The dash readout is accurate, but doesn't compensate for changes in load or any wiring issues. In other words it knows what voltage it is receiving from the battery, but that reading is only representative of what the battery voltage actually is. To use the dash readout you would have to know the history of what it has been reading in the past.


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