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Thanks rooks not tried it out yet. Will put it on the charger and see what happens.

Julie

Try one of these to check the charge

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=37279

Phil

Forgive me if I'm wrong on this but doesn't a multimeter tell you the voltage but not necessarily the state of charge? A 12v lead acid battery pack can be only partially charged and still show 12v across the terminals. To check the state of charge you really need to use a hydrometer, which can get messy if you splash the acid around.

Where a multimeter does tell you about a battery is if the battery reads 10v, in which case one of the cells has died and the battery won't hold a charge. It can also be used with the battery under load - if the voltage drops when under load then the battery is in a state of disharge (ie it cannot maintain its voltage when under load). But at rest a 12v lead acid pack will still read 12v even if each of the cells is only partially charged.

Thanks for all the comments will give it a charge

Julieh

Quote: Originally posted by Francophile1947 on 05/9/2010

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The voltage drops with the charge. If a battery reads 12v, it's probably nearly flat. Fully charged it will read around 12.8v.

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Thanks Macaw - that's a useful link.

What it also tells me is that my multimeter might not be up to scratch as it says the same reading for my battery whether it's newly charged or nearly discharged. But then it has served me well for about 25 years so I've had my money's worth out of it.

What the article does say is not to leave batteries all winter without giving them any form of charge at all. I have several leisure batteries for a variety of uses. Some get an overnight charge once a month, others are on a permanent 450Ma charge.  Either way seems to work as the last time I had to replace one was 18 years ago.