saveabattery...save your money

[tjhess74]

this is a rant for overblown products...

before christmas, i was looking at battery health products, like the batterybug and saveabattery. based on the awesome description of the product on the saveabattery website, i decided that was the tester i wanted for a gift. this line of products are supposed to give you an easy, quick percentage of your battery's condition at startup.

when i opened the box, i was confused. i thought 'where are all the special features on this thing?' i ordered the 'tester, alarm, voltmeter, monitor' unit. turns out, its just a voltmeter. nothing else. a $40 plus $13 shipping voltmeter. sure, it has a little button that when turned on, will slowly discharge your battery, but i can do that myself. want it to do more? you need to buy the $99 'charger, maintainer, tester, alarm, voltmeter' unit. WAIT, that unit already has a voltmeter. guess what? so do i, in my toolchest, alongside my batterytender.

'this product tests your electrical system': really? i guess if you have a volt reading, you just 'tested' it.
'this product monitors your electrical system': once again, really? you leave it plugged in, just like my current voltmeter, so you can see the voltage on the readout...hence the 'monitor' part.

want accessories? prepare to pay cause they arent cheap! (longer cords, different connector types, etc). what many of the pictures show is included, really isnt. no carrying case, no ac plug...just two short cords- an sae style to connect to your battery and one with test leads. both of those are useless to me, because 1. i already have an sae connector on my bikes, and 2. the test leads (like those on a multimeter) must be held in place by hand...which does away with the 'monitor' feature cause you gotta stand there and hold it. a plug in style cord...thats extra.

i was under the impression that it would give you a percentage of battery life on the lcd screen (like the battery bug). nope. you have to memorize a voltage=life remaining chart to compare it to the voltometer readout! for my needs, this product was useless so i returned it so my wife can get her $53 back.

perhaps i misread the website and didnt research enough before making my decision, but i was thoroughly disappointed with this product and think the website way overhypes its abilities. im not discouraging anyone from thier products, just to seriously evaluate what it is that you need in a battery health item. also, dont believe the hype. thanks, i feel better.

feel free to sort through the website
Save A Battery

 

[LERecords]

thanks for the review.. sucks that marketers really "hype" up products that in reality arnt that great..

 

[tuningfork]

I think the $$ is paying for the integrated enclosure and mechanical bits...doesn't seem to be much in the way of electronics in this unit...I think getting a refund was the right decision :thumbup:

 

[Motogiro]

When I click on the unit you're talking about it goes to a page that lists it as being able to test the alternator. They are misleading. I have a background in auto electric and I can't tell you for sure if your alternator is good with out some extra testing and equipment.
Wouldn't hurt to get a tender if you have a place to plug it in.

 

[tjhess74]

yea, i have a battery tender with the sae lead bolted to the battery. i was wanting another nice, useable gadget for the garage but this one turned out to be a flop. i agree about the alternator issue and about thier site being misleading.

the funny thing is that im very easy on batteries. since 89, i can probably count on one hand the number of replacements i purchased. in fact, i think all but one were to replace batteries on used bikes shortly after purchase. only my zrx has needed a battery during long term ownership. whats even funnier is that i hardly ever use my battery tender. i guess batteries like me!