Current draw with brakes locked

[Soundguy]

Bobrip.. bottom line... the 9ma current draw, AND quiescent discharge are NOT this guy's problem.. UNLESS he has a BAD battery. The time period we are talking about should be well within the starting tolerence for that low of a load..

There is some other drain that is happening intermittantly when he is not checking it.. or he has a friend coming over and turning his lamps on while he is at work.. etc..

Soundguy

 

[BobRip]

Bobrip.. bottom line... the 9ma current draw, AND quiescent discharge are NOT this guy's problem.. UNLESS he has a BAD battery. The time period we are talking about should be well within the starting tolerence for that low of a load..

There is some other drain that is happening intermittantly when he is not checking it.. or he has a friend coming over and turning his lamps on while he is at work.. etc..

Soundguy

Soundguy, you may be right, I have not let a tractor sit for a couple of months and see if it starts, but I gather others have.

I looked up quiescent discharge today and for gel cell batteries it's 2 to 10% a month. For flooded cell battery its 8 to 40% per month. These are very wide ranges and don't give us much to go on. The article did suggest that for flooded cells they be kept on a charger if not used for extended periods. This is my normal approach. I keep chargers on my riding mower, tractor, inverter,and generator.

Perhaps, as was suggested, the 9 mA leakage is a sympton of a leakage that is sometimes much worse. Perhaps (for example) when it is wet it gets worse.
Sorry if I am pursuing the wrong direction. It just seems significant to me. I have been designing projects where leakage of a fraction of a mA is significant. The batteries are much smaller than tractor batteries.

I suggest that Joe check leakage current on his tractor, and if they are the same swap batteries and maybe swap batteries anyway. This will isolate it to the battery if the problem moves with the battery. Intermittent and long time occuring problems are very difficult to isolate.

 

[Soundguy]

That's what i would do.. is swap a battery with another.. if I had it.

perhaps also leave a graphing meter inline to measure I flow over time.. etc.

soundguy

 

[BobRip]

That's what i would do.. is swap a battery with another.. if I had it.

perhaps also leave a graphing meter inline to measure I flow over time.. etc.

soundguy

Sounds like a good idea. I had a thought. I believe you said there is an engine computer. My guess then is that the current (0.009 A) is being pulled by the computer input. This is pretty normal and I doubt that it is a problem.
Your graphing meter will tell the tail.

 

[RickB]

A general rule of thumb that my experiences taught me to accept is that anything less than 20 m/A draw on a battery should be of little consequence. Providing, of course, the battery is in proper condition.

 

[joes_427_vette]

The dealer was aware of this problem. They had experience with this battery drain situation. The mechanism is wired in reverse. The circuit is open when the brake is locked causing the draw when unattended. They indicated the drain was well over 1 amp in prior cases. Maybe I should have had my glasses when I read the meter. Beware of small numbers !!

 

[Soundguy]

Those decimal places DO mean alot...

Soundguy

 

[BobRip]

It's a lot easier to troubleshoot when you have the right numbers. I am glad you found the problem. We all even learned a little. I can see I need to give my post more thought before sending them.