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battery drains dead

K

knbshn

New User
Just read in the archives about the H wiring problem, ME TOO! My H is having electrical problems. First off, on all of my Farmalls I have installed a knob thingy on the positive post on their batteries. When I"m done running any one of them I turn the knob a little and it "disconnects" the battery form it"s ground. I did this because I was told that a battery will (or can) drain dead if the tractor is not used real often, and by disconnecting the ground, it will stop this. Well, right or wrong, my H keeps going dead, and it has a new Optima battery. Any ideas why it keeps draining dead? Thanks!
 
If it drains dead with a disconnect it is a bad battery.

Either that or the tractor is not charging when you reconnect it and have the tractor running.

It will go dead from running a coil type ignition system and the starting demands.
 
That's probably a master switch that someone has installed and it should prevent the battery from draining. The military has used these for years.
Measure the battery electrolyte with a hydrometer
to what reading you get. A fully charged battery should read around 1.260 or better. I would put the battery on a charger overnight then check each battery cell and compare the readings. They should be close to one another. If one read's 1.100 and the rest read 1.260 or better then discard the battery and check your charging voltage at the battery with a volt meter when you get a new battery. Should read 7.25 volts on a 6 volt battery and 14.0 volts
ona 12 volt battery with the engine at 1/2 throttle or better. Hal
PS: If the battery readings are ok on the old battery you still need to check the charging voltage.
 
(quoted from post at 17:05:36 10/28/08) That's probably a master switch that someone has installed and it should prevent the battery from draining. The military has used these for years.
Measure the battery electrolyte with a hydrometer
to what reading you get. A fully charged battery should read around 1.260 or better. I would put the battery on a charger overnight then check each battery cell and compare the readings. They should be close to one another. If one read's 1.100 and the rest read 1.260 or better then discard the battery and check your charging voltage at the battery with a volt meter when you get a new battery. Should read 7.25 volts on a 6 volt battery and 14.0 volts
ona 12 volt battery with the engine at 1/2 throttle or better. Hal
PS: If the battery readings are ok on the old battery you still need to check the charging voltage.
Click to expand...
Let us know how the hydrometer works out on the Optima battery, OK?
 
If the H runs, and is still 6v, use a volt meter to check the battery when running at 1/2 throttle. it should read 7.0 to 7.25 volts.
(it may be necessary to use a needle type Volt meter due to the noise in the old systems confusing digital meters).
If it is 12v it should be between 14, and 14.5v
There are many more things we can help with, we need to know more about what you have in the tractor. JimN
 
Hi next time after you use it disconnect the battery lead completely and see if it still discharges. If it stays charged maybe your little knob thingy is not working properly. Next charge the battery fully on a charger and see if it discharges. If so its the battery. MTF
 

I've heard from people that have them that the Optimas are overpriced garbage. They claim to be rough tough indestructable batteries, but won't take vibration and short internally and go dead at the drop of a hat.
 
(quoted from post at 08:37:01 10/29/08)
I've heard from people that have them that the Optimas are overpriced garbage. They claim to be rough tough indestructable batteries, but won't take vibration and short internally and go dead at the drop of a hat.
Click to expand...
I have 3 of them in tractors & truck and have been very happy with them for 7 years, come December, 2008. That's not "heard", but my experience.
They are pricey though. Guess I could have had 6 each 3-1/2 year batteries??
 
I have 3 batteries from Walmart and they're 7 years old. It's their best battery with a 3 year free replacement, then it's prorated. They were about $50.00 each in 2001. Close to $80.00 with tax and a tradein now. Hal
 
(quoted from post at 05:37:01 10/29/08)
I've heard from people that have them that the Optimas are overpriced garbage. They claim to be rough tough indestructable batteries, but won't take vibration and short internally and go dead at the drop of a hat.
Click to expand...

Your mileage may vary, but when I was servicing trucks that used a group 24 side post battery the Optima's were the only battery I found that would last more than a year. After replacing the original battery at about eleven months, I only had one Optima fail before trucks were taken out of service after about four more years of service. This covered about twenty trucks in service from the mid 80's to the mid 90's.
 
I use the optima's because you can discharge them to 0 and still recharge them. Your problem is not the battery but you have a dead ground someplace. I uase the disconnects similiar to what you have only they are from Wal Mart for 3$ and have a green knob you take out to disconnect. PUT IT ON THE POSITIVE side and your problem will go away. I would check on the start switch and or the started to see what is grounded out. I have used Optima type batteries for 12 years and never had a bad one. They are tough. Henry
 
Glad to hear I can recharge the optima even if it is dead. I only went with the optima because I figured I couldn't freeze it if it was weak and sat all winter.

When you say put it on the "positive side", do you mean the positive post of the battery? Because I have it connected to the positive post of the battery which is the grounded side on these old Farmalls. I have these knob disconnects on my other 5 Farmalls and I haven't had a dead battery in years. But I will search for a short in the wiring. Thanks!
 
You know, that's what my Son suggested, that maybe the knob thing didn't completely "disconnect". I took it off for now.

Since I first posted, Ah ain't had time to dig into this problem anymore and it's a gittin' cold out! Thanks for the tip.
 
I have to get this charged up first before I can run it again and then I'll do a volt check. I also noticed the battery cable running to the starter switch is cracked and may not have been real tight on the battery post, thus it might not have been charging as one gentlman already suggested. Thanks!
 
I think you might be onto something with that "not charging" idea. But could you please explain about the "coil type ignition system" as a potential problem area? Thanks!
 
Coil type ignition will draw off the battery while running, if charging system is not working, opposed to magneto which uses no battery energy. I love magneto system. Need no battery if you like cranking, except at night your lights won't work.
 
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