more battery problems

[stslawncare]

hey guys, sadly i am having more battery problems with my 16hp craftsman tractor that is around 24 or 25 years old. this is a newer battery, around a year or two old i believe. i hooked it up to a charger and it tested ok, however oncei hooked it up i got nothing. it originally came to my attention when i was getting ready to plow, started it up to let it warm up, it started, stalled, started then died. any suggestions? am i do for a new battery?

[Bob Minney]

Does it have a generator or alternator?
If you charge the battery and it will run for awhile then die, I would start there.

[stslawncare]

i dont believe it has a generator or an alternator, how can i be sure???

[bob]

Get the battery tested at a battery dealer. This will help narrow the problem down.

[sdwally]

Quick test if battery is good. Use a multimeter or voltmeter and check voltage of battery with it disconected.(ie 12.6v). Connect battery and start unit. Check voltage at battery terminals with engine at full throttle, voltage should be around 13 to 14 volts. If voltage is low your problem will be with the charging system.

[stslawncare]

so i take it is best to go and get a new battery, test it and see if its the charging system???? any reccamendations as to what type of battery to get, if you look at my thread in tractor forum, can you take that into consideration when reccamending?

[SCAPEASAURUSREX]

SCottie, Hows it going... SO how did you make out ?? Was it just a bad battery or was the charging system malfunctioning ?? Inquireing mind s want to know... Happy Holidays...

[stslawncare]

actually been to busy to play with it

[xpnd]

I thought the purpose of the battery was to only start an engine. Once started the battery basically goes on bypass being charged from the ignition system and the motor runs off the spark generated by the ignition system weather it be a generator, alternator or a simple flywheel magnet passing through the coil field. If the motor starts and only runs until the battery dies there is a problem elsewhere other than the battery. A motor with a dead battery and no direct short in the battery can be jump started and will run. Just won't restart

[SWD]

Not true, batteries are a necessary part of the electrical circuit. Without the battery completing the circuit, a short would occur and the ignition wouldn't function.
Bad batteries are the cause of so many ignition and poor performance (engine) related problems, and I have found, most of my customers overlook the battery as a problem source.
In the case of the older machines, such as the first post, checking the actual wiring itself for cracks or carbon tracing would be a high priority. In this case, a battery may check out on a load test with in limits, the charging system is also working yet a high resistence area (characterized by cracked wiring insulation or the black streak marks on metal components near or nest to a wiring bindle) is in the circuit. What happens is the battery becomes a big capacitor and once the charging system recharges the battery, the high resistence area shorts or drains the charge in the battery once the engine is turned off.
What kills the battery life is this excessive amount of charging and discharging. The chemical reaction in the battery is effected, the plates are weakened, and a cell ruptures and bingo bad battery.
Very common with small implement batteries used in riding mowers and can happen quite quickly.

[leadarrows]

If you can assess the cells where you fill with water and if you have a volt meter connect your meter leads to shot pisces of wire to be thrown away later. Put the positive lead on the positive post of the battery. Put the wire connected to the negative lead in the water of the first cell nearest the positive post. On a twelve volt battery there your meter should show 2 volts. Each cell can be tested individually with this method. Just work your way from positive to negative until you reach the Negative post moving both leads as you go. Don't let your wires touch the plates in the battery
Just dip the wires in the battery acid a little bit. Thats all you need for a reading. If you find a cell that has less than 2 volts you have found a dead cell and that would cause your problem.

+ OOO OOO - Batt
1_1
__ 22
____3 3
______4 4
________55
_________6_6
It takes six readings like that. I didn't no how else to show this.
I hope I explained it OK.I repeat don't stick the wires in too far. Hope this helps. PS this works best after charging the Battery. A dead cell wont accept a charge.

[Remo Sid]

On most modern small engines the battery IS NOT necessary for the ingnition system to work. The battery has nothing to do with the ignition.

Most small engines are fitted with an armature type coil that generates its own power by way of flywheel magnets.

Think of it like this...pull start push mowers, weedeaters, chainsaws all have the same type ignition system as an electric start mower ride on mower.

Most mowers today are fitted with an electric fuel shutoff built in the carbuerator. They would not run without a power supply to this. The ignition would continue to work though.

The mower refered to in this thread being 24/25 yrs old may have a coil powered by an external source (battery) THESE are the type that wont run without a battery.

[Mr.Wrench]

If your Craftsman tractor is about the mid seventies as you described it most likely has a Tecumseh with points or in a few cases an overhead valve Tecumseh with electronic trigger ignition.
If your battery tests Ok on a proper load tester and has no dead cells after testing with a hydrometer, you might want to trace your wiring with a voltage meter. On a lot of the older Craftsman tractors they used a heavy duty key switch as a starter solenoid. Remember also that your charging circuit also runs back through the key switch to the Postive side of the battery while the key is in the run position.