L130 battery issue

chicken · May 25, 2011

Hey,
I recently purchased a larger property that came with a John Deere L110 and L130 (one used as a lawn mower and the other used as a snow remover).

The lawn mower (L130) doesn't seem to charge the battery while running and just drains it. I have to jump start the lawn mower every time I want to get it going, I've even switched batteries with the L110 (which i'm quite sure has a decent battery) but I still need to jump start the lawn mower to get it going.

Any ideas on what the issue could be?

beenthere · May 25, 2011

:welcome:
Take the battery in for a test, and likely will need to buy a new one. Maybe even for both.

chicken · May 25, 2011

Thanks for the welcome!

I guess I should give that a go when it stops raining and give it another go with a fresh battery from the store.

chicken · May 25, 2011

I was wondering, how long do the batteries last for usually? We purchased one of the batteries three years ago.

jenkinsph · May 26, 2011

On my L130 I have to replace the battery every two or three years, these small batteries don't last long. I use NAPA batteries that are about $30 bucks so figure 10 to 12 bucks a year more or less. You may find a battery that lasts longer but I doubt it would be cost effective.

You should be able to test your battery at no cost, also if you have a test meter you could check the voltage to see if it is charging or not.

rousch99 · May 28, 2011

ive had my battery in my L110 since new 8yrs i refill cells and charge it every fall

chicken · May 30, 2011

what do you use to refill and charge the battery?

rousch99 · May 30, 2011

distilled water and 1 asprin per cell. Dont ask about asprin a old old timer told me this years ago seems to work and asprins cheaper then battires

RandyT · May 30, 2011

Make sure you have a good battery. while running check the voltage at the battery terminals. should be 13 to 14.5 volts. if not the charging system is not working and is most likely a bad voltage regulator which should look a small square box on the side of the engine with 3 wires coming out of it. two may be yellow in color.