something is draining my battery

[eddie]

my tractor has worked fine till now. my B2620 worked fine four days ago…i parked it overnight and the battery was too weak to crank it…charged the battery for day and then let it sit for a day and the battery is too weak to crank it again…i have disconnected the battery and have the charger on it now but i have a feeling that something is shorting…any ideas how to find the leak?

thanks
eddie

 

[Daren Todd]

Could be internally in the battery. Cell could have shorted so it won't hold a charge. Best thing would be to take it in and have it load tested. Could be starter or alternator, or a relay as well.
After battery is ruled out, if there is still a small drain, then may have to start tracing out the wiring on the circuit from the battery to the key switch, and disconnecting the devices from the furthest point working back to the battery to rule out what is causing the drain. A digital multimeter helps in this since you can see a small drop in voltage

 

[eddie]

thanks for the tips Daren…i've never had a load test done, who could do that for me?

thanks again...

 

[Jim L.]

What Daren says.

Make sure the battery is good.

Fault isolation on load side by using the fuse block. Start with all fuses disconnected on one side. Push fuse in until the culprit is found.

Also check that the battery is clean and not draining by dirt or other sneak paths.

 

[Jim L.]

Auto parts stores will do that for free.

Just bring the battery in to them.

 

[coachgeo]

hmmm.. what is draining your battery drain... hmm. my guess is escaping electrons

 

[eddie]

i took the battery for a load test and it was too weak to read (6 cranking amps and 9.5 volts). I will leave it on the charger overnight but I have the feeling that the battery is hosed to start with and maybe there is a short but maybe not. I will load test it again tomorrow after an overnight charge. Anybody suggest a reasonably priced replacement battery source?

cheers
eddie

 

[Daren Todd]

The local auto parts store, walmart, or any place that has an automotive section. Unfortunately batterys aren't cheap

 

[cerlawson]

Many multi-meters have a section where you can measure amperage. Some go 0 to10 amps and also have a milli amp range for weak power loss. Put that between your battery and its hot connection. I think that is much better way than using voltage drop method.

 

[GWD]

You could also put a knife switch made especially for batteries on the negative pole.

Then open the switch, charge the battery, close the switch, and try to start the tractor.

A knife switch also works well to slow down thieves. It can be found, but criminals want something easy to take.

You don't say how old the OEM battery is but after 5 years, or so, they are suspect. (I know that some last far longer.)

For replacement, just measure the L x W x H and go to Costco or Sam's Club. Get something with close to the OEM CCA (cold cranking amps). Also, note the orientation of the + and - posts. They have excellent warranties. WalMart is also an option.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Many multi-meters have a section where you can measure amperage. Some go 0 to10 amps and also have a milli amp range for weak power loss. Put that between your battery and its hot connection. I think that is much better way than using voltage drop method.

Problem with this is, upon disconnecting battery to put meter inline, the fault may disappear. Typical with alternators with bad diodes.
I use a battery disconnect, install meter and open battery cable circuit
This doesent interrupt the circuit enabling a consistent diagnosis.
Voltage drop testing is ok for high draw faults and if you have a decent multi meter.

Im betting on a poor battery, from the first test at the parts store. A battery draws down to the point it wont crank,but usually recovers the voltage to something over 10. A twelve volt battery is still a twelve volts until its completely discharged. If it wasnt, a half discharged battery would be 6 volts. Not enough to turn on a light bulb.

As mentioned earlier if its more than 5 years old you are running on borrowed time.any battery that lasts over that is bonus.
You will have your battery anyway , something to compare it to the new one.

 

[eddie]

thanks to all of you with comments…i appreciate the information.

 

[GWD]

It may be too late to follow up, but another head-scratcher on tractors seems to be the battery ground becoming faulty.

The way to check this is to take off the ground cable and attach one side of a jumper cable to the battery ground post and the other end to an unpainted bolt (or place) on the engine block. The battery has to be fully charged, of course. If the engine cranks then you have the answer.

You didn't mention if you tried to jump start the tractor from another vehicle. That should provide more insight.

A way to check for a short somewhere is to disconnect the battery ground from the negative post and then touch it back to the post while in the dark (key off). If a very small spark can be seen then something is drawing down the battery.