Dead battery

[Griffey]

I have a battery issue and if I knew more about tractors this probably would be a simple fix. I have a B7610 with 60+ hours on it an no problems so far. I accidently left the lights on on day and the battery went dead. I was able to jump start it and it ran fine, but wouldn't start the next time. I have jumped it three times and worked the tractor for over an hour each time, but it will not start on it's own the next day. Also, it seems to be much harder to jump start the tractor compared to a typical car (takes longer).

Is it just a dead battery? Shouldn't it recharge after use? If it's just the battery can it be recharged somewhere or will a new one be needed?

Sorry if these are dumb questions.

 

[Thomas]

"Sorry if these are dumb questions."
Don't consider it a dumb question.

Can you take the battery to auto service for battery check....got a feeling new battery will be needed.

 

[RonMar]

Batteries don't like to be fully discharged. It is hard on them. It isn't so much the hours involved, but how many years old is the battery? Batteries sluff off oxides from the plates during the charge and discharge cycles. These fall to the bottom of the battery and collect there. Eventually they build up enough to start shorting out the cells. The only difference between a 24 month and a 48 month battery is the size of the sump at the bottom. Vibration from the tractor in use also heps to knock this debris off of the plates. The full discharge may have finished the process and shorted some cells.

A dead battery is a real current hog on the alternator when you get the tractor runing again. Tractors aren't known for their large capacity alternators. It could be that when you got the tractor running again after the full discharge, that the dead battery litterally sucked the life out of the alternator.

You need 2 things to work on or troubleshoot this problem. A battery charger and a volt meter. Charge the battery at a low rate 1A-2A overnight. Charging batteries give off hydrogen gas so don't do this in a closed space, wear safety glases and unplug the charger before connecting/disconnecting the charger from the battery terminals to avoid sparks. Start up the tractor and measure the voltage at the battery terminals. You should have 14.5VDC +/- 0.5VDC with the tractor engine running over 1000 RPM. this voltage should stay fairly consistent with the lights turned on and off. If you do, great, you most likley have a bad battery. If you are not getting that kind of voltage or it is dropping off with lights turned on, then you have a alternator/regulator or a wiring/fuse problem.

Good Luck.

 

[Soundguy]

When running.. can you tell if your genny or alternator is charging? ( ammeter or idiot lamp? )

I'm going with it being a bad battery unless there is any more data to go on.

Soundguy

 

[wushaw]

What RonMar said plus you can also check the electrolite level after you charge it with a battery charger and that will tell ya good/bad cells also.

 

[qstott]

I will go ahead and admit my stupidity. I had the same problem once with my JD 1050. Since it was a diesel, I thought if I left the ignition switched off, all the current generated would go straight to the battery. What I found out about 3 jump starts later, was that if the switch as not on, NO current was making it back to the battery. Instead of charging my battery, it was getting weaker and weaker. Make sure your switch is on. A diesel only requires fuel to run, but it requires electricity to crank and charge.

 

[BobRip]

What Ron said. My experience is that the battery will have to be replaced. Once you fully discharge a battery that has some years on it, you might as well replace it. If you have the charger, try charging it.
I like to leave a float charger on the battery when not in use. A tractor tends to sit for a long time between uses and to guarantee starting, keep a float (not trickle) charger connected.

 

[andrewj]

I will go ahead and admit my stupidity. I had the same problem once with my JD 1050. Since it was a diesel, I thought if I left the ignition switched off, all the current generated would go straight to the battery. What I found out about 3 jump starts later, was that if the switch as not on, NO current was making it back to the battery. Instead of charging my battery, it was getting weaker and weaker. Make sure your switch is on. A diesel only requires fuel to run, but it requires electricity to crank and charge.

take battery to autozone/napa and ask themto test it, quick charge for you...

 

[HomeBrew2]

I had a similar situation recently. When I finally noticed the battery had been discharging, it only read ~2V on my DVM. It was an older battery so it wouldn't have been a big loss. I decided to try to recharge it. First I did the bulk charging with a 10A charger. Then I connected my BatteryMinder and switched it to "maintenance/de-sulfate" mode and let it sit for a week. Next I switched it to "standard charge" mode. It only took a few minutes for the Minder to switch itself to maintenance mode, which means the battery was able to take a full 14V charge. Next, I tested it with a 50A load tester and held it for ~20 sec and it didn't drop below 11.5V. It has since gone thru more than a dozed cycles powering my 7K dump trailer and is still strong. I know the battery is injured from such a deep discharge but is quite servicable for now.

 

[Lynkage]

You can also measure the cells of your battery by starting at the neg side and putting a volt meter positive probe in each cell while leaving the neg on the post. This will tell you which (if any) cell is dead. It should measure somewhere around 2.33 v dc per cell.

 

[bradv42]

I have a battery issue and if I knew more about tractors this probably would be a simple fix. I have a B7610 with 60+ hours on it an no problems so far. I accidently left the lights on on day and the battery went dead. I was able to jump start it and it ran fine, but wouldn't start the next time. I have jumped it three times and worked the tractor for over an hour each time, but it will not start on it's own the next day. Also, it seems to be much harder to jump start the tractor compared to a typical car (takes longer).

Is it just a dead battery? Shouldn't it recharge after use? If it's just the battery can it be recharged somewhere or will a new one be needed?

Sorry if these are dumb questions.

From my experience, many good batteries are replaced over frustration and lack of knowlege. Battery recharge rates and times are a function of the temperature. The colder it is the longer it takes to recharge to a full state of charge. Depending on the type of battery and the temperature it may take considerably longer time to recharge your battery. As has been suggested I would check the voltage, the level of electrolyte, make sure your battery terminals are clean, bright and tight and do a trickle charge overnight. Start the tractor up as has been described and measure the voltage- with only 61 hours on your tractor it should still have a lot of life in it unless it has been damaged from being fully discharged. My thought is that you did not get enough run time and it was cold enough that your battery was not fully recharged.
B

 

[Griffey]

Okay, I appreciate all of your advice. I took it in to a local parts dealer who tested it for me and tried to charge it for me with no luck. I ended up getting a new battery and the tractor starts fine. Now I am just wondering if there was more that contributed to the problem. Do I need to worry about the alternator? Also I have a cab with a heater and wiper which run off the batter. Could that extra drag on the battery be enough to shorten the life? Am I worrying too much about something that was probably just as simple as it seems?

Either way it's nice to be back up and running. The snow has finally cleared and there are many projects to do.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[hdbikercouple]

just an fyi charge the battery with a charger till fully charged. running your tractor for a short time ,like an hour will not charge it. i deep cycled a couple of batteries doing dumb things. and yes that does shortern their life. the stores i see testing don't check for bad cells just volts.

 

[BobRip]

Okay, I appreciate all of your advice. I took it in to a local parts dealer who tested it for me and tried to charge it for me with no luck. I ended up getting a new battery and the tractor starts fine. Now I am just wondering if there was more that contributed to the problem. Do I need to worry about the alternator? Also I have a cab with a heater and wiper which run off the batter. Could that extra drag on the battery be enough to shorten the life? Am I worrying too much about something that was probably just as simple as it seems?

Either way it's nice to be back up and running. The snow has finally cleared and there are many projects to do.

Thanks for all the help.

You had a definite event (leaving the lights on for one day) which could damage the battery. The problem most likely was caused by this. I do think you should get a charger and charge the battery periodically. I keep a "BATTERYMINDer" full time on mine. Unless you use the tractor at least an hour each time and every couple of days this would probably be a good idea.

 

[Soundguy]

If his tractor has an alternator, and he is not running at max electrical load.. there is no reason why an hours worth of charge shouldn't top that battery off. Now.. if he is running at max electrical load.. then i agree.

Soundguy

just an fyi charge the battery with a charger till fully charged. running your tractor for a short time ,like an hour will not charge it. i deep cycled a couple of batteries doing dumb things. and yes that does shortern their life. the stores i see testing don't check for bad cells just volts.