Battery replacement for TC40DA

[RobertN]

As mentioned above, always disconnect the ground(in this case black) cable first. And, connect it last.

It is possible to touch a battery yourself and get no shock, or maybe just a little tingle. It is not worth it though, because if the conditions are correct, you can get a bad shock.

Mostly though, when changing a battery, you do not want the metal wrench to short across the battery terminals. That will create a short, some sparks, and could lead to an exploding battery due to the high surge in current; the battery overheats, spews acid all over, very bad...

If you disconnect the ground cable, then the battery will not arc if the wrench used to remove the positive cable hits some other part of the tractor.

Take you time, make sure the wrench you use does not bump anything, and you'll be ok.

While you do have the cables removed, do make sure the cable ends are clean. It does not help to use a new battery with dirty cable connections...

And use the correct size wrench when removing the cables. I have seen too many cables messed up using pliers or crescent type wrenches... You don't want to have to replace the cables too...

I will take all of it into account and wrote down the information about black first. I would not want to get shocked. By the way i just did go to NAPA and bought the battery and he said if i did touch both metal terminals at the same time i would NOT get shocked which seems kindof wierd but he did it and didn't get shocked so i'm amazed i guess!

 

[Danica]

As mentioned above, always disconnect the ground(in this case black) cable first. And, connect it last.

It is possible to touch a battery yourself and get no shock, or maybe just a little tingle. It is not worth it though, because if the conditions are correct, you can get a bad shock.

Mostly though, when changing a battery, you do not want the metal wrench to short across the battery terminals. That will create a short, some sparks, and could lead to an exploding battery due to the high surge in current; the battery overheats, spews acid all over, very bad...

If you disconnect the ground cable, then the battery will not arc if the wrench used to remove the positive cable hits some other part of the tractor.

Take you time, make sure the wrench you use does not bump anything, and you'll be ok.

While you do have the cables removed, do make sure the cable ends are clean. It does not help to use a new battery with dirty cable connections...

And use the correct size wrench when removing the cables. I have seen too many cables messed up using pliers or crescent type wrenches... You don't want to have to replace the cables too...

Ok i am definitely getting the picture here about how to be careful and why! Thank you ever so much. A few bits just dont make sense (like why i dont get shocked) but i will just be careful. Watch for a pic of me on bluebelle when i get her to my new home in the catskills in the next few weeks!!

Danica

 

[LarryD]

Touching the positive and negative posts to metal simultaneously will cause a high amp. current draw. The resulting sparks sometimes results in battery explosion by gases given off. Touching the terminals with our hands simultaneously doesn't usually cause ill effects, especially if our hands are dry.

I was standing next to a technician isolating a cell from a bank of 182 cells (= one 480 volt battery) when the wrench fell across the +/- terminals. The resulting arc blinded everyone and we are very lucky the battery didn't explode. There is no on/off switch on a battery, they are always ON! It is not difficult to manage them, just go slow and cautious.

 

[RobertN]

You wont get shocked because your body has very high electrical resistance. A wrench or a screwdriver has no resistance, and makes an electrical short.

Just take your time, and dont touch a wrench or screwdriver across the terminals, or from the positive post of the battery to the tractor.

You might take some baking soda; you can mix it with a little water and put it on the end of the battery terminals. It will foam, and help clean up any corrosion. It is a common way to clean battery goo. Otherwise, NAPA can sell you cleaner.

Get a terminal cleaner too(from NAPA). Make sure the inside surfaces of the battery cable connector is clean. The counter folks at NAPA can demonstrate.

Everything that has to do with electrical works better with nice clean, tight connections.

Ok i am definitely getting the picture here about how to be careful and why! Thank you ever so much. A few bits just dont make sense (like why i dont get shocked) but i will just be careful. Watch for a pic of me on bluebelle when i get her to my new home in the catskills in the next few weeks!!

Danica

 

[jinman]

Well everyone, I MADE A HUGE MISTAKE! I owe Danica an apology and I owe DocHeb (Chris) a big thank you for pointing out that I told Danica the WRONG BATTERY GROUP. The BCI Group 51 battery is the one for the smaller Boomers. I just pulled that number out of the top of my head and I got the wrong number. The Group 51 Battery is smaller in size than needed. All the Class III Boomers take a BCI Group 24F battery. Sheesh! I certainly apologize for the screw-up and hope it didn't cause anyone to end up with the the wrong battery.:ashamed::ashamed:

 

[Danica]

I actually think they may have given me a 51 at NAPA. I asked it it was a strong battery and he said it was used in big cars and it would be fine. I never did mention "51" to him and he looked up my tractor and came up with that one.

I will know in a few hours!!!

Pls keep your fingers crossed for me!

Danica

Well everyone, I MADE A HUGE MISTAKE! I owe Danica an apology and I owe DocHeb (Chris) a big thank you for pointing out that I told Danica the WRONG BATTERY GROUP. The BCI Group 51 battery is the one for the smaller Boomers. I just pulled that number out of the top of my head and I got the wrong number. The Group 51 Battery is smaller in size than needed. All the Class III Boomers take a BCI Group 24F battery. Sheesh! I certainly apologize for the screw-up and hope it didn't cause anyone to end up with the the wrong battery.:ashamed::ashamed:

 

[dieselscout80]

Well everyone, I MADE A HUGE MISTAKE! I owe Danica an apology and I owe DocHeb (Chris) a big thank you for pointing out that I told Danica the WRONG BATTERY GROUP. The BCI Group 51 battery is the one for the smaller Boomers. I just pulled that number out of the top of my head and I got the wrong number. The Group 51 Battery is smaller in size than needed. All the Class III Boomers take a BCI Group 24F battery. Sheesh! I certainly apologize for the screw-up and hope it didn't cause anyone to end up with the the wrong battery.:ashamed::ashamed:

I wanted a AGM battery an Walmart has a good price on them.

I looked this up in my printed manual (Europe version) and it lists group 47 however, the PDF I have lists the 24F (both manuals are for the DA with the vertical headlights).

I thought maybe it was just a quirk of the European manual, so I purchased the 24F but it is big enough to not fit the battery hole down system.

It also causes the headlight brackets bolts to bump up rib on the battery case. I was able to grind the bolts shorter and clear the battery although it is close.

I used a piece of metal strap for a battery holder running across the center of the battery (front to back). I may add a little angle iron on each side.

Group 47 battery Dimensions 9.50x 6.94 x 7.50 Inches

Group 24F battery Dimensions 10.94 x 6.88 x 8.69 Inches