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12V Battery load tester

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Yeah, just make sure it's .3 ohms worth. Even with real nichrome it's kind of a crap shoot as to what the hot resistance is going to be. You want to calibrate it - the voltage is easy enough to measure, but trying to get the current is going to be tricky. Most meters don't read that high, a clamp-on DC ammeter would do it, but it's more expensive than the AC version. Once you have the loaded voltage across the steel bar and the current running through it, you can divide the former by the latter and find the actual resistance at the working temperature.
 
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Could I use stainless steel Bars as a resistor. Stainless has chrome and nickel

Of course it has chrome and nickel. But you have hundreds of different stainless steel alloys.

NiCr are a specific alloy made to have specific resistance and thermal coefficients.

You can use stainless steel, but unless you know its thermal properties, you cannot predict its behavior in higher temperatures.
 
I used a foot or so of coiled iron coat hanger wire immersed in water. There's no shock hazard with 12v, but the resistance changes quite a bit as it heats up. Plus you get a cup of hot water afterwards.
 
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