It could be a bad cell. A 12V battery comprises six cells which are nominally 2.0V each. If a cell has a partial internal short, it can self-discharge in a few hours. If this gets worse, the cell can act like a dead short-circuit, effectively making the battery into a 10V battery. Although the alternator will force it to the normal charge voltage of 14.4V, this is at the cost of generating large amounts of hydrogen which can cause an explosion if ignited. This can spray acid all over the place so is not to be recommended!
I've seen shorted cells on a couple of batteries in the past two months. Here's what I'd do. Disconnect the earth lead, so the battery has no load on it, and charge the battery fully using a charger. When full it should float at around 14.4V while drawing very little current. If there's still a lot of current or the voltage never reaches this level, you have a dead short. But if the battery seems to have charged, leave it to stand off-charge for 24 hours and measure the voltage. I would expect to see around 12.5V or higher. If it's 11V or less you probably have a shorted cell and the battery should be replaced, as it's a danger.
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Today's Featured Article - The Day Mom Drove the 8N - by Brian Browning. My Dad was wanting to put in a garden but couldn't operate the 8N and handle the old horse drawn plow he had found and rigged up to use with the tractor. Well, he decided to go get Mom out of the house and have her drive the tractor while he walked behind the plow. You got to understand that while my Mom is a hard worker who will always help whenever she can... she had never operated farm machinery before that day. Dad got her out there, explained how the clutch was the same as in our o
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