Wierd starting issue...

[Burgie]

Hello folks,

So over the past week I have been painting the house and needing the garage so every day my wife takes my B2620 out, parks it somewhere in the yard and at the end of the day she puts it back in the garage. She basically putts around at idle or a few 100 rpm above idle. This weekend I noticed slow cranking but the tractor started. I then noticed it just clicked, like a dead battery. So I put a charger on it and for the hell of it tried to start it and it immediately started up strong. HMMMMMM???

Battery had a dim yet visible green eye and so I left the charger on 12V 10A setting and it was pulling about 8-9 amps so the battery was discharged a bit. After a while and being impatient I started the tractor and put an inductive pickup ammeter over the positive battery terminal and was reading 7.1 amps at 2400 rpm so I knew the alternator was good.

I think the battery is good as well as the charging system. I left the charger on overnight at the 12V 2A setting and this morning it wasn't even registering any current which indicated a full charge.

My hunch is that NOT running the tractor at sufficient RPM over a couple weeks was just bleeding the battery because the alternator will not charge at lower RPM...or the tractor depletes the battery faster than the charging system can charge at idle or lower rpm's. And it was just a matter of time before i got the dreaded click.

So is my hunch fundamentally sound or could I in fact have a bad battery or charging system component?

PS: Up until these past couple weeks I have had absolutely ZERO issues; the tractor has been performing flawlessly...

Thanks...Burgie

 

[Daren Todd]

I used to have the same issue with the forklift at work. We would start it, run a piece of equipment around the building into the wash bay and then park it back in the shop. Maybe ran it for a few minutes or so at a time.

After a few days it would turn over slow and we would have to pull the forklift out side and let it run for an hour or so to charge the battery.

 

[BAP]

The dynamo's on the Kubotas don't put out a lot so running them for short times they don't charge up enough.

 

[torch]

I'd say you are probably right about the lack of charging at low RPM.

Since it's parked outside on the lawn, connect a small solar panel charger. Batteries don't like being deeply discharged so your battery will last longer if you keep the charge up.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Give it about 1000 rpms while moving it around.
The power used while starting depleted cant be replenished after only a few minutes.

Cars suffer the same fate. Have a customer that runs battery down constantly. Two minutes to grocery store and post office. Slow drive around the block and back. My mom does same thing. I suggested to both to start, warm up and go run your errands. 5 minutes extra run time will help not hurt.

 

[85Hokie]

The dynamo's on the Kubotas don't put out a lot so running them for short times they don't charge up enough.

At idle the Dynos dont even push the voltage to 12.5! Once you rev up a bit, it climbs and once at or near WOT then you get 14.5.

Running around at idle is a double whammy! Bad on engine, bad on hydraulics and bad on charging system

 

[Burgie]

Thanks for all the feedback folks, you pretty much confirmed my suspicion. I'll jack up the RPM to at least 1500 rpm even for the smallest of moves...

In a few weeks I'll be installing my LED lights and will also be installing a battery tender connection so I can maintain a trickle charge during periods of inactivity!!!

Appreciate the feedback...