Battery reads 15.4V

[ginger_jim]

Hi all, thought i'd check my battery voltage yesterday and got the above reading.  Battery is a year old and visually looks good, Dave Silver 'MF' from memory, spent the winter being plugged into an optimate for 24 hours once a week and insulated against the cold.  I instantly though dodgy meter, so I checked my beemer battery which has been maintained the same way (its an odyssey) and it gave a similar reading.  Went and checked my van battery and it read 13.4 volts. 

Anyone had similar experiences?  Could the optimate be on the way out and both batteries are toast? 

[SteveD CB500K0]

That's too high. Even on charge it should only reach 14.6 or 14.7V.

Is that open circuit?

Steve

[ginger_jim]

Hi Steve, I apologise for my ignorance but im not quite sure what you mean :-)

[JamesH]

Steve means (i think) is that is the meter reading with both leads from the bike loom / earth cable removed (i.e. with the batter disconnected from the bike).?

[ginger_jim]

No, that's with everything connected.  The more I think about it the meter must be at fault. Ill borrow another meter to double check.

[Bryanj]

If it reads that without the engine running your meter is wrong, most I ever seen is 14.8 and falling quickly just after taking off a big(but very controllable) charger

[K2-K6]

I've rarely seen any automotive 12v battery anything much over 13v without any outside input, so something is odd.

Optimise 6 can pulse to something toward 17v I understand so has some potential to get into that range if that's what you are using.

[ginger_jim]

Panic over...dodgy meter was to blame