Advice on battery charging

[olid2002]

I have a Maypole battery charger, like this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Maypole-12v-an...item4158c5e279

Due to starting problems I have taken my battery off the car to see if it needed a charge, I have set up the charger, on the lowest charge setting, and the battery read the following charge on the needle on switch on - 15amps, it moved to 0amps over a period of an hour.

what does this starting figure mean, and how does it relate to battery charge on initial recharging..?

[Handyandy-UK]

Typically that figure shows how much current is being fed to the battery ..... 15amps - almost flat battery..... through to 0amps - fully charged battery.

The next question is how long the battery holds that charge ?

If the battery is bad while in the car I would summise one of two possible problems:

1) Battery knackered - not holding charge.

2)Charging system fault - not charging battery

Many places such as Kwik Fit, HiQ, etc will do a free battery test but I'd be leaning toward the battery being at fault.