If it is VRLA the top will not co.e off as there is no removable top.
Some flooded MF batteries have a substantial latching to make them more like a VRLA battery by holding some pressure.
If a battery is having some loads sometimes then the 14 volts may be okay, but is it really 14 volts?
Review the manufacturer data sheet for the battery, most will NOT specify float current as most can not measure it accurately without removing wires.
Instead, the full charge voltage is usually listed per cell, so one multiplies by 6 for a 12 volt package.
They use per cell so it can be applied to any size plant, 12, 24, 36 and 48 VDC are common sizes.
If one has a GOOD voltmeter and sets the float voltage to what the dataset specifies, (13.5 for 12 volt jar is usually close enough), the current after battery is fully charged and truly floating is in the milliamp range.
14 volts in constant voltage is closer to equalize charge, this is where we use excess current to get the acid working to clean off the plates.
We had a 1 Amp float charger that was connected to a 36 volt forklift battery built from 3 8D batteries, 225 Amp hour capacity.
The charger was properly floating but we forgot about it and over time, it failed and was just outputting a higher voltage, was limited to 1 Amp.
Boiled all the water out and ruined the batteries.
We now use a group af stand alone small chargers all with Anderson connectors.
We attach and activate, when they float we disconnect.
This is for equipment with no parasitic loads.
Batteries happy now.
Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk