Should I Regret Buying A Kioti?

[grm61]

I like Interstate myself

Mine came with Interstate, You?

 

[blackdog2086]

I went through two incidents of a leaky battery. I thought I'd done my best to make sure the caps were completely tight. Twice, I cleaned and repainted the battery compartment. This was with two different batteries over a nine year period. After it happened the last time, I decided it would be the last time.

My tractor now has a beautiful, sealed, OPTIMA battery. Now, unless some freak accident happens, I will never have to remove the battery to clean leaked acid. I do wonder if a lot of front loader bucket and fork work causes excess vibration to the battery compartment. Perhaps those chores could just take their toll on the battery.

I understand your thinking, but there is no way that loader work, or anything else you do with your tractor should cause a leaky battery. I'm assuming that tractor manufacturers understand the uses and abuses that their customers put their equipment through. The battery in my truck, which is driven on poorly maintained country roads take much more of a beating than the low speed work most tractors are used for.

If the batteries in off road vehicles (ATV's, UTV's, trucks, etc.) can hold up to the much higher speed beating they are put through, there is no reason batteries installed in tractors should not be able to take the minor bouncing around that they receive.

Ok. To get back on track. If you did get a faulty battery, Kioti corporate is at fault. As far as the repair to your new and expensive tractor, your dealer needs to make it right. Dealers can only get away with what we allow them to. Without funding through customer dollars, they will eventually go out of business. As all things in life should be, reward the good and punish the bad.

 

[paulfun9]

Mine came with Interstate, You?

My Dk also came with an Interstate battery

 

[skyhook]

That photo of your battery sure looks like it was "boiling over".
This is usually caused by "overcharging", while the machine is running, you should have no more than 14.5 volts at the battery, but with your machine, I would expect around 13.4 area because of the smaller alt.
After you verify the voltage and it's over the 14.5 volt's, "I" would bring back the tractor with the old battery still in and inform them you have a "charging" issue, once they have it, don't accept it back unless all has been repaired, including any damage caused by this "warranty" issue.

 

[RandyT]

Something everybody is missing is the battery is not warrantied by Kioti. The battery manufacturer covers the warranty of the battery, and all the disclaimers that come with that warranty. Which may include they are not responsible for damage caused by acid. Should the dealer find why the battery is leaking, and try to assist the customer in getting it correctly, I would say yes, When the battery failed under warranty in my tractor, my dealer sent me to the battery dealer for warranty replacement. Kioti didn't cover the battery.

The most important part of any warranty booklet that comes with a piece of equipment is the "stuff we don't cover" I deal with warranty on lawnmowers every day, and some of the stuff that is not in the covered section will make your head spin. My favorite is the MTD trimmer warranty that excludes the Rope, rope handle, rope pulley, spark plug, air filter, inner spool, outer spool, bump head, bump knob. Or the riding mowers excluding belt, blades, seat, seat covers, tires, battery over 30 days from purchase, engine, and in some cases transmission. The engine has its own warranty, as well as the transmission if hydrogear, or tufftorq.

 

[GuyInHuntsville]

Thank all of you for all the responses and advice!!

After my last post yesterday I went out to my property and removed the battery...I soaked the battery compartment with CRC battery cleaner and flushed it repeatedly with jugs of water (I don't have running water out there yet). To my surprise the damage wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Lots of peeled paint but none of the bolt heads were eroded or fragile. Stuff with acid on it just looks worse than it really is or I simply caught this problem in time before the acid started to dissolve stuff. I then soaked everything in and around the compartment with EvapoRust and then left it to sit in the shed with the hood up until I return with a new battery (Interstate) and put it in. At that time I'll use a voltage meter to to check the alternator.

Another photo I'm posting...I notice how the most acid drainage on the front of the battery is coming is in line with the 2 slots on top of the battery leading me to think that it was leaking from under the maintenance caps...Maybe the dealer overfilled the battery...I don't know but I'll be watching and checking this very close for a while.



Just for the record...Because of all of the insight from you guys I don't regret buying a Kioti. Other than this glitch it seem to be a great tractor even though I'm a newbie and have nothing to compare it to, it really seems like a well built machine and heavy/sturdy. I just wish the dealer didn't suck!

I really appreciate all of you!!

 

[GuyInHuntsville]

Agree with both responses except the voltage number. The actual voltage will depend upon the rpm being over idle, like 1000-1500 min to get the alternator output up to regulation voltage and then increase at a very slow rate, and the charge level of the battery. The alternator has an output current limit and if that is exceeded it limits the current which limits the voltage across the batt terms. Once the charge is near max, the alternator voltage regulator will set the output voltage near the max regulated value with the reduced current.....the regulator has a wattage rating and will contain the volts and amps to remain in that envelope.

I am currently accustomed to alternators on marine outboard engines but they use the same batteries as other things and the "rules of engagement" should apply. The number there is 14.5v max for a regulated power source and 16+ for unregulated.

Wet cell batteries use a mixture of Sulphuric Acid and water to accomplish the chemical transition with the lead plates as a function of power moving in or out. The Sulphuric acid remains in the battery normally, but the water boils out at a lower temperature and since they are dissolved in solution carries some acid (H2SO4) with it which is extremely corrosive.

The charging rate determines the amount of boiling and the temperature of the battery. High charging rates generate visible bubbles which is the water boiling out. The higher the charging rate the more bubbles, the higher evaporation rate which lowers the water level in the battery. On older style non "maint-free" batteries there are caps on the battery (such as what I see in your picture) which can be removed and the process monitored, including the water level.

On your battery with the observed overflow, I would expect that the solution level would be well below the "full" ring and possibly low enough to expose the tops of the plates.

A few checks could tell you what you want to know, as listed above but shooting from the hip, I'd say that your regulator in your alternator isn't regulating and that is something that your dealer is obligated to repair/replace.

The other possibility is a defective battery with a shorted cell, very unlikely at that age of usage, which causes the alternator with proper regulation to continue to pump current into the battery in an attempt to get the terminal voltage up to the point where the alternator shuts down the current. A load test of a fully charged battery could answer this question. First off would be the terminal voltage. If the battery has sufficient water to reach the full rings and has been charged, but has been off the charger for at least 12 hours the terminal voltage should stabilize at some value within the 12-13 volt range.

With that you connect the battery to a load tester and crank up the current to 200 amperes. A good battery will hold approx 11v at the terminals. Most battery testers have 2 meters (current and voltage) with green, yellow, and red scales. The scales tell you what to expect for the applied load. Wally World has them in the auto service bay.

Once you have your battery tested, if it passes and hasn't been "killed" you are ready to approach your dealer to fix his tractor's regulating system and while he's at it he can add cleaning up the collateral damage to the effort.

New batteries just don't do what you are seeing for no reason and on a new battery, usually it's not the batteries fault.

HTH,
Mark

Mark thank you for all the detail!! I'm studying your post as I'm pretty new to this sort of thing and will be doing these checks. Your last line is eye opening!

 

[GuyInHuntsville]

By the way the battery in my tractor was a Continental Premium.

 

[k0ua]

Let me tell you the story of my battery/acid issue with at the time a brand new Long 2360 tractor. I noticed the leak and corrosion after about a week or so of delivery of the new tractor. The dealer came out and replaced the battery and I started on cleaning up the mess. A short period of time later I noticed the new battery was leaking also, and I noticed a split in the side of the battery. I called again and the dealer trotted out another new battery and installed it.

Again my job to neutralize the acid spill and sand the metal and paint. The battery tray was looking pretty rough by this time. I was starting to get suspicious that something was wrong at this point. Duh. So I grabbed the multi-meter, and measured the charging voltage and it measured about 17 volts. Uh, Oh. The regulator was not working properly. In this case the regulator was an external to the alternator unit. Most regulators now a days are internal to the alternator.

What I found was just a loose wire on the regulator, and as soon as it was repaired, the charging voltage went down to just a little over 14 volts, and I never had any more problems with split overflowing batteries. The overcharging causes to battery fluid to boil and outgas causing pressure and spillage of the acid. I did fight rust and peeling paint on the battery tray for some time, from the original acid spills.

I would almost bet money your alternator with its internal regulator is overcharging the battery causing the acid spill. A quick check with the engine running at 2000 rpm and if the battery voltage is over 14.5 volts you have a problem. Good luck with this problem. The dealer is thinking this is a bad battery, and he is willing to replace the battery and not look any further. I think there is an underlying problem that should be addressed under warranty.

 

[Texasmark]

I lied.

Just now I took another look at the excretions and yes they seem to be coming from the seal, not the top under the caps as I initially incorrectly implied. My experience with Continental is limited, but I have seen them around. So what I said in all my blabbering doesn't amount to a hill of beans in this particular case.

Sorry for the disinformation.

Mark