I am troubleshooting a GTO/PRO 1000 automatic gate opener. It uses a 12 volt lead acid battery, kept charged by a trickle charger. The trickle charger puts out 1100ma @ 18 voltsAC, which is fed into the control board where it is changed to between 12.0 & 14.8 volts DC at the battery. The charger output (to the board)is within specs, but at the battery there is only 10.5 volts. The manual says to check the charging voltage with the battery hooked up. My question is, if the battery is bad or has a bad cell etc, could it affect the charging voltage reading, causing it to read lower than it actually is? When I checked with the battery disconnected, the charging voltage is still low, but again, the manual says to check with the battery connected. I did not have a new battery with me. My thought is to bring a new battery and a new board when I return, but I would hate to go to the trouble (mail order) and expense of the board if it is not needed.
It seems like if I stuck in a new battery, the charge voltage test would show ok since it would read the full voltage of the new battery.
