8n battery discharge Help!

[glfrjerry]

just bought a 8n and the battery was old and the fellow who sold it to me said it would need a battery. he unhooked the pos cable (neg ground, 12v converted) every time he shut it off. I got it off the trailer at home and drove it around about 15 min and decided to go get some gas. I didn't unhook the batt cable. When I tried to start it again (30 min) it was dead so I went and got a new battery and it started right up. Drove, stopped, restarted several times and quit for the day, didn't unhook the batt. Went out to start it this afternoon and it didn't even click. Ammeter is indicating it is charging. I have the charger on it now.
Any thoughts on what is causing the drain?

 

[ToadHill]

You probably have a dead short in one of the wires under the dash. I'd look there first. If you have no luck finding it then you have 2 choices,
1. rewire the tractor, not a bad job, you can do it on a saturday morning.
2. attach a "kill" switch between the ground and the + post. I used one on a car I had for several years, I never could find the short.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I second what Toadhill said. Could be voltage regulator sticking as well. It would be nice to fix the short so you don't have to worry about a kill switch or taking off the battery cable.

 

[EE_Bota]

just bought a 8n and the battery was old and the fellow who sold it to me said it would need a battery. he unhooked the pos cable (neg ground, 12v converted) every time he shut it off. I got it off the trailer at home and drove it around about 15 min and decided to go get some gas. I didn't unhook the batt cable. When I tried to start it again (30 min) it was dead so I went and got a new battery and it started right up. Drove, stopped, restarted several times and quit for the day, didn't unhook the batt. Went out to start it this afternoon and it didn't even click. Ammeter is indicating it is charging. I have the charger on it now.
Any thoughts on what is causing the drain?

Whatever you get into, this ought to help. I got this off the net

 

[Qapla]

We have a Ford 1900 with this problem. Haven't been able to locate the drain. We picked up a terminal switch from the parts store. You put it on the Pos terminal and connect the cable to the post on the switch. Then, with the turn of a knob, you connect/disconnect the battery.

Haven't had to put the charger on the battery since we did this.

 

[pat32rf]

Sometimes its the old voltage regulator, other times it can be an internal problem with the replacement alternator.
My 67 plymouth van had the same problem. I used a headlight relay powered from the hot side of the ignition switch because I (and other drivers) would forget to flip the toggle switch when we turned off the key.

 

[MBDiagMan]

A good troubleshooting approach is to use a hefty Ammeter in series with one of the battery cables and post. Use some clips so you can quickly connect and disconnect it.

Hook it up and confirm that it is flowing high current. Now disconnect the meter, then disconnect a circuit in the tractor. First remove any fuses one at a time because that's quick and easy. Remove a fuse, connect your meter and see if you still have the drain. If you still have the drain, reinstall that fuse and remove another. If removing fuses doesn't find the circuit, move onto the main wire to the starter switch.

Just keep going until you disconnect a circuit and find no current draw when you reconnect the battery.

Hope this helps.

 

[Transit]

A good troubleshooting approach is to use a hefty Ammeter in series with one of the battery cables and post. Use some clips so you can quickly connect and disconnect it.

Hook it up and confirm that it is flowing high current. Now disconnect the meter, then disconnect a circuit in the tractor. First remove any fuses one at a time because that's quick and easy. Remove a fuse, connect your meter and see if you still have the drain. If you still have the drain, reinstall that fuse and remove another. If removing fuses doesn't find the circuit, move onto the main wire to the starter switch.

Just keep going until you disconnect a circuit and find no current draw when you reconnect the battery.

Hope this helps.

There are two simpler ways using the same basic idea.

A] wire in a small 12 volt bulb between the battery and one of the battery cables to the tractor. When the short is found the bulb will go out. No need to deal with large currents.

B] connect a volt meter as in [A] and do the same. Set the volt meter to the 20 v scale.

 

[ToadHill]

KZLN I found any number of wires with the insulation worn off behind the dash of my old MF. It drained the battery in a matter of hours after I shut it off, but it never burned any of the wires.

 

[SPYDERLK]

There are two simpler ways using the same basic idea.

A] wire in a small 12 volt bulb between the battery and one of the battery cables to the tractor. When the short is found the bulb will go out. No need to deal with large currents.

B] connect a volt meter as in [A] and do the same. Set the volt meter to the 20 v scale.

A good. .. B may not work because even a very low current drain would cause a sensitive meter to read battery voltage. .. But since his leakage is appreciable you could trace the leak by measuring at opposite ends of each wire and branches leading away from the battery. On the lowest V scale a digital meter will show the IR [V] drop from just a couple amps on a battery cable. A wire with a V across it is carrying current .. keep following the detected path and youll find the leak.
larry