John Deere X724 - New battery keeps dying

[scdemer]

First, let me start by professing much ignorance. I figure a lot of things out the hard way if I figure them out at all.

I have a 2006 John Deere x724. At the start of the 2016 season, it would not start, so I took the battery to my dealer. (I should mention that I had replaced the battery in the spring of 2015.) He confirmed it was dead and I purchased and installed a new one. A week or so later I was unable to start the mower. One of the kids left it in the run position for the afternoon. I decided rather than purchasing a new battery, it was time to get a trickle charger. I purchased NOCO Genius G3500 6V/12V 3.5A UltraSafe Smart Battery Charger to recharge it and insofar as recharging goes it works well, but after the next round of mowing or two, I have to recharge the battery again. If this were a car, I would assume the alternator was shot, but when I look at the John Deere Parts catalog and drill down to the electrical system, it lists the alternator as optional and I do not see one in my engine. (I might be looking in the wrong spot, but I assume it connects to a belt and I only see one belt in the engine and nothing that looks like the alternator I've seen for this model or that has an electrical connection running to it. I might be blind.) Since I didn't see the alternator, I thought perhaps I had shot the starter motor by incorrectly jumping the battery in the past. (I had the truck running... ) But the thing is when the battery is charged it starts right up. What am I missing?

I should say that I did purchase a replacement starter and I have that ready to install, but it seems to me that that is not the issue.

 

[Steave]

Once a battery has been drained completely, as you said the switch was left on, sometimes they don't come back to life and if they do they could soon fail. Completely charge your battery and then take it and have it tested.

As far as the alternator it would be under the flywheel and you cannot easily see it. It's not going to be a typical alternator as you see on tractors or autos. You can test to see if its working by checking the voltage at the battery before cranking then check the voltage as the engine is running. If the alternator is working it should read higher voltage after the engine is running. You mentioned about the alternator being an option? If your manual states it it must be fact but I've never seen that type of engine without one. I'm guessing its the kawasaki 27hp?

 

[Steave]

Usually the only option on an alternator is the amount of amps it puts out.