I have a Simplicity Conquest lawn tractor. If it sits for 3 weeks the battery dies. If I use it to cut the grass, usually once a week, it dies after 2-3 cuts. I disconnected the negative ( black) cable from the battery and then connected the red tester lead from my multimeter to the black cable and the black tester lead to the negative side of the battery. I get a reading of 11.32 volts. Somewhere it is draining the battery. Not sure what is going on. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Battery draining on my Simplicity Conquest
- Thread starter juice581
- Start date
More options
Export threadmechanic mark
Lawn Pro
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2013
- Threads
- 175
- Messages
- 7,479
Post Simplicity Conquest model number. Check all connections by hand making sure they are tight & secure including ground straps & cables from engine to chassis.
Seven digit model number. Also post B&S engine numbers model xxxxxx, type xxxx, trim xx & code number.
Seven digit model number. Also post B&S engine numbers model xxxxxx, type xxxx, trim xx & code number.
Last edited:
bertsmobile1
Lawn Royalty
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2014
- Threads
- 65
- Messages
- 24,995
The most common phantom load on a mower battery comes from a rectifier with a dud diode allowing power to go backwards through the stator when the engine is not spinning.
Just about everything else passes through the ignition switch which is the No2 suspect.
Just about everything else passes through the ignition switch which is the No2 suspect.
It sounds like you tried to perform a current drain test , but perhaps did not set up your multimeter correctly. The "series" connection you described is proper approach for current, but the multimeter leads must be in the proper sockets. Look at your little booklet which came with the unit. Usually you move the red lead to a current socket. I think you got a voltage measurement , +12 to ground.
Simplicity model # 2690600. B&S #' s model 386777, type 0111-E1, code 06122111. I will get the battery load tested this week. On my multimeter I only have 2 slots for the red and black probes. I tried doing the test I talked about in an earlier post, but using the 40 A setting. But I am not getting any reading. Do I need another multi tester that reads lower amps ? One that reads in m (milli)? Please be patient, electricity is not my strong point. Thanks
Juice, Yes, the battery drain test usually expects the multimeter to read millivolts with the ignition and lights turned off indicating the current passing from the battery to ground. Forum members can respond on this, but I would not expect to see more than 50 milliamps which is probably excessive and will drain your battery in short order (e.g. a week, sooner if more drain). Be patient while learning electronic measurements . They are not difficult. 50 milliamps can be written .050 Amps. Moving the decimal point to 050. allows you to call it :milli." The next smaller name for very little current is "micro," (one millionth of an amp), but you will not need to worry about that measurement as the milli range is usually sufficient. The significance of milliamps flowing with everthing off is that it shouldn't with the ignition turned off , so something is wrong like a bad switch that won't turn off, a wire with voltage on it that is touching ground (chafed) or perhaps a diode in the charging system that is not blocking current like it should ( help here dealers and others)'
You can spend $hundreds on a multimeter, but there should be one out there for $25-$35 that will have hard (click) settings for small current readings and have a little instruction book to show how to set up the test leads. I have seen good reviews on some of the H Frt units, but do not own one. Some of these units even have temperature probes which can be handy with our AC barbecue engines.
You can spend $hundreds on a multimeter, but there should be one out there for $25-$35 that will have hard (click) settings for small current readings and have a little instruction book to show how to set up the test leads. I have seen good reviews on some of the H Frt units, but do not own one. Some of these units even have temperature probes which can be handy with our AC barbecue engines.
Thanks motorman. I was able to borrow a really good multimeter from work today. So I did my test using the milliamps. (My multimeter did not go that low) I was getting a reading of 3.45 amps. I disconnected the dashboard display which reads total running hours, pto hours ect. When I disconnected and did the test again I got a reading of 0.02. I believe this is the problem. Going to order a new display and see how it works. Thanks so much for everyone's help. Much appreciated.
Well 20 milliamps sounds reasonable, but the 3+ amps is troublesome as (big guess here) the whole dash display would not seem to demand that much current. For instance a radiator fan draws 3 amps and a PTO 8+ amps?. That 3 amps is like headlight territory. Perhaps something vibrated loose or frayed , leaking to ground? Glad you are on track and the display doesn't cost too much. A while back I replaced the glass stovetop display in the kitchen. Even wiggling and squirming it cost $380...ouch!