[batterymaker]

I finally got around to taking pix of this item, even though I've had this thing in my collection for over a year.

This is rare. Never seen one like it, and I doubt too many of them exist.

It's a Model 015 battery tester, and it's unique in that it will test all the batteries Philco had out before the beginning of World War II. It has about six plugs on the end--one two-pinner for the 1.5 volt A batteries, one for B batteries, a couple for AB packs, and a large seven-pin job to test the large BC farm packs.

To test is drop-dead simple: Rotate the pointer to the particular battery you want to test, stick the plug into the socket and let flap.

It's a metal cabinet, simple meter, foil-paper faceplate, and the socket cable is covered with braided fabric. I figure it's about 1941 vintage because of the battery numbers it tests.

Also has a couple of jacks to do manual testing.

Got it on the 'bay, can't remember how much I paid for it. If I remember correctly, I may have been in competition with one other person, but otherwise, no one wanted it, probably because it only tested specialized batteries. As if that was going to be sticking point for the Batterymaker....

[Image: http://users.mw.net/~bmorris/tester.jpg]
[Image: http://users.mw.net/~bmorris/plugs.jpg]

[Texasrocker]

Very cool vintage Philco battery tester indeed Batterymaker! Im glad to see others here collect/ restore vintage test gear as I do also. Im still trying to figure out what this early 50s pc of Philco mod 5005 "Mobiliner"gear was used for? It appears to be a fixed 1000 kc only transmitter pc, or crystal test device for alignment of military radio gear?I acquired it along with a bunch of other vintage test equip & amps from a old radio/TV repair shop. It is both dc or ac operated. link below:
http://s576.photobucket.com/albums/ss202.../?newest=1 Any ideas?

[Arran]

I'm certain you are correct, the Philco battery testers can't be all that common. I lived in Alberta for six years and have never seen or heard of such a thing, and in most places outside of the cities AC power did not exist prior to the war. I'm guessing that most service shops simply used a regular voltmeter to test batteries and couldn't see the need to buy one of those, or the customers simply tested the batteries with the radios themselves. Someone told me that the original life span of a pair of 45 Volt "B" batteries, the full sized units, was about six months with daily use, the "A"s lasted about a month.
Best Regards
Arran

[Chuck Schwark]

Philco's lines of test equipent over the years, I believe, were primarily intended for Philco Dealership repair deptartments and independent Philco Authorized Service shops of the day.
They were generally not available to the public, so they would seem rare, I'd think. Many of the smaller, less used instruments probably had a "shorter" lifetime and did not survive land-fills, like the more universal test generators and versatile multimeters that are pretty easy to spot nowadays.

Chuck

[batterymaker]

Call me the thread necromancer, but I never had a Philco AB pack built up to try this thing out.

Now I do. I've built a P60A110 pack for someone's 40-84 radio, and it's one of the batteries listed on the 015.

So, here we go--testing both the 6v A section and the 90v B section with a simple twist of the knob:
[Image: http://users.mw.net/~bmorris/testingbat1.jpg]

[Image: http://users.mw.net/~bmorris/testingbat2.jpg]

[Image: http://users.mw.net/~bmorris/testingbat3.jpg]

In the green on both sections!

[Ron Ramirez]

Now that is really neat...testing your (reproduction) Philco batteries with your vintage Philco battery tester!

[batterymaker]

Yeah, almost makes you feel like it's 1940 when using it...

[Chuck Schwark]

It's Battery Karma.

:-)