Many thanks to you both, especially Mike G. for your
lengthy reply.
The boat has a voltmeter, not an ammeter. In the old days,
ammeters seemed more common and gave, in my opinion, a
much better idea of the charging process. The voltage reads
about 14V while the engine is running, which seems reasonable.
What I do not know is whether the connections to the battery
from the alternator were sound as corrosion readiliy develops
during the season.
I will keep the regulator in mind, particlularly since you say a
faulty regulator can result in premature water loss due to
overcharging. So we could have overcharging dry cells
weak battery, or undercharging weak battery.
As for the current condition of the battery, I agitated the water/
acid in the "bad" cell and the hydrometer read the same. I did this
several times.
I will try having the battery checked at a different place. But
exactly how can a hydrometer lie???? The device is so simple
I would think it would be infallible.
Frank






On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 16:53:27 GMT, frank1492
wrote:

Earlier I had reported that I was in the process of recharging a
battery that had been weak and I thought might have lost its water
prematurely. After a trickle charge of 24 hours, a hydrometer test
still seemed to reveal one weak cell (the five balls would rise to the
top, then drop back down. On other cells, only one ball would drop.)
The bad cell was not one of the originally dry ones. Very little
"gurgling" action was shown in the cell while charging.
I had the battery tested at the local Autozone. He put it
through a load test and proclaimed it to be in excellent condition.
(The voltage was over 12 volts.) He said the bad hydrometer reading
was probably due to imcompletely mixed acid and water.
The battery has not been put back into service, but before I
did, I thought I would ask the experts! Did the hydrometer test lie,
or is the cell really NG, in which case the AZ guy was wrong and
I'll have a future problem again. (Really can't imagine the cell would
be bad if the battery put out more than 12 volts under load.)
Once again, thanks so much for your help!
Frank