What you are getting is very ideal for the battery. The nominal voltage with
25% load capacity connected to the battery, it should be 12.5 Volts. The
tolerance can be about +- 0.35 Volts

The proper way to test a battery is to have a calibrated or known load on
it. Then it is possible to work out the internal resistance of the battery
to know if it is good or not. The rate of discharge for most gel cells is
that under load, they are considered discharged after they drop 10 to 12%
from their nominal voltage. To do all of this properly, you would need the
technical information for the battery.

From knowing the Ampere hours rating of the battery, and knowing the total
resistance of the load, it is possible to calculate the expected time for
the battery to discharge to 10% below the nominal. If the battery meets the
requirement or better, then it is considered to be in good condition.

In practice, a simple gel battery test would be to put a 12 Volt headlamp
across it, and at the same time take a voltage reading. If the battery can
keep roughly 12 Volts for a few minutes, then you know it should be working
okay.

--

JANA
_____


"George" wrote in message
...
I bought a new 12V battery for the riding lawnmower.
Put it on the charger for a day and the voltage was 13.8 while on the
charger Removed from the charger and the voltage drops to 12.72.
The battery cables were disconnected.
Is this OK for a new battery?
Thanks