Customer Reviews

T-333 Universal Battery Checker for more than 12 Types of Batteries

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This battery checker does not perform as advertised. The problem is that there are supposed to be 18 gradients of battery life, with 1-5 for POOR, 6-10 for FAIR and 11-18 for GOOD. But all these levels appear to be mainly for eyewash, since this tester will show most used batteries to have a full 18 level of GOOD. For anyone wanting a simple "go or no go" tester, perhaps this will do the job. But if you expect true sensitivity to accurately check batteries having various remaining charges, then this item will probably disappoint you.

Since it cost $18.99 with shipping, I decided to request return of the tester to the vendor, Battery Superstore. Aside from not being sensitive as advertised, it would not give readings for 2 of 12 battery sizes advertised. After receiving my request, the customer service department at Battery Superstore wrote back stating that although they were sorry I did not like the charger, they would charge me a 10% restocking fee plus the $6.00 shipping charge, and I would pay the return shipping. I wrote once more to question the charges for returning defective merchandise, and they responded that the charger was good, but they would kindly waive the $1.20 restocking fee. Even with this. however, I would still be losing most of my money on the unlucky purchase, so I decided to keep the tester. I will be very careful not to purchase from the Battery Superstore in the future.

I am forever trying to figure out if my kids toys don't work because the batteries are dead or the toy is dead. This meter is fantastic! It doesn't just give a readout of good or dead, it shows you how much is left in the battery on an easy to read LCD display. I realize it costs a little more, but the extra information it provides was worth the extra money. And as a bonus, I don't have to teach my wife and kids how to use my voltmeter -- they can easily use this!

I was too generous - Deserves only TWO STARS

After gone from using this battery tester quite often (when first purchased) to using it less frequently, I have changed my assessment. Basically, having not fresh in my mind where the true scale reads, I am guessing the battery condition. In addition, brand new batteries read halfway on the "good" scale. Taking into account this, and the scale discrepancies noted in my original review, there is very little the tester can tell you about a battery's charge. As others have pointed out, it is indeed just a Go / No-Go tester. I always end up using my other tester instead (the ZTS Mini-MBT) Which begs the question, "Of what use is this tester?" Answer: Marginally better than nothing. Amazon.com's review editor feature won't allow me to change the number of stars from four to two - bad feature. For continuity, my original review follows (in brackets.)

[For the most part, I have to echo the other reviews of this battery checker. A good buy; a good instrument. However, I have issue with the scale on the device. When it reads 'Weak' the batteries are indeed 'Poor'. In fact, a mid-scale reading of 'Weak' actually means "ready for disposal". I thought at first it was just a difference in semantics so I removed my batteries that read 'Weak' from the tester and put them into a Mini-Maglite flashlight. An almost invisible, pale orange glow was all that was produced - not a functionable battery at all. Once you realize where the true line between a good battery and a weak one actually is on the tester's scale, then this tester becomes a 5-star instrument and gives good, repeatable results.]

Construction wise it is okay.
Layout, design, ease of use is great.
Simple to use and looks like it would last a long time.

I do not have it in front of me at the moment (I'm at work).
There are several LCD bars ranging from dead to poor, to weak, to good.
(Again I believe)...Each range has about 4 or 5 bars within a group or 16 to 20 bars total.

Problem is with a fully charged "rechargable" the checker shows or highlight in the middle of the 'good'. I also tested a battery that had been in a wall clock for over a year (clock was dead stopped) it read at top end of the weak or about 2-3 marks below the fully charged NiMH just now charged.

I suspect a brand new alkaline may be able to get a little higher than middle of the 'good' range.

Bottom line:
If you are using rechargables, do not buy the T-333.
If you are using alkaline, you will be able to detect brand new and not brand new. There may be a subtle difference between used and dead.

The best tester for rechargable batteries which I got the same day as T-333 is the ZTS MINI BATTERY TESTER.

The best tester/charger which I also got the same day is the La Crosse BC900.

Also the following is what I've read, have not verified myself yet.
There are two types of NiMH batteries.

Very high capacity around 2600 maH.
These slowly lose there charge on the self.

The other type is pre-charged around 2000 maH
These hold there charge over a year self life.

Also Sanya enevelope or something like that are the ones to get.

I had the DX-900, and I was very happy with it. It was cheap and very handy. However one day I discovered that I had thrown away unknown numbers of batteries over the course of a year, because it was inaccurate. Digital does not necessarily mean accurate!!

So I had to go shopping again. I settled on this because 1) it's digital, 2) it's not self-powered (=cheapo, inaccurate). I'm very happy with it. It's attractive, accurate, and very handy.

It could be thinner, could be more attractive, and could require a little less force to insert the batteries for checking. But it's definitely good enough!

This battery tester does exactly what I was looking for. It tells me if my batteries are still powered up. You always wonder if those darn batteries that have been sitting in the closet for a long time are still fully charged. This battery tester does the trick. It accommodates all the size batteries we commonly use. I recommend this item.

Product: Tenergy T-333 Universal Battery Checker
Rating: 3/5 (fair)

This unit displays 18 gradients of battery life, with 1-5 for POOR, 6-10 for FAIR and 11-18 for GOOD, and supports 9 sizes of batteries. Unfortunately, the unit doesn't appear to be as sensitive as advertised, because most of those readings never seem to occur, and anything reading fair is nearly dead anyway.

This unit also seems more suited to reading alkalai batters than rechargables, because even a brand new, refreshed and fully charged rechargeable NEVER reads higher than the middle of the good range (14), and there's no way to tell the unit if it's looking at a rechargeable instead of an alkalai in order to adjust it's sensitivity accordingly.

BOTTOM LINE: as long as you're just looking for a simple go/no-go battery tester to weed out dead, nearly dead, or weak batteries from good ones, this tester will serve adequately ... just don't expect a lot of precision.

I toss old batteries in a sealed container before I take them to the local disposal site. When I tested all of them, I found that many were still at full strength - 2 9volt, 2 CR2, 6 AA, 4 AAA and found another dozen batteries with half life remaining. Unit was very easy to use and handles numerous battery types.

I have a tub of 100's of batteries of different sizes, brands, etc, and all I wanted was something exactly like this to tell me which ones were good or not, and how much juice the still had in them. This does it. Why is this so hard to find at a local bricks & mortar store...I have no idea! This is inexpensive and simple. Perfect!

I searched a while on the internet before selecting which battery tester to purchase, and I am extremely happy with this one that I selected. Of all of the testers (which were fairly inexpensive) this one seemed to be the best quality and made to last a long time. All of the other testers seemed cheap and the reviews for them stated how they broke after the first use-I had 2 baskets full of batteries, of all sizes and was able to test all of them and the tester worked amazingly-and still does. I would recommend this product to anyone.