Battery Info

[EddieWalker]

I just tried to start my tractor and the battery is dead. I ran it for over four hours a few days ago, and really expected it to fire up.

Volt meter read ten point six five volts on the terminals. I didn’t disconnect anything.

For some reason when I use numbers, it changes to something weird

 

[LittleBill21]

I just tried to start my tractor and the battery is dead. I ran it for over four hours a few days ago, and really expected it to fire up.

Volt meter read ten point six five volts on the terminals. I didn’t disconnect anything.

For some reason when I use numbers, it changes to something weird

This is a new battery? 10.6 typically means a cell has died inside. but based on your comments of needing to charge it out of the gate, I have some concerns there might be a parasitic load dropping it. do you have a dc clamp on meter, or a meter with a amp rating?

your going to have to determine if the battery is bad or if you have some kind of draw on the unit. this is easy with a sg meter or you can measure with the individual cells, but I am bit reluctant to tell people how to do that

 

[not2old]

My suggestion is to charge it up right away and keep it charged until you use the tractor. Disconnect the battery after you use the tractor and then see if you can wait a few days before trying to start it. If it's dead again, you will know the battery is the problem. Do you have another car or truck you can try swapping batteries with? I'm having similar problems with my old truck. It can go more than a month or even two ,with no problem. Other times it might be dead after four or five days. Being lazy, I just put it on a maintainer when parked. One day I will look for a parasitic draw but assume it's intermittent. I'm only using it to carry my snowmobile about once a week.

 

[ultrarunner]

I use a battery disconnect on the dozer and that battery can go 6-9 months and still start…

If I was in the neighborhood I’d come over with my battery tester…

No one wants to think a new battery is bad but it happened to me once…

Parasitic draw has happened many times… car lot they would put me in the trunk to check if the trunk light stayed on and yes it did a few times on various cars.

It could be the battery is ok but what kind of reading are you getting on the battery dash gauge when running?

 

[ruffdog]

I just tried to start my tractor and the battery is dead. I ran it for over four hours a few days ago, and really expected it to fire up.

Volt meter read ten point six five volts on the terminals. I didn’t disconnect anything.

For some reason when I use numbers, it changes to something weird

The battery from my truck must have had a dead cell (10.6v) too and charging it had the numbers all over the place. I had a spare red top optima that has been in the truck for a few years now while I wait to get a replacement. Unhook the battery and charge it to 12.8v + then let it sit for a couple days. It should hold voltage....if not, take it back.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I just tried to start my tractor and the battery is dead. I ran it for over four hours a few days ago, and really expected it to fire up.

Four hours is not long enough to fully charge a completely discharged battery.

But it's hard on the alternator to try doing it that way.

 

[LittleBill21]

Four hours is not long enough to fully charge a completely discharged battery.

But it's hard on the alternator to try doing it that way.

that completely depends on the charge current.

 

[LittleBill21]

My suggestion is to charge it up right away and keep it charged until you use the tractor. Disconnect the battery after you use the tractor and then see if you can wait a few days before trying to start it. If it's dead again, you will know the battery is the problem. Do you have another car or truck you can try swapping batteries with? I'm having similar problems with my old truck. It can go more than a month or even two ,with no problem. Other times it might be dead after four or five days. Being lazy, I just put it on a maintainer when parked. One day I will look for a parasitic draw but assume it's intermittent. I'm only using it to carry my snowmobile about once a week.

it can be a bad battery or it can be a drain from the tractor itself draining it.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

that completely depends on the charge current.

Yes, but I've found that a battery is noticeably happier after several hundred miles of driving - and that's starting with a battery that's already at 12.5 V or better, and a 220 A alternator.

With a typical maintainer (1.5 to 5 A) it seems to take about two weeks to get the same result.

And speaking of maintainers, it might have been in this thread that someone recommended a very affordable Noco Genius. Well, I bought one. Two days ago it was connected to a used but charged and good battery, basically just to have it do something.

It reached the fully charged state the next day, but this morning it had the "bad battery" icon lit, and the formerly good battery was now at just over 11 volts. Started over, it shows it's charging, and the voltage is up as it should be. Maybe it was a fluke, but I'll never trust that one again.

 

[John_Mc]

I wouldn't consider 14.8 volts a "burst of high voltage".

For BatteryMINDer chargers (and some others), it's not high voltage, it's high frequency pulses.