On 08/19/05 12:19 am Ed tossed the following ingredients into the
ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

The battery was still warm, and each cell was still bubbling slightly
after the thing had been disconnected from the charger for about 3
hours. The SG of each cell was pretty much the same at approx. 1.1175,
and the voltage across the whole battery was 12.4. When I put it back on
charge, the voltage rose to 13.3.

What do you think?

I think the battery is bad. I may be remembering wrong, but I seem to
recall that SG should be around 1.230 for lead acid cells, I think. Also,
nominal open circuit voltage on a freshly charged battery ought to be at
LEAST 12.8 volts.

Oops! I got an extra "1" in there for the SG. It should have been 1.175.

Anyway, I did a random series of charging -- sometimes on the 12A
setting (although the ammeter never read that high), sometimes on the 2A
setting -- and resting cycles, adding water as needed. The SG came up to
1.265 (the bottom of the green on my hydrometer), but the "fully
charged" indicator on the charger did not come on.

I then bought a "Vector" 2/6/10A microprocesor-controlled "smart"
3-stage charger (on clearance for a good price) and hooked that up.
After a few hours, it showed "FUL"[ly charged], then switched to
"FLO"[at]; in the latter mode, it is supposed to monitor the battery
voltage (currently 13.8) and "top it up" as needed.

So perhaps this ill-treated battery is not a goner after all.

Thanks for your help.

"Perce"
(aka Alan NV8A)