Quote:
Originally Posted by xpress
Due to lockdown in NYS, I have not been driving much in the past 2 months and sometimes not much driving for 2 weeks+. It never occurred to me to check battery since the truck seemed to start ok each time. Yesterday, I decided to use a multimeter to check the voltage and was surprised (or may be should not have been!) that it was reading at 11.7 - 11.8V when at rest. Truck - a 2014 LE - still started ok. So I drove about 35 miles mostly highway. Today I checked again and it's up to 12.2V. What should be a good voltage to aim for? This battery is OEM replacement maybe 2 years old. I'll probably drive another 35 miles to see if the voltage goes up but if not, do I need to buy a battery charger/maintainer and if so, any recommendations?
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A fully charged 12v automotive battery should be at 12.6v at rest and about 12-24 hours after charging. 12.3v is considered to be 50% charged.
I use Battery Tender Juniors on numerous starting and deep cycle batteries. Although a battery tender will eventually charge a battery as low as yours was, it would be best to charge a weak or discharged battery with a good 10 amp or higher automatic charger, THEN put the tender on it if the vehicle is going to sit for more than a week or so.
