Cold weather battery
- Thread starter DickB
- Start date
Buzzard Wing
501 Club
Yep Ricky, it's ALL grounded through the frame. I learned that lesson when the generator wouldn't charge, painted the whole thing = no ground to the frame. Same with the base of the VR, etc, etc.
My experience is mostly with 12 V Cubs. Every one of them will start on the first or second try, regardless of the temps (although it is pretty moderate here in the winter). If you need to crank the Cub more than a couple times, SOMETHING is wrong. Grounds, points, timing are worth looking at.
Yesterday this one took two tries.... but it was because the linkage to the carb was frozen in place. Once I got it free, started right up. I was amazed!
My experience is mostly with 12 V Cubs. Every one of them will start on the first or second try, regardless of the temps (although it is pretty moderate here in the winter). If you need to crank the Cub more than a couple times, SOMETHING is wrong. Grounds, points, timing are worth looking at.
Yesterday this one took two tries.... but it was because the linkage to the carb was frozen in place. Once I got it free, started right up. I was amazed!
lazyuniondriver
Well-known member
Rudi":2i1j6vkc said:
I have 5 of the big Interstate 12 volts currently in service, the oldest being 6 years old, however I've milked about 8 years out of them on the average. I've had very good performance from them year round and intend on replacing them as need be with Interstates.
Prior to switching to Interstate, I was a fan of the Delco 1200 series but my source dried up.
ricky racer
501 Club
lazyuniondriver":7mp0nf71 said:
Like Rudi suggested, using a battery maintainer will greatly increase battery life for batteries that don't get a lot of use. I have battery maintainers on most everything in the barn, however, I don't have one on my Cub. It gets used enough that it doesn't need it. :big smile:
lazyuniondriver
Well-known member
I normally don't disco anything unless it is for cleaning or safety. I think positive ground systems sometimes confuse folks so the best advice for hooking up a charger or tender is don't even worry or think about where the cables go. Look no farther than the top of the battery itself. Hook red to positive or plus on the battery and black to negative or minus on the battery and everything will work out fine.
John *.?-!.* cub owner
501 Club
So long as you connect + to +, and - to -, you will not have a problem.DickB":3inhhlay said:
lazyuniondriver
Well-known member
If you are not worried about being pulled over by the Correct PO PO, I have found that a scrap of laminate flooring at 8" wide will make an undetectable front panel. Cut it to size, flip it over and paint the backside with a can. It finishes just like metal and can't be detected unless you knock on it.
I guess I'm not worried about the correct police. The front, back and cleats are oak and the sides are birch. The oak is RED oak. It is never outside in the rain so I didn't bother with a top. A can of paint and 200 feet and whats the difference? One advantage would be if you wanted a larger battery it could be made longer but I didn't bother. Vernlazyuniondriver":2y1xxfl4 said:
DickB":19ej1z3w said:
I never disconnect the battery before I put on the charger. Always connect to the posts. Unlike a car there are no computer chips to fry so connecting to the frame is not required. With a battery maintainer it is low amperage and auto shut off as well. My old manual battery chargers are used for more important stuff - like electrolysis tanks
Rudi, My laziness paid off. I was going to make a special cover to the battery box so that it would take in the quick disconnects, and yet I never got to it. Now that I know that I don't need to disconnect, I'm going to get a regular, official, battery box cover. Finally ! -- took 20 years of wondering by myself, and only a few minutes on the Cub forum. So the word is out: A cover, how about that....
Yes my 6 volt was about 8 years old and it finally failed me last month, just before the blizzard. I had to use my emergency 12v jump pack to start it. Then I pulled it out and checked the cells and they were low but not exposed, filled it with distilled and charged it. The specific gravity read fine in all cells, but you could draw current for about 10 seconds. Time for a new one. "Batteries Plus" to the rescue. The only thing is this battery is slightly taller to the lugs than the other and may short out on top of the battery box (see my video) I thought about putting in a 12 volt, available in many more sizes, like I did on the "A". On the A I just swapped out the generator and voltage reg with an alternator. Given this cub is just about 100% original as can get and given the cub is much more of a challenge with the 6 volt generator in a hard to service area under the hood, I decided against it. I put a piece of leather under both lugs and a piece of neoprene tubing split in two along all edges of the bottom of the box to raise it the extra height. I do not want to take a chance of burning down the garage.
