"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
Where do you get this nonsense? "Open Circuit Voltage" is not the same thing
as
"Float Voltage." Did you even look at the link I provided, or are you
claiming
to know more about batteries than Trojan?


No I don't know more about batteries than Trojan.

However, if you test the batteries on your boat and you think that 12.6 means
the batteries are fully charged, that means I know more about batteries than
you.

That would appear very doubtful.

If you only test your batteries while a battery charger is runnning, then you
know very little about batteries.


I won't dispute that if a battery is removed from a charging system and
allowed
to sit around in your garage, or languish on a retailer's shelf, the voltage
will drop.

Not "lanquish," it only takes an hour or two, and can be hastened by applying a
small load. Actually, it will go below 13 Volts within minutes.



The initial drop may well be rapid, and 12.6 could be considered OK
for a partially discharged, idle battery. Put that battery back in a working
environment where it has access to charge from an alternator or a 110 charger,
and it will be "fully charged" when it achieves 2.2 volts per cell, or 13.2
volts total.

No. You're just saying that a smart charger will be at a 13.2 Volt float level
when it desides its fully charged. Take the charger off and the battery quickly
drops to 12.6.

Why do you call a "working environment" one with a charger running? Are you one
of those bozos that runs a genset all night long?



Rather obviously, the battery would not accept additional voltage if it was
"fully charged" at 12.6.

What do you mean by "accept additional voltage"? What do you think would happen
if I took a fully charged battery and put 17 Volts on it? Would it read only
13.2?



Since a "smart" charger will maintain a 13.2 voltage on a flooded, 12-volt
batery in good condition, that is the standard for full charge.

No. That's the standard for a float charge. Or are you claiming that without
the float charge the battery can't really be at 100% because it will
self-discharge some tiny amount as soon as the charger is removed? You may be
right in a pedantic way, but 99.99% is close enough to 100% for me.


If that same
charger cannot bring the voltage above 12.6, that's a likely sign that the
battery is beginning to fail.

Well, I haven't killed too many batteries, but I usually find that the Voltage
will come up on the charger, but falls too quickly when a load is applied. I'd
guess this is why people use "load testers" to test the quality of a battery.