Had a slow drain on the battery for some time, but over early part of year (car not used very frequently) the battery (new) went totally flat, when I tried to charge with battery connected the charger overloaded and tripped out - pulling way too much power. Disconnected battery and charged. Thought I had a major earth fault so connected positive side and left earth open to use a bulb and remove fuses to check which circuit had fault on, but prior to that lightly touched earth to battery expecting huge spark but got nothing, not even a little sign of earth activity. Reconnected battery fully and car started ok.

Confused as to why the charger would not charge when connected? was there an earth fault and it suddenly has disappeared?

Will monitor battery condition but any guidance on what may be going on would be helpful.