"Dave Plowman (News)" bravely wrote to "All" (15 May 05 22:55:39)
--- on the heady topic of " Battery Amps"

DP( From: "Dave Plowman (News)"
DP( Xref: aeinews sci.electronics.repair:48281

DP( In article ,
DP( Harry Collingwood wrote:
Sorry to mess you all about but although nothing is marked on the
battery I had another look at the instructions.It says its a "lead
acid storage battery ,normal capacity 17AH 12V,charging time 250
times.

DP( A 17 Ah battery is rather small for a golf trolley. I'd expect more
DP( like 70. Unless you only do 9 hole courses. ;-)

I have a feeling it is not fully amped up[if thats right!]

DP( Fully charged will do.

but my Halfords charger switches to green when the volts is up to above
12 volts.

DP( It will likely only switch off at rather higher than that.

How can I tell that they have 17 AH stored in there.
PS. They are golf trolley batteries and the charger that came with
them has no measurement to say what's going on.I could leave them
charged for a week for all I know with no indication when they are
charged.Got me beat.Thanks again.

DP( It's likely the batteries are simply knackered. If the charger is
DP( saying they are fully charged by switching off, you could try
DP( discharging them with a known load - say a car headlamp bulb at 55
DP( watts. A 17 Ah battery will have a capacity of 17 x 12 ie about 200
DP( watt hours, so should run that bulb for more than 3 hours.

That would be true below some rated current. The 55 watts may be
greater than this value and the battery might drain faster than
expected by what the math is telling us. If the battery under this
condition shows less capacity does it then mean it is bad?

A*s*i*m*o*v

.... I worked hard to attach the electrodes to it.