Six Volt Battery Issue

My IH350U has a six volt system and I accidently charged the battery to 12 volts. Now the tractor won’t start. I tried draining it by turning on the headlights for a few hours but does not seem to help. Is the battery ruined, or should I leave the lights on longer?

Overcharging can harm a battery, perhaps the electrolyte boiled over and in cases with a high amp charger you could hurt the plates. Id insure the electrolyte is above the plates and replenish as necessary and let it slow discharge then bring it up gradually with a 6 volt charger to full charge n lay hands on it if youre so inclined then see what happens. If you didnt already fry it and harm the plates she may recover ???

John T

If the battery were charged to 12 Volts, the headlights would not have run for "a few hours." They would've popped almost immediately.

Your battery is not charged to 12 Volts.

Now, what do you mean by "it won't start?"

What happens when you push the starter button? If the tractor cranks over, but does not fire, then there is nothing wrong with the battery. Stop trying to ruin the battery by running it dead with the headlights.

Last night I tried to start my Cub for the first time in a couple months. It wouldn't start. After 20 minutes of fiddling, I realized it was out of gas. Maybe you should start there?

You say charge to 12 volts that can not happen since a 6 volt battery can not hold a 12 volt charge. Did you put a meter on it to really see what the voltage is??? I'd bet you have done 2 or 3 things to it. #1 boiled the water/acid out. #2 warped the plates. #3 destroyed it because of being low on water and then getting hot by the over charge and now it most likely has warped plates and those mean a shorted out battery in side

(quoted from post at 09:59:36 03/17/10) You say charge to 12 volts that can not happen since a 6 volt battery can not hold a 12 volt charge. Did you put a meter on it to really see what the voltage is??? I'd bet you have done 2 or 3 things to it. #1 boiled the water/acid out. #2 warped the plates. #3 destroyed it because of being low on water and then getting hot by the over charge and now it most likely has warped plates and those mean a shorted out battery in side

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I concur.

I also would like to say it is impossible to charge it to 12 volts. The number of volts has to do with the number of cells in the battery. It isn't like polarizing a generator/VR.

COOL, you make the third person now that thinks shes over boiled and/or harmed the plates WE MUST BE RIGHT YA THINK???????

John T

Was the battery discharged fully before you charged it (or tried to)? Was it frozen? It takes a while to thaw if so, but if it does thaw it will take a charge unless the freezig hurt the plates. It happened to me with a 12 volt battery that had fully discharged during zero-degree weather.

First off, you can't charge a 6 volt battery to 12 volts. Like everybody else is saying, using a 12 volt charge would continue to force current through the battery after it reached full charge and boil out the electrolyte. It probably doesn't have enough electrolyte left to provide the current necessary to crank the engine, but can provide the relatively small amount of current necessary to run the lights.

Lead acid batteries charge to a constant voltage, set by the chemistry. A lot of float chargers will also boil the battery dry if left connected for long periods of time, hence the need for battery maintainers which cycle the charge voltage. NiCad's and similar batteris charge to a constant current, and can be left on a current limited charger almost indefinitely.

It it were me, I'd chalk it up to experience and buy a new battery. You may get the old one to recover temporarily, but it' not going to last very long anyway.

Keith

(quoted from post at 13:11:02 03/17/10) COOL, you make the third person now that thinks shes over boiled and/or harmed the plates WE MUST BE RIGHT YA THINK???????

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If that were the case, how could the battery run the headlights for "a few hours?"

With no electrolyte, the battery should go dead quickly with a heavy load like headlights. Three 30W lights at 6V draws about 15A.

Plus like I said before the headlights would've blown within the first few seconds at 12V. If they did hold, they'd draw about 30A and kill the battery in 1/2 the time.

I suspect that this person may be trolling. The post is too "sing-songy," and innocently-clueless-sounding to be legitimate. It describes conditions that are physically impossible except in the world of Bugs Bunny.

(quoted from post at 10:26:50 03/18/10)

(quoted from post at 13:11:02 03/17/10) COOL, you make the third person now that thinks shes over boiled and/or harmed the plates WE MUST BE RIGHT YA THINK???????

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If that were the case, how could the battery run the headlights for "a few hours?"

With no electrolyte, the battery should go dead quickly with a heavy load like headlights. Three 30W lights at 6V draws about 15A.

Plus like I said before the headlights would've blown within the first few seconds at 12V. If they did hold, they'd draw about 30A and kill the battery in 1/2 the time.

I suspect that this person may be trolling. The post is too "sing-songy," and innocently-clueless-sounding to be legitimate. It describes conditions that are physically impossible except in the world of Bugs Bunny.

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Hmm. I thought trolls were under bridges...

I am more under the assumption that the plates are shorted out than the water empty if I were a guessing man. It would still send out juice to the lights, but not enough to make them bright.

In the end I think you are right. No call on the MD injectors yet. I don't know WHAT is taking them so long. They have had almost 8 working hours and NOTHING!!!