New battery time???

[WhyMe]

i make it a habit of checking the voltage on my battery in the morning every once in a while. its Optima red top. Checked ti this morning at 8am, temp 70 degrees and it was reading 12.09 volts. according to the charts, its only 25% charged. I drive the vehicle often and charging system is good, reading 14.2 to 14.4 at the battery post when idle.

Have not had any problems starting, or restarting the car. Seeing the voltage so low, should i consider changing the battery?

 

[oldhp]

You need to charge fully, let surface charge bleed off and load test it. Battery volts mean almost nothing if not load tested. Have you checked for current draw with key off? You could have a short or any number of things drawing current, which would lower the volt reading. Cable connections clean? Is ground cable where it bolts to block or frame clean with no corrosion? Any of these will make battery look low on voltage.

 

[Dave Hess]

If you had a battery charger and charged it for an entire day at 2 amps, would that help any ?

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
If you had a battery charger and charged it for an entire day at 2 amps, would that help any ?

Yeah, charge the battery at 2A for a day, once every few months will prolong the battery life few more years.

 

[Donald]

Is the vehicle driven daily?

How old a battery?

What kind of meter to measure voltage (not the HF free one I hope)

I would charge it fully with a decent charger, turn on headlights for a few minutes to remove surface charge and measure voltage at battery.

 

[WhyMe]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Is the vehicle driven daily?

How old a battery?

What kind of meter to measure voltage (not the HF free one I hope)

I would charge it fully with a decent charger, turn on headlights for a few minutes to remove surface charge and measure voltage at battery.


driven everyday. battery is old, maybe 10 years old. used a fluke multimeter.I'm cheap,don't wish to replace unless needed

 

[spackard]

I don't buy Optima any more, but the previous ones I had died slowly, and started causing a radar detector to go into a factory diagnostic mode. They could always start the car, but I could hear the starter was turning slower than usual.

Yours is likely dead, but not normal lead-acid dead as in too dead to start car.