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KB, once you have done as posted below such as removing a battery cable to see if the discharge stops and/or using a test lamp as described etc., the way I locate a short once I know one is present is: Remove the hot ungrounded battery cable,,,,, attach the alligator clamp lead end of a test lamp to the bare battery post, then probe n prod around with the sharp pointy end of the test lamp at wiring locations and terminals etc to see when the lamp glows CUZ THERES A CURRENT RETURN PATH TO GROUND (i.e. a short) if the lamp glows. NOTE you gotta hunt n probe n prod on the BAT input side of switches such as lights or ignition cuz if you probe to the load side, the lamp should glow as it then has a returmn ground path. What youre looking for are places that lite the lamp that SHOULD NOT. If you shut the tractor off and the ammeter swings to heavy discharge and the genny gets hot then the cutout relay inside the VR is likely sticking but thats a fast high current discharge as opposed to a slow trickle discharge that runs the battery down over a few hours or so. Also, a bad battery can self discharge even without any short, you may wanna have a battery shop take a look at it. Insure theres electrolyte above all the plates and that no cells exhibit a gray or milky color indicative of a bad cell John T
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