What Should A 12v Car Battery Read. The actual open circuit voltage of a 100 charged battery is between 1270v and 1280v because each cell is approximately 213v. With 1190 your battery is low and in desperate need of a boost.
A 12 Volt battery contains 6 x 2 volt cells but 12v is the nominal voltage. As with most batteries I dont think you can get the whole story about condition without doing more elaborate load tests on it. A fully charged battery will typically display a voltmeter reading of about 126 to 128 volts.
Many systems have a running target voltage in the lower 14 volt range.
Consider a replacement battery if the reading is lower than 124 volts. The ideal car battery voltage with the engine running is between 137 and 147V. Though not fully charged a car battery is considered charged at 124 volts or higher. Because of the way lead-acid batteries discharge its important that you test the battery after its been sitting for a period of time to get whats called the resting voltage.
