food for thought

Following a conversation this evening with TonyR (thanks Tony), I have additional food for thought ref my power challenges... The initial fault presented at lack of charge, showing just 12.3 to 12.4V at the batteries..... the batteries were confirmed as knackered... When replaced, I was dissapointed to see on 12.6 to 12.7V at the batteries.... thinking darn... the problem must be elsewhere.... Tony however made the point that this might be a symptom of a fully charged battery, and not a battery failing to charge! What I need to do, besides testing out the alternator to splitter cabling, is run the services for sufficiently long without the engine running to deplete the battery a little, and then see what voltage I get at the battery when the engine is started.... it might be as simple as the batteries just not needing charging as thet are fully topped up! Food for thought..... Maybe I can get my laptop back out as a PC based chart plotter after all!