Just remember, 50% of the people are under average intelligence.
If you really want to make a fancy battery tester, create one with a microprocessor that runs the battery through various load levels, then displays the resulting voltage as a graph on an LCD display. ---
Wayne Johnson, | There are two kinds of people: Those
| who say to God, "Thy will be done,"
| and those to whom God says, "All right,
| then, have it your way." --C.S. Lewis
From: Mike Miller <mbmiller+l at gmail.com>
To: TCLUG Mailing List <tclug-list at mn-linux.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2019 11:01 PM
Subject: Re: [tclug-list] [OT] where to get a 100-ohm resistor?
This is really helpful. It answered a bunch of questions I had but hadn't
asked. People were commenting on that YouTube battery-testing video that
a 100-ohm resister wouldn't be right for a D battery, but I guess it also
wouldn't be right for a 9-volt.
Looking at more info out there on the web -- it's a problem for me that a
lot of people don't seem to know what they are doing, but they are still
there, teaching the world. ;-)
Thanks again, Doug.
Mike
On Sun, 12 May 2019, Doug Reed wrote:
> Yes, the Ax-Man stores are the place to look if you don't want to ask
> someone to mail it to you. I believe there are 3 or 4 stores around
> town. The only stores I am familiar with are in St Paul and Fridley, but
> I thought there was one more in Bloomington.
>
> The color code for 100 ohms is brown-black-brown. But 100 ohms is too
> low for testing a 9V battery. 100 ohms is fine for testing 1.5 volt
> batteries at about 15 milliamp current load which is within the
> capability of all AAA or larger batteries.
>
> But 100 ohms will attempt to draw about 90 milliamps from a 9V battery.
> Most 9V batteries are rated for 50 milliamps maximum load. Your 100 ohm
> resistor will tend to suck them down so they all fail your test. For a
> similar test effect, you should use a 1000 ohm resistor, perhaps even
> higher, up to 3000 to 5000 ohms so the load is proportional to the
> battery capability.
>
> So when you are looking for the resistor at Ax-Man Surplus, the 100 ohm
> resistor should have Brown as the first band, black or brown or red for
> the second band, and Brown again for the third band. The bands are
> counted with the first band closest to one end.
>
> The 1000 ohm resistor would have the third band colored Red instead of
> brown. Since we don't care exactly what the value is between 1000 and
> 5000 ohms, the first band can be any of Brown or Red or Orange, or
> Yellow, and we don't care at all about the second band color.
>
> And I suggest that you look for a resistor that handles one-half watt
> dissipation or more. Your batteries should never approach that but the
> larger physical sizes are usually less likely to break from lots of
> handling. A half watt resistor is physically about 1/8" diameter and
> 1/2" long with leads about 1.5" on each end.
>
> The size you pick isn't really critical, it is really just for ease of
> handling. You will probably find multiple examples to choose from, I
> just suggest you don't choose the smallest size you find. Any resistor
> larger than 1/2 watt will also work of course, if that is what you find
> or want. The much larger watt values usually have the resistor value
> simply printed on the side.
>
> And of course buy more than one of each for when you break or loose one.
> :-)
>
> Good luck. If my description isn't enough to work from, you can easily
> find web pages that explain the resistor color code. And you can always
> bring your voltmeter to the store and use it to check the resistor value
> before you buy. Or buy a handful of different values that have brown or
> red on the third band and check them at home. No matter what you choose
> to do, the parts will probably cost less than the gas to get you to the
> store.
>
> Doug Reed.
> North St Paul.
>
> --
> Scientists say the world is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
> They forgot to mention MORONS.
>
> She had buried three husbands and at least two of them had already been dead.
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