Battery Charge

The gasoline leaves varnish or other deposits on the valve/seat, and leaks develop.

I run my Super C quite a bit and the only time I"ve had the carb go bad on it was while the tractor sat idle for several months while a better machinist than I re-sleeved and -pistoned the motor about seven years ago.

I bought a new carb. When it"s starts to go, I"ll have the original rebuilt. As I understand it, there"s no point in having it rebuilt now because hopefully the new carb will last several years, and by then the rebuild will have gone bad.

I"ve never seen a leaky float, but others certainly have. Even so, I think it"s more likely to be the valve/seat themselves, or maybe a STUCK float.

Unless it's below about 60 deg, a properly adjusted H will generally start with no choke whatsover. Of if it does need choking just a quick pull and return of the choke rod while the engine is being cranked will get it going.

Now if the carburetor drips with the engine STOPPED that's a different story! Something's wrong with the float or float needle valve - time to go inside the carb for a look.

Incidentally the shutoff valve at the sediment bulb should be used only to shut off the fuel when putting the tractor away, or to remove/clean the sediment bulb. And even the shutoff does leak it will not cause flooding, etc of the carburetor.

Would be worthwhile at this point to buy /install a carb rebuild kit. (Make sure the kit included a new float needle valve and seat).

Fortunately the H carb is pretty simple and easy to rebuild.

I just hook up the battery charger, red cable to positive and black cable to negative. Which terminal is grounded makes no difference; it is the polarity of the cables and battery terminals that dictate how they are connected.

As to how long to leave it charged; ideally you would leave it hooked up until the voltage differential between the charger's circuitry and the battery's terminals was gone and there was zero current flow.

Always remember the twelefth of Novem...wait, that's Guy Fawkes' Day. I'll try again.

Always remember, I=E/R (Ohm's Law). In this case, I represents current flow, E is the voltage differential, and R is the combined resistance of the cables and connections. I think the battery's internal resistance also plays a role, but I can't positively recall at this time.

So, if E=0, I must equal zero in a fully charged battery. If your charger has no built-in meter, you can connect a VOM ("AGAIN with the VOM! This 'Bohemian' guy and his VOMs...") as an ammeter and monitor the state of charge untill current flow drops to zero.

However, this is the ideal situation. In fact, I find the battery perfectly satisfactorily charge when the current flow has dropped to %20 or less of the maximum current the unit can supply (NOT the initial current in any given charging application).

In other words, with my 6 volt 6 amp charger, I consider the battery ready to go when the current flow reaches about 1.2 amps.

I note you are usinig a trickle charger. I am not familiar with these but believe 2 amps is a typical maximum charge rate. It will probably take SEVERAL DAYS to see the charge rate drop to .4 amps, but I will defer to anyone with more experience on that particular matter.

Finally, in my experience, batteries that were seemingly fine four or five months ago but that are mysteriously dead have a high failure rate. Some fail to take a charge; most will fail to hold one.

Check for voltage with a VOM ("AGAIN!"). You should have two or three volts. Less than that and the prognosis is grim. If you have absolutely zero volts, the battery may have a dead cell and not take a charge. A flickering meter means the battery has developed internal "noise," but I've only seen this once with an automotive/tractor battery.

At your convenience, please post back and let us know what you end up doing.

Presuming you find the battery is truly "dead", first check the battery electrolyte level. If you find any cell way down, it indicates the battery froze, cracking the case and draining the cell. Time then for a new battery(!)

However if all 3 cells are OK, stick your trickle charger on it(charger + to battery +, and - to -) then plug it in.

If the battery is OK the trickle charger will bring it up sufficiently to start the engine after about 24 hours. However if it does NOT figure again on a new battery.