On 15/12/2020 10:22, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:
I charge my car battery old school with croc clips on the terminals.
Nice big fat spark jumps when I make contact. Initial current to a flat
battery about 8A falling to a steady 6A as the terminal voltage rises.

Are you doing this with an old style charger switched on?

Yes. Its the simplest way to check it is still working. It can source 3A
or 6A at either 12v or 6v depending on its switch settings.

I've got several assorted chargers here. None spark when connected to the
battery. That's more what you get when jump starting from a vehicle which
has the engine running.

The initial state will be a 27v no load DC connected to 12v for a moment
and a lot of current flows. Enough to make a nice fat spark.

The meter on the thing is unresponsive so the spark is the best
indication I have that it is working. It is way too old to have any kind
of indicator LED - just has a little worn out ammeter.

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Regards,
Martin Brown