Dead Battery

[Amfab]

While I have the charger on it, and before I start trying to figure out what caused the dead battery in my TX25, does anybody have an idea of where to start?
Like is there anything that can be accidentally left on while the key is not in the ignition?

TIA

-Andrew

 

[Amfab]

OK, I put a charger on it for 30 min, but it wouldn't start. I took it off and put the charger away until tomorrow.

Before I came inside, I checked the voltage, and it was reading 13.5 at the terminals. So I tried to start it again, it wouldn't, and there wasn't even enough power to turn the lights on. So I am assuming it is a connection issue now. Also, last week, when I started it, for the first 45 seconds of running, the tach wouldn't move, then it just started working and has ever since (about 2 or 3 hours of run time). I am thinking these two issues are related...

 

[anomad]

Did it crank at all? Click?

 

[airbiscuit]

I would take off the battery terminals, clean them,and then put them back on. They might look okay, but there could corrosion you don't see. That happened on a car I once had.

 

[Amfab]

...Did nothing at all, then after charging for 30 min, it clicked.

Weird thing was it started about five minutes earlier... although it didn't make the beep sound first...
I turned it off to run into the garage to get something, and then nothing.
I'll pull the cables and clean the terminals in the morning

 

[anomad]

I would take off the battery terminals, clean them,and then put them back on. They might look okay, but there could corrosion you don't see. That happened on a car I once had.

View attachment 4779715

I'm with you airbiscuit. Make sure everything is clean and tight. It's pretty common for new equipment to have loose fittings and little things at first.

 

[airbiscuit]

It's the easiest first step to rule things in or out. I've dealt with batteries and cables for decades. When that happened to my car, it looked just fine. I would have bet $100 that the connection was good.

If that doesn't do it, jiggle/check every type of safety switch.

 

[Amfab]

Thanks, everyone, for the feedback.

It was as all of you said, a poor battery connection.

I pulled everything battery-related out and wire-brushed/scotch-brited and reassembled. I cleaned the battery cables/terminals and the chassis ground point.

The chassis ground point wasn't totally loose, but it required almost no torque to get the bolt out, so I think that was the culprit, as the frame there has good paint on it, and if that star washer isn't digging in, the contact is weak. I scotch-brited around the hole, wire-brushed the bolt and washers, then torqued it down well, and the tractor started right up.

I have always made certain that connections are checked in cars I have restored or worked on. However, because the tractor is less than a year old, I did not look at a lack of contact as the first potential issue. As this is my first tractor, I am quickly learning that they wear differently than cars.

Thanks again

-Andrew