battery going dead

[apple]

Have an 825i with just a few hours on it. I just got it back from the dealer 2 week ago for replacement of pillow bearing and driveshaft. While it was at dealership I had them to wire the radio in where it will have power to it without the ignition switch being on ( they put a rocker switch to control the radio and overhead lights) had a horn installed for grandaughter. Went to start it 3 days ago and battery was hammer dead. I put a charger on it but there are still problems. When you remove the lead from the battery charger it still draws an arc. To me this indicates something is pulling amperage. Long story short the dealer came and picked it up this am. Anyone else had this problem??

[purplewg]

There is "keep alive" voltage going to the radio. It keeps your time and presets working. That is not enough to drain the battery in just a few days. Mine goes dead after sitting for about a week and a half with nothing turned on. I know the radio keep alive should not drain the battery that quick. All of our cars/trucks have this feature also. Then again their batteries are a bit larger but this should not happen. I have not researched mine to see why it keeps going dead but it does.

[apple]

i agree with you on the radio but the dealership put a rocker switch that kills the voltage to the radio and overhead lights

[xcxc]

The charger will always spark when being removed unless it's turned off first. I would guess that something was wired "on" full time or left on. With everything turned off there should be no draw of power or spark when terminal is removed. Good luck

[missouri gator]

There will allways be a small amount of drain on the 825 battery because of the clock, but that should take a long time to drain the battery down. During the winter months or any time mine sits for any length of time I have a battery tender on it. Apple keep us posted on what your dealer comes up with!

[purplewg]

i agree with you on the radio but the dealership put a rocker switch that kills the voltage to the radio and overhead lights

So, now you lose the clock and presets in the radio every time you turn it off right? I will just put a tender on mine and forget it.

[apple]

Didn't lose the pre-set on the radio when rocker switch was turned off. Time will tell when I get it back from the dealer.

[osiris]

i know your gator is in the shop for the battery issue but anyone else with that problem just unhook the positive battery cable and hook up a multimeter between the positive cable and positive terminal on the battery with everything shut off on the machine and turn your meter to Amps that will give you the amount of current draw on your battery then pull 1 fuse at a time untill the number gets lower atleast then you know what circuit to trouble shoot, usally something like a relay sticking open....relay usally draws about 250ma btw

[purplewg]

Didn't lose the pre-set on the radio when rocker switch was turned off. Time will tell when I get it back from the dealer.

My radio is direct wired to the battery. When my battery goes dead I loose the presets and the clock gets all screw up on the radio. Of course the clock in the digital dash never worked very good to begin with.

[apple]

I have the meters ( many of them) but since its under warranty I consider it JD problem. Not too lazy not to find problem but since the warranty is in effect the dealership might as well go thru the labor pains

[osiris]

i would make the dealer fix it also i was just putting the correct way to pin point the problem for anyone that may not choose that route

[apple]

supposed to get gator back tomorrow. Time will tell if problem has been corrected. I will keep everyone posted good or bad

[Regulator]

Yeah...please do keep us posted on what the fix turned out to be...Once I get interested in a problem someone has, it's nice to know the outcome, in case someone you know runs into the same thing...

I'm really curious as to what it was...

Larry in MD :Jestr:

[purplewg]

I have put some extra equipment on mine but I am 99% sure I connected everything correctly. I guess I will have to get around to troubleshooting it one of these days unless your dealer finds something common that I might have also.

[apple]

got 825i back from the dealership today. They said they did not find any problems. Time will tell. The battery went dead for some reason!!!

[825joe]

IF you take a lot of short trips. The battery will not have time to charge. Happened to me.

[purplewg]

Well, we know the clock in the dash requires power. I suspect there is some sort of keep alive voltage for the computer also. The clock should not drain it very fast for sure. Mine will do a week ok but somewhere between a week and two weeks it goes dead.

[apple]

I decided to just keep a battery tender on it. The wife isn't too happy with it but at least I know it will start. I keep battery tenders on most all my equipment. I've had batteries last in one tractor for 11 years. I just had to buy 2 batteries last week to go in a couple of older tractors; the cost of battries sure isn't cheap.

[Regulator]

Battery Tenders are a marvel of new technology that couldn't come soon enough...they flat out ROCK!!!....I have a multi-vehicle charging unit by them that does 4 motorcycles at once, and then I have 3 other single units on other vehicles, like my gator and another motorcycle, and my garden tractor...I used to buy new motorcycle batteries every two years, and considered myself lucky to get 2 good years out of them...the last bike that I had for 5 years, still had the original battery in it when I traded it for a new one...just because I kept it on a battery tender religiously...they are cheap compared to buying new batteries!!!

Larry in MD :Jestr: