6 Volt Battery Problem - Maybe?

[GewPao]

Hi there folks,

It has been about a year or so since I had to come back to the old well of vast cub knowledged to ask the wise ones about my old "47".

She has been acting up again in the area of the electrical system.

Here is what I have going on. (Just for info: The starter burnt up on me back in "87 and I have not got around to taking the starter into town to get it rebuilt yet. The old hand crank still fits my hand just fine.)

Back to the problem for this post-

I Pull out switch.

Get a weak reading on Volt Meter or some times not any reading.

Put 6 volt charger on for about 5 minutes and reading on meter goes up and she fires right up while connected to charger.

Take the charger off and she Runs for awhile. (Sometimes one or two hours, or the last two times, just a few minutes and then she dies. No reading on the volt meter.)

Put the charger back on. I get a good reading. She fires back up.

Question to the wise ones- Does the battery have a bad cell or could there be a short some where or do I have a bad ground?

I had an electrical problem a couple of three years back during grass cutting season, so I went ahead and replaced all the wiring. (The main hot wire to the starter had rested on the engine and the wire cover had melted.) It ran good for a couple of seasons.

My money says I have a bad battery. Any thoughts. The Old Tar Heel!

[Donny M]

I agree, it sounds like a bad battery.

[George Willer]

You have two options...

Install a new battery (which you already knew)

Re-install the original mag so you don't need a battery or starter. (or generator)

[Bigdog]

Not only is your battery bad, your charging system is not working either. If you choose to just replace the battery, I recommend that you put a battery charger on your battery once a month or so to keep it fully charged. More often if you are using it a lot. Or, you could choose to repair the charging system when you replace the battery. We can help you do that if you choose to do so.

[DuxburyFarmall]

Bigdog-

If it dies while he is driving it doesn't that mean that the generator or coil is going and is drawing the power from the battery to keep the engine running?

Chad

[Bigdog]

I think it is running strictly from the battery and the battery no longer is holding a charge. It takes a quick surface charge from the charger but the charging system is not putting out anything to re-charge it. So when the battery voltage drops - no more sparkee!
If the battery was reasonably good, it would run a long time. At least long enough to heat up the coil. I really think his battery is completely shot but there has to be a reason for that and I believe a non-functional charging system is the reason. It is possible for a non-functioning system to load the battery and speed up the drain.

[WKPoor]

I've been operating my latest Cub with battery ignition for several months now on just the 6V battery. Last Sunday I probably put 5 continous hrs on it without any issues. Ran it today a good while also on the same charge so I know you can operate a Cub without a charging system and get by just fine if you keep a good battery on it.

Several yrs ago I invested in a battery load tester. Really handy for problems like GewPao has where the battery is suspect.

[GewPao]

OK!

Thanks. Will get a battery.

Great comments. (Coil is only a year old.)

The old gal has not had a new battery for at least four or five seasns. I guess I will pick one up this weekend. (We only do the grass thing here in North Carolina.) Don't mess with the little bit of snow we get once every other year. Our idea of snow removal is to go back in the house and put another log on the fire and wait the hour and a half it will take for the snow to melt.

Great to have all this help you all can provide. The best part it is fast and free.

Until next time, George in Carolina

[rick 48 cub]

Get a few "solar cells" and duct tape them to the hood of the tractor. It will provide the trickle of electricity you need for the ignition. You can mow the lawn whenever the sun shines!

My wife says I am always full of good ideas. (Or at least full of it!)

[SundaySailor]

out of the circuit? As, in disconnected from the circuit altogether? Reason I ask: I've seen starters shorted out in the armatures enough to cause a drain on the entire system of automobiles and trucks - 12V. In fact, I had to have a mechanic recently replace the starter on my truck ~229k miles for this exact reason. The battery and alternator had already been replaced, and the starter was the last link. Once it was replaced, the whole system acted like it was supposed to. I agree with the other folks too, but that starter deal just kinda hits me as being funny.


SS