Dead battery or dead to earth?

[bigman100]

2009 a4 2.0 tdi.
I recently suspected i had a bad battery,but i tried to jump start the car with following all new devices:Top of the range Clarke jump start and
gb40 noco neither worked, the only sign of life was from the Clarke which barely turned the engine,looks like a dead earth to me,but iam not an auto spark.I have a nearly new battery from a big lexus which i recently scrapped,i could fit that and if it works it was a bad battery if it not work then it looks like a short,but as i said iam no auto spark.Any suggestions gratefully received thanks.

[Alan02]

You cant guess a batteries condition, so do you have a multi- meter by chance? Also, if your battery is faulty ie. an internal short circuit, it will never charge. You need to carry out some tests.