Jump to content
cod

battery charging question

Recommended Posts

cod

Replaced the battery on my 418 last week and while the old one was only 3 years old, I was puzzled as to what caused it to die over a 7 day period.  It worked fine all through last winter and for the first part of this mowing season but two weeks ago when I went to start it, nothing.  In fact it even when I tried to charge it, the voltage would rapidly decrease as soon as I took it off of the charger. That said I have another battery now and while the beast was running yesterday I measured the voltage going to the battery at low idle ( 12.9 ), mid idle ( 13.4 ) and high idle ( 14.1 ).  Is it possible that at high idle I'm cooking the battery?  Have any of you looked into a additional regulator that would keep the charging voltage at a level that charges the battery but never gets high enough to over charge it?  I believe the existing regulator is working but anything over 14v seems like you may be damaging the battery if your mowing for 2 or 3 hours.

 

Thanks in advance - Cod

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
 
squonk

14.1 is perfect for a running tractor. I have seen perfectly good batteries suddenly die within hours or a few days. I would make sure there isn't a parasitic draw on the battery. Grass clippings across a fuse is one way it can happen. To me it sounds like a plate in your old battery broke and shorted. Make sure your battery hold down is good.

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
 
cod

Thanks Mike!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
 
953 nut
5 hours ago, cod said:

battery on my 418 last week and while the old one was only 3 years old,

If you got three years out of a battery I would say you did well. As Mike said, 14 +/- volts is fine, I have had them be fine in the morning and wouldn't do a thing the same afternoon.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...