I have a 1941 A and has been totally restored but I am having a charging/electrical issue. It is still on the 6V system, rebuilt generator, correctly wired, etc but it doesn't seem to want to stay charged like I think it should. One thing I have noticed is that after letting it run a while, the battery terminals are fairly warm - not hot but certainly warmer than I think they should be. I am wondering what would cause it. I also did notice that the negative terminal of my battery seems loose in the case - wondering if maybe the battery is actually bad (although it is new)

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Robby

How are you confirming that it is correctly wired? Did you have someone else check your work?

I ask not because I wish to cast aspersions on your work, but only because we all tend to get "blinders" when it comes to checking our own work. I've lost count of the number of times I've "checked" a particular detail, only to have something not work. Just as I'm about to chalk it up to black magic and voodoo curses, someone comes along and says, "Hey you have that wire in the wrong place!" But, I "checked" a dozen times and I could've sworn it was right!!!

Next, does the generator charge the battery? It should show a charge on the ammeter even with the light switch on L.

You may have a battery drain. Charge up the battery then disconnect the battery ground and let it sit a day or two then reconnect the ground and see if the engine will crank and start. If it doesn't you should have that battery load tested or check the electrolyte in each cell and compare the readings using a hydrometer. Should get a reading around 1.260
if one cell reads 1.100 you have a dead cell. Hal

If the terminals are warmer than the battery box adjacent to them, they are likely to be either in need of cleaning, or the battery is indeed bad.
Check two things: charging voltage at 3/4 throttle (should be 7.2 volts, or between 7 and 7.4)
If it is not, it may need to be more adequate diagnosis.
The second is the battery itself. Charge it with a good charger that will taper charge it to full. (or a 2 amp charger for 5 hours or so)
Then (with it disconnected from one terminal of the tractors system) wait for 24 hrs and check the voltage across it. It should be in the 6.4 to 6.5 volt range. Jim

If your terminal is loose in the case, your battery is likely no good

Yes i have had the wiring checked by someone else to verify it is correct. The ammeter is showing charge; however, after sitting for a week or so, it is clear that the votlage is low enough that it will barely start the tractor. In fact at the show this past weekend, it would barely start after sitting for a couple of hours so obviously something is not right. I have verified that the generator is charging the battery - I just wonder if somethign is draining it that I can't find.

The battery terminals are very clean so that shouldn't be an issue. I did take it out of the tractor and charge it for several hours to ensure it was fully charged. After this, the tractor started right up but I haven't tried it in the past two days so can't say what will happen tonight. The fact that the terminals are warm concern me but I have checked and I show no current draw at the battery with the switch off so I dont think there is a constant draw on the battery while the tractor is sitting but on the other hand, something has to be draining it. It may be a bad battery - given the warm terminals and loose ground terminal within the case, although it is new it may be bad. I think I will buy a new battery and see how it does. In a worse case scenario I would have a back up battery

(quoted from post at 20:29:52 04/22/10) If your terminal is loose in the case, your battery is likely no good

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Yea I think you are right

Could be the regulator causing the drainage. Hal

The post should not be loose something is bad with the battery. Why did you take the battery out to charge

I took the battery out to charge because it was low and the best way to charge it was to put it on a long slow charge

One other thing you can do to see if the battery has a bad cell, which would cause the issues that you describe. Take the caps off the battery while it it charging, either on the tractor, but this is much easier if you hook a charger up to it. If you look in the caps and see a lot of bubbles coming up your battery is bad.

I think the battery is your whole issue here

I'd be very careful messing around with a battery with a loose terminal. If there is a bad internal connection, it could spark internally and explode. If I had a battery like that, I would take a light bulb wired with a couple alligator clips, carefully clip it onto the battery and walk away from it until the light had totally drained it. Then I would get rid of it.