How to test a battery's capacity?

You are here: Home / Blog / PEVs / How To Test A Battery's Capacity Testing a battery’s capacity is one of the best ways to determine the health of a battery cell. indicator of a battery. To test the capacity of a battery cell, you have to fully charge and fully discharge the cell while precisely measuring the energy in at least one direction.

How do you measure a battery's capacity?

A battery’s capacity can be estimated relatively accurately using a set of measurements and some complex math, but the most simple way to measure a battery’s capacity is to measure the power going into or out of the cell. Power going into the cell would be charge testing and power coming out of the cell would be considered discharge testing.

How do you know if a battery has a lower capacity?

There is no way to directly ascertain a battery’s capacity using its ISR. But if a cell’s IR is much higher than other cells from the same batch, you can bet it will have a lower capacity. The good news is that you can get a 18650 or 21700 cell charger/tester that charges the cells and tests the capacity.

How do I know the real capacity of a power bank?

The best way to know the real capacity of a power bank is to use a USB multimeter. The multimeter will show you exactly how much charge is transferred to a device. However, not everyone has a multimeter. So, down below we have also included a formula you can use to calculate the real capacity of a power bank and much more. Let’s dig in.

How do you test a battery?

The easiest and most common way to test a battery’s capacity is to measure its voltage and current under load. Once the battery is fully charged first, a load is placed on the battery and then the voltage and current of the battery is measured. The energy coming out of the battery is counted and added up to form a capacity figure.

How does a battery capacity tester work?

For professional maintenance personnel, the capacity tester is the preferred tool for measuring battery capacity. By simulating the actual charging and discharging process of the battery, the capacity tester can accurately measure the capacity information of the battery.