dead battery

[Highbeam]

Assuming the battery is not just wore out or dead. I had a common problem that will kill a battery dead quickly. A sticking glow plug relay. On the CK30 this little relay is on the firewall. It would glow the plugs until the battery died. Easy to diagnose, just unplug it after the engine starts and the battery would stay charged. I plugged/unpluuged it as a manual glow plug circuit until I got the new relay installed.

 

[MikeD74T]

Assuming the battery is not just wore out or dead. I had a common problem that will kill a battery dead quickly. A sticking glow plug relay. On the CK30 this little relay is on the firewall. It would glow the plugs until the battery died. Easy to diagnose, just unplug it after the engine starts and the battery would stay charged. I plugged/unpluuged it as a manual glow plug circuit until I got the new relay installed.

Did you find this by way of an indicator light that stayed on? MikeD74T

 

[BobRip]

I check the leakage current from the battery. With the engine and everything off pull the negative cable off of the negative battery terminal. Then check the current between the negative cable and the negative terminal. It should be less than 10 ma. Be care with this and get someone who knows how to use a current meter if you don't know how to do this. It is easy to blow a fuse in your meter or worse. Ge a float charger as many have suggested. I have one for each low usage piece of equipment.

 

[Boulter]

hi Guys:

Thanks for the tips. Battery was not dead yesterday when I fired up the tractor.

The battery is 3 years old, but the tractor is not used extensively, about 85 hours. I am inclined to think that something took it down, not that it is excessively aged.

I have left a dumb 1 amp trickle charger on a truck battery and it just destroyed the battery over the winter. I believe one needs a temperature compensated unit that shuts off the charge when the charge is full. Said full charge voltage is variable depending on the temperature. I don't imagine such a device exists in the consumer realm, so where does one get one?

Does anything run without the key? Could I have left the hazard lights on or something? I also had the key slot frozen up earlier in the winter, so perhaps something gummed up in there.

I certainly have the equipment and skills to check the quiescent draw off the battery, so that is the next step. I should probably get to it this afternoon while it isn't raining. Weather is looking dodgy for days.

I hate babysitting batteries!

Thanks.

Boulter

 

[Highbeam]

No indicator light when the GP relay sticks on. It was intermittent too. I could start the tractor and load it up on the trailer for a job the next day. Get to the job and have a dead battery. Great fun to unhook the truck from the trailer, flip it around and jump start the tractor, then reattach to trailer so that you can unload. I didn't shut the engine off until that job was done.

I found an easy way to check for amp draw is to disconnect the neg terminal and then touch it again. Looking for a spark. Our machines should have no spark at all. If the GP relay is stuck on you can expect a pretty huge spark.

The relay was intermittent. When I replaced it I gave it a good smell and there was a pretty sttrong burnt smell to it. Pretty cheap and no problems since. The optima style battery recovered very well and is still alive despite the total drains.

 

[Boulter]

Hi:

Well, I went out and checked the current when all is off. A whole 6.5mA so no obvious problem there. I then started the tractor and watched the battery voltage climb towards 14 volts over a few minutes until I got bored, so there is charging happening.

I think at this point, I've done about all I can do. I'll just keep my eye on things over the coming months in case there is something itermittent going on.

I will keep a stuck relay in the back of my mind.

Thanks again guys.

Boulter

 

[BobRip]

hi Guys:

Thanks for the tips. Battery was not dead yesterday when I fired up the tractor.

The battery is 3 years old, but the tractor is not used extensively, about 85 hours. I am inclined to think that something took it down, not that it is excessively aged.

I have left a dumb 1 amp trickle charger on a truck battery and it just destroyed the battery over the winter. I believe one needs a temperature compensated unit that shuts off the charge when the charge is full. Said full charge voltage is variable depending on the temperature. I don't imagine such a device exists in the consumer realm, so where does one get one?

Does anything run without the key? Could I have left the hazard lights on or something? I also had the key slot frozen up earlier in the winter, so perhaps something gummed up in there.

I certainly have the equipment and skills to check the quiescent draw off the battery, so that is the next step. I should probably get to it this afternoon while it isn't raining. Weather is looking dodgy for days.

I hate babysitting batteries!

Thanks.

Boulter

There are plenty of cheap smart chargers out there that work. I have been using Sure Care. I have one battery on my generator that is over 10 years old. I got it at Northern. It stays in a little shed attaché to the house, insulated, but not heated.

 

[grsthegreat]

ive left trickle chargers on all my batteries over the winter. none have been fried. all mine are so called smart chargers that stop charging when fully charged. there only about $19 at lowes.