Parallel batteries

550Doug

Member
Location
Southern Ontario
So I thought I'd try a pair of parallel 12v batteries instead of the pair of 6v in series on my 570D. When I first hooked them up about 6 weeks ago they worked real good in turning over the motor. So they have sat for 6 weeks and I went out yesterday and found that both 12v batteries were drained.
Here's what I did. I got a pair of 12v batteries that have dual-side mounted and top-mounted posts. I made connectors to tie the side posts together, (pos-to-pos, neg-to-neg) then used the top mounted posts to hook onto the tractor as per usual hookup.
What am I missing here for them to drain out completely?
 
"What am I missing here for them to drain out completely?"

Hard to tell from this distance so I'm only guessing. Possibilities include short circuit,lights left on,radio left on and defective battery(s).
 
once you charge the battery's do a load test on them to make sure they are up to par.and not defective.
once you shut tactor down you can do a simple draw test. disconnect the neg. terminal and just touch it lightly to batt. post. if you get a little spark you have a batt draw.
had this happen on my 660 just by forgetting to turn off key.
 
Hi could be as simple as if it's got a cab something like the wiper switch is turned on to slow
speed and the motors seized up, then it draws just enough through the circuit but not enough to blow the fuse, could be another switch circuit doing it to.

Had this happen with an allis 190 I bought from a case IH dealer. They had it in the shop put new
batterys on and a new alternator/external regulator it still did it, so they just threw parts at
it!. took me a while to find it. when the battery was connected the amp gauge moved over neg just
enough you wouldn't notice it at a glance.
I started looking and pulling fuses. the gauge went back zero. figured what the fuse did and
found the wiper circuit and the switch on and the stuck motor problem.
The case shop manager asked me if I fixed it with a smile on his face one day as they hadn't. i
said yeah which one of your guys dumped parts at it and had no clue what he was at. Somebody got
a telling the next morning at the daily staff meeting I guess.
Regards Robert
 
Maybe a bad alternator, a short causing a draw on the battery. I have had that on a pickup and a few times with fork trucks. Quick fix on the fork trucks has been to charge the battery, pull the plug on the alternator, and plug in a battery tender when not in use until a new alternator can be bought and installed. I have run them for months that way.
 
Not likely to be a battery problem but you do have a wiring problem some place as in you have a short so you have a draw on the battery so over time they go dead. Change them up out of the machine that find where the short is
 

If it was my tractor I'd charge the batteries while still in the tractor then disconnect battery ground from frame insert a test light or VOM & if either one indicated a drain proceed to locate the problem. My guess would be drain is alternator or regulator.
 
(quoted from post at 12:51:24 07/31/15) Another quick fix to prevent batt drain is to install a heavy duty disconnect switch inline with the POS cable. Off roaders do this a lot with winches to prevent drain when the winch gets wet.

When you get off tractor and turn fuel off turn the switch off as well.

Something similar to this one:

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?R=NW_785121_0282529019

Just a thought

I have something similar on a Bolens garden tractor that is powered by a Wisconsin WD2-860 diesel.

To shut it down you need to turn the key to the ACC position and push a button to shut off the fuel.

It's pretty easy to forget to put the key back in the OFF position and drain the battery.

A PO put a battery disconnect on it to help eliminate that.


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not like your welding on a gas tank. i didnt imply to do it on a freshly charged batt., at the end of the work day its just a quick check.
 
(quoted from post at 11:47:17 07/31/15) I sure don't like your advice to be sparking a cable to a post on a recently charged battery!

Where is your sense of adventure? 8)
 
"install a heavy duty disconnect switch inline with the POS cable"

What'dya suppose would happen if we got really CRAZY and installed the battery cutoff switch in series with the NEGATIVE cable?

(Which is where I have seen a fair number of them installed.)
 
(quoted from post at 21:25:26 07/31/15) "install a heavy duty disconnect switch inline with the POS cable"

What'dya suppose would happen if we got really CRAZY and installed the battery cutoff switch in series with the NEGATIVE cable?

(Which is where I have seen a fair number of them installed.)

Would you still use the disconnect on the POS cable when it is a POS ground hookup?
The only electrical things on this tractor are the ignition switch, generator, lights, voltage regulator, starter and a glow plug in the air intake.
I've charged both batteries individually, tied them back in parallel, and it fires up nicely, so I'm monitoring it daily now to see if I can detect a draw.
 
(quoted from post at 06:36:25 08/01/15)
(quoted from post at 21:25:26 07/31/15) "install a heavy duty disconnect switch inline with the POS cable"

What'dya suppose would happen if we got really CRAZY and installed the battery cutoff switch in series with the NEGATIVE cable?

Battery disconnect switch will operate the same on either the positive or negative cable.

I was taught to ALWAYS remove the ground cable 1st no matter if it was positive or negative.
 
Oreilley's and HF, both had Neg for sale. Terminal wouldn't fit over the pos terminal of the battery. Didn't see any positives.

On Bob's problem, he must have changed something. No reason for 2 12's in parallel to discharge when 2 6's in series worked just fine as long as he hooked them up with the same polarity as he had back to the tractor.
 
Check your system voltage with engine running and no
electrical load, then with everything turned on.
Should be 14 volts on an alternator. If you don't
have at least 13.5 volts you are not charging.

Could be that your alternator doesn't have enough
capacity to recharge the batteries in the amount of
time that it runs. In which case a larger
alternator, more run time, or regular charger hook-
ups are your solutions.
 

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