New Holland SR 260

[JMINDEN]

Hello - brand new guy here and I hope I'm posting in the right place.
I have a New Holland Speedrower 260 that had a battery go dead and would not hold a charge. I replaced the battery, and all is well, except I noticed the clock display in the cab is always on, even with the key entirely removed from the ignition.

I did not notice this when I was running the machine last summer (our first season with it), but I admit I did not look at the clock display after operating.

Does anyone else have this model machine, and can confirm that it is supposed to be that way, or is mine acting up by showing the clock at all times? I am worried about it being a perpetual battery drain.

Thank you for any responses.

 

[alexpops]

Check the parasitic draw. if they are LEDs or you're sub 60 milliamps, you should be fine. Is there a timer? does it shut off the lights after some time lapses?

 

[JMINDEN]

Thank you. For the clearance lights under the chassis, yes the lights shut off after a period of time.
It is the clock/radio display only that stays on all the time.

I might call the NH dealer next week and get their opinion as to whether the clock display should stay on, but thought someone here might have that model and could provide some anecdotes first.

At the very least, I've located the 15amp fuse that I can pull anyway.

 

[alexpops]

You wind up with an answer?

 

[JMINDEN]

a

You wind up with an answer?

Nothing yet. I talked to a friend who owns one and he didn't know and I did not feel like asking him to hook up his batteries just to find out the answer to this question for me.

I did wind up replacing both of my batteries (one was definitely bad) , hoping that a low voltage might have caused the circuitry to act up, and the clock still shows, with the two good batteries on there.

I have not yet resorted to calling the dealership to ask if this is normal - I guess I am skeptical about the likelihood of getting an accurate answer that way.

Next stop is the multimeter, to see how much current is pulling, with that fuse in place, and then again with it removed.

 

[alexpops]

I would guess the clock needs 24/7 power to stay accurate. Whether that means the LEDs are powered or not is a function of the circuitry. I had a car like that once, clock always lit, but it didn't impact starting unless she sat for 6 months. If you're drawing under 60-80 milliamps when everything settles down, you should be fine (when you disconnect & reconnect the computer will probably reboot & give a big initial surge, but after 20 minutes you'll be back to "normal".)