Matt_Colie wrote:
I did a lot of boat work before the depression and I often saw this sort of thing.
Assuming you have a good meter for starters, mine are. It is not uncommon to see a fully charged battery at rest sitting at 13V+. With even the slightest load, the terminal will drop into the high 12s instantly. Turn on a light and they will be a 12.6 in moments. I was told by my "battery guy" (an engineer with Decca) that this is an artifact of "surface charging" where the electrolyte nearest the plates has developed a higher density and has not been redistributed yet. That redistribution can take quite a while.
The condition does not represent or cause a problem.
Matt
Thanks. Sounds like a plan. My lights are all LED and draw very little currant. I will kick the furnace on for a couple of minutes and see what the reading is after that.
I also think I will un-plug my volt meter first and bring it in the house to warm up .