How to detect overcharge/rogue battery charger

TimHenn

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my 4 8D-MHD's lasted 7 years, so, no complaints. After I installed the new ones I neglected to close the buses and the batteries went dead. Also not a problem, closed the busses and both battery chargers spun up. I get 13.21 on the port and 13.45 on the starboard. But the meter on the starboard charger is pegged. I'm concerned the charger is bad and possibly overcharging.

How do you go about determining if the charger is doing what its supposed to? The voltage at the batteries looks good. I don't know if my hand meter can measure the actual amps from the charger itself. Is it possible its pegged cause the batteries ran down so low?

Could i have normal voltage at the battery and some crazy high amperage coming off the charger?
 
Meter on the starboard charger settled down next morning to show ~25 amps after charging for 12 hours. Must have been the initial draw that pegged the meter, IDK. All's well from what I can tell.
 
You can check the state of charge with a hydrometer. Let them sit disconnected for a few hours for best results but low charge will show even while charging.
 
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