Patent ID: 7504830

Claim:
A handheld dual load tester for performing a test on a power device, comprising: a first electrical lead to connect to a first terminal of the power device; a second electrical lead to connect to a second terminal of the power device; a first resistive load; a second resistive load; a switching mechanism to direct electrical voltage from first and second terminals of the power device to either both the first resistive load and the second resistive load or to the second resistive load; an electrical meter configured to: connect to the first electrical lead and to the second electrical lead to measure a voltage across both the first resistive load and the second resistive load or across the second resistive load via the first and second leads compare the voltage to at least one predefined voltage threshold; determine a test type to apply to the power device, the test type selected from a group consisting of a battery/staffer test and a charging system test; apply the battery/starter test when the voltage is below the predefined voltage threshold and apply the charging system test when the voltage is above the predefined voltage threshold; display a message indicating whether the power device has passed the applied test type; a handheld housing for containing the first resistive load, the second resistive load, the electrical meter, and the switching mechanism; wherein the first resistive load and the second resistive load have approximately the same resistance values; and, wherein the resistive loads may be used together or individually to test a battery, charging system, starter motor or other power device.