New battery, does this check out?

[Stavros_Davros]

Tis the season for knackered batteries, my particular battery was an Exide 85ah 800A (RAC branded), over the last few years it's had a hard life of discharge and recondition, at least 3 times to my knowledge, due to a faulty door switch that left all the lights on over night.

Last week it cut out on me in a parking lot and after a while I managed to get it to spin up enough to start the car, I charged it again on the CTEK MXS 5.0 to 12.8v but the following morning it was back down to 11.96v and starting to slow again when cranking - test light showed green but the starter and lights told a different story ... time for a new battery.

I purchased a new Bosch S5 010 85h 800A - same rating as the other, £106 delivered, I thought that was quite a fair price! Topped it up on the CTEK and fitted it the following day, no problems but I decided to do a parasitic draw test on the system as the old battery is charged again and holding voltage no problem in the warmth of the house. I thought the car might have a voltage draw somewhere being as I fitted a new after market head unit and I've had to do a lot of towbar wiring/soldering repairs (bloody black tape monkeys)

Cold Test: 12.1v - a bit low for my liking, should have been more like 12.8v but it was only 1 degree above freezing outside.
Cranking test - Didn't drop below 10.0v - Pass
Running Voltage - 14.4v - Bang on the money IMO.

I ran the engine until warm and retested -

Static Voltage now 12.8v - Bang on
Voltage drain was only 0.05amp (50MA) as to be expected with all ancillaries switched off - Pass.
Running Voltage 14.4v

Is there anything I've missed I can test for to ensure a winter free of battery related starting problems? Is it worth getting one of these load testers just to make sure? a flat battery on this car always gives me the willys as it's a big old auto. Worth getting a jump pack also?

Foxwell Car 12V Battery Load Tester Analyzer Diagnostic Repair Tool 100-1100CCA | eBay

I hope this post might nudge a few members to get their batteries tested to save any grief over the winter.

atb.