Re: Testing Open circuits
Open-circuit voltage is what is measured when a battery is not delivering or receiving power. For a fully charged 12-volt battery, the reading should be 12.66 volts, or 2.11 volts per cell. To check the open-circuit voltage of your battery, first disconnect the battery cables so that no power is coming in or going out. Set your multimeter to read “DC volts” (for meters without auto ranging, set the scale to 20 volts), and touch the red (positive) probe to the positive battery terminal and the black (negative) probe to the negative terminal as shown here. If the reading is below 12.66 and the battery has been fully charged, one or more cells may be damaged or may have excessive sulfite buildup on its plates. A hydrometer test for each cell will determine which, if any, is bad. Placing the battery under an equalizing charge can remove sulfite buildup on the plates. Check with your battery manufacturer for the correct way to perform this procedure.
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