The battery is one of the most important parts of both electric and hybrid vehicles. It is an expensive but rather capricious component that requires constant attention and control. The failure of the battery automatically means problems with the operation of the electric vehicle. All of this increases the demand and value of work related to the repair and restoration of electric car batteries.
However, despite the demand for such services, professional equipment and tools for battery control, not to mention equipment for battery restoration, are quite limited on the market today. Companies specializing in the repair and maintenance of electric and hybrid vehicles have to use general-purpose devices or create their own setups, which does not always improve the quality of their services. To facilitate their work and simultaneously increase its efficiency, we have developed the MS800 diagnostic tester.

Why Battery Diagnostics Are Necessary

If the most significant parameters for a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, whether gasoline or diesel, are engine power and torque, then for electric vehicles, the main efficiency criterion is range, which directly depends on the capacity and condition of the battery. And while a conventional car can maintain its characteristics for years with proper care, the indicators of electric car batteries inevitably deteriorate.
Decreased range leads to operational inconveniences such as increased charging time and the avoidance of long trips. In these cases, owners sometimes replace batteries or cars (which can be comparable in price), although it is sufficient to replace one or several battery cells or balance them.
In light of these problems, the state of the hybrid battery may seem less important, as most of these vehicles can operate without electric traction. On the one hand, this is good—the car is not immobilized—but on the other hand, it provokes dangerous processes in the hybrid's high-voltage battery. Firstly, when its charge drops, it goes into protection mode, which can only be exited using special software. Secondly, a critical drop in the voltage of a hybrid car's battery threatens the destruction of its cells.
Noticing this is quite difficult, as hybrids have few standard means for monitoring the battery's condition. Therefore, any incorrect symptoms of the battery or generator or any issues somehow related to these components – such as a drop in coolant level, are already a reason to check the state of the high-voltage battery, diagnose it, balance it, or even restore hybrid batteries if necessary. Our MS800 diagnostic tester handles all these tasks perfectly.

Description, Functions, and Features of the MS800 and MS800A

The device is designed to work with any type of high-voltage car battery. It can be used both as a Li-Ion battery tester and for servicing nickel-metal hydride (Ni-Mh) batteries. There are two modifications, differing in the number of modules they can diagnose simultaneously:
● MS800, 36 modules;● MS800A: 12 modules.● This quantity is quite sufficient for diagnosing and restoring most modern high-voltage batteries. The tester has quite compact dimensions, allowing it to be placed in almost any convenient location: 1430×300×220 mm in the full version and 640×320×225 mm in the mini-version A. The device weighs 53 and 20 kg respectively. This considerable weight is due to the tester's own cooling system with a pump. The peak power consumption is 3.5 or 1.2 kW.
The tester is equipped with independent, galvanically isolated channels for checking battery cells. Above each of the connectors is a module voltage indicator. The kit includes 36 or 12 cables, with connectors at one end for connection to the tester and two clamps on the other end in red and black (positive and negative), as well as a temperature sensor. Thanks to this, the device can disconnect the battery module if it overheats. It is advisable to connect to the battery by observing the polarity, but if for some reason it is reversed (e.g., no marking on the module), there will be no problem – the indicator will simply show negative voltage, as on a multimeter.
Function control is carried out through a 9” touchscreen. Through the main menu of the tester, you can select the necessary operating mode:1. Charging.2. Discharging.3. Balancing.
Adjustable tester cycle. In this mode, the sequence of operations that will be performed automatically is set.Additionally, the display shows data on the temperature of the device's power elements, information on the state of the coolant, its pump, and indicators of other parameters. When the device is used as a Li-Ion tester, the menu for charge or discharge control of the cells, the selection button, "start," and “stop” appear.During operations, when the device acts as a lithium battery tester, the display simultaneously shows the current parameters of each module: voltage, current, capacity, and temperature. In general, in any mode, while solving any of the available tasks on the MS800, the tester analyzes and provides maximum information. In addition to being able to see the data on the display, it is also stored in the device's memory. Later, they can be uploaded to a USB drive and studied on a computer in the form of graphs.
It is difficult to describe all the functions of the MS800 and MS800A in a small article. You can learn more about the Li-Ion and Ni-Mh battery capacity tester from the operating manual, our subsequent materials, or by consulting our managers.