Craftsman Rider Battery ( RANT )

[Joed756]

I am not familiar with that brand
However I did make batteries for several year in my immediate post grad years
When I starter battery grid plates were 2mm thick and you could hang your washing on them
When I left they were 0,5mm thick & broke under their own weight if not handled carefully .
When this became a problem for things like off-road vehicles, pleasure craft & motorcycles their grids went up to 0.75mm to 1mm and the alloy was changed because of repeated failures,
However the car batteries remained at 0,5mm because car suspension gave them an easy life.
Mower batteries get a rough life as mowers have no suspension & a crude electrical system.
So unless that is a mower battery , it could just be a case of wrong battery for the job.
If your yard is quite rough and you mow hard then you may need to go to a "motorsport" battery .
These have thicker plates, stronger glue in the paste and fiberglass spacers between plates for added support .
The absolute best battery for a mower is the spiral cell battery Toro used for a while that is still available , but take your big wallet with you.
Check the battery terminals for AC when the engine is running.
Electrically this kills batteries faster than a direct short .
Cranking continiously for over a minute or so can also cause the grid plates to warp on cheaper batteries .

A thick foam pad under the battery would cushion it against bumps and bruises.

 

[jearlc]

OK so I have a 2002 Craftsman LTZ1000 tractor that I purchased new and has been a good unit for me so I am pleased with it. So heres my rant, I have an auto repair (and owner) backround in 2016 the battery gave up the ghost so I went to Auto Zone and purchased their Gold Duralast U1-3 battery, 6 years into that battery it dies and after checking it has a bad cell thought that seems odd but last Oct. needed another battery so went back to them for another Gold Duralast U1-3 battery put it in and things were fine till a week ago. Went to use the tractor and the battery was dead thought that maybe I left the key on or something so charged it and got the lawn done the tractor sat for about a week or so went to use it and its dead again. Charged again and did a 12 volt test light draw test nothing, did an amp parisetic draw test and nothing let it sit for 2 days and its dead again. I removed the battery and it is a sealed battery but you can get the cover off so I checked and it had a dead cell.
Needless to say I was not happy because these batterys no matter where you get them only have a 90 day replacement warrenty whats with that? I did not go back to Auto Zone but got another battery at Walmart I know that they may not be the best but I tried Auto Zones best and that dumped on me also.
I guess my rant is the original battery lasted 14 years, second battery 6 years and now 8 months. I don't misuse my tractor and use it year around for summer grass and in winter I have a blower for it and change oil with the seasons. I guess if I didn't take care of the battery or the tractor I would understand. Thanks for listening!

Walmart Batters have a 1 year return warranty.

 

[mcspeed]

My Kubota ZT mower killed two dura last batteries in two years. I had parasitic drain so put a disconnect switch on it. Went with a walmart battery with a current date code and it is still working after 3 years. Also run a trickle charger on it during the off season.

 

[Forest#2]

you say:
Just looked up that shunt tool guess I won't be getting one of those !!!!!

I do not use or even like shunt tools.

A more user friendly Fast way to check DC AMPS is to use a clamp on DC ammeter. I have couple different brands that goes to 400 amps DC and is Auto scale.

I can read from very low amps for parasitic drain to 400 amps to test a starter amps load.
If you piddle around doing your own electrical troubleshooting of Auto, Lawn tractors, etc. the DC clamp is a no brainer.
Not many DMM's will read high DC AMPS so shop carefully.

AND testing charging amps is a more reliable test of a charging system rather than checking volts.

 

[I-Mow]

Ive used John Deere Stron Box batteries for years. JD claims they are the best on the market being built to handle vibratoration and a general rough life. Hype? I don't know. I receiently had a battery fail in a machine I purchased used several years ago. It was 10 years old. about double what ive beed getting on my Stron Box batteries. The failed one was made by Exide and was a U1-3. I found a U1-3 at Autozone and saves a few $. I dont know the manafacture it wasnt marked and the soore emplouees didn't know either. I'll see if its any better.

 

[TobyU]

Simple fact is they don't make batteries the way they used to. They are all pretty much junk. Anything over 2 to 3 years is on borrowed time.
In fact, if you Google it they will tell you that the average lifespan of an automotive car battery is just less than 4 years. That's pathetic. I have had car batteries last 15 years many times but the new one seem to be junk.

Stop buying those expensive duralast batteries. Just buy whatever cranking amp you need it has a start around 155 and go all the way up to 3:45 or so. You can always put a large one in if you get a good price on it but don't put a 155 where a mower had a 245 or something like that as you will lose cranking power and capacity.
I think interstate makes probably the best ones still on the market but it's not worth it. Just buy whatever is on sale for under $29.99..
You will occasionally find that for 1999 but they're almost always the low cranking amp 155 ones. You can almost always get a higher cranium for between 29.99and 36.99.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Simple fact is they don't make batteries the way they used to. They are all pretty much junk. Anything over 2 to 3 years is on borrowed time.
In fact, if you Google it they will tell you that the average lifespan of an automotive car battery is just less than 4 years. That's pathetic. I have had car batteries last 15 years many times but the new one seem to be junk.

Stop buying those expensive duralast batteries. Just buy whatever cranking amp you need it has a start around 155 and go all the way up to 3:45 or so. You can always put a large one in if you get a good price on it but don't put a 155 where a mower had a 245 or something like that as you will lose cranking power and capacity.
I think interstate makes probably the best ones still on the market but it's not worth it. Just buy whatever is on sale for under $29.99..
You will occasionally find that for 1999 but they're almost always the low cranking amp 155 ones. You can almost always get a higher cranium for between 29.99and 36.99.

For the reasons stated back in reply # 5
The car makers only want to pay for a battery that will just outlast the warranty period.
I know this because we made special batteries for all of the car makers to fit in their vehicles that had extended warranties & government vehicles that are on a 6 year lease so they got batteries that would last 6 years most of the time .
All of the other mugs got a 3 year battery

 

[OldDiyer]

Just getting back to my original testing, I did have time to finish up my testing as many recommended and found that my unit is putting out 6.6 amps after it was running for a while so according to the specs in the manual that Rivets put me on to, I should be good to go. Thanks again to all the help from everyone.
Rivets, Thanks again for the manual link I did save it so have it for future use.
Bert, Thanks for pushing the amp checking as well as volts.

 

[TobyU]

For the reasons stated back in reply # 5
The car makers only want to pay for a battery that will just outlast the warranty period.
I know this because we made special batteries for all of the car makers to fit in their vehicles that had extended warranties & government vehicles that are on a 6 year lease so they got batteries that would last 6 years most of the time .
All of the other mugs got a 3 year battery

Yes, I have had many people tell me over the past 10 years or so that the battery manufacturers basically make a battery to whatever price point you want. You want a $50 battery here's a $50 battery quality. You want a $85 battery here's a higher quality. You want $125 battery here's the quality that goes with that.

This is nothing new either. I used to laugh all the time at the AC Delco freedom batteries with little green eye on them they had a 36-month warranty all throughout the 80s and early 90s.
It was almost like clockwork that when it hit 36 months old your battery would would fail in the next 2 months.
Of course they all had a nice bright green indicator saying they were fine!
Lol

 

[TobyU]

Yes, I have had many people tell me over the past 10 years or so that the battery manufacturers basically make a battery to whatever price point you want. You want a $50 battery here's a $50 battery quality. You want a $85 battery here's a higher quality. You want $125 battery here's the quality that goes with that.

This is nothing new either. I used to laugh all the time at the AC Delco freedom batteries with little green eye on them they had a 36-month warranty all throughout the 80s and early 90s.
It was almost like clockwork that when it hit 36 months old your battery would would fail in the next 2 months.
Of course they all had a nice bright green indicator saying they were fine!
Lol

I forgot to mention that I think most things are that way today. There's two things involved with their planning. They want it to last at least through the warranty. And they don't want to be too much better or too much worse than the competition.

Either way would be a problem. If it's too much worse eventually people would learn to buy the competing brand because they lasted longer but if it's too much better they are shooting themselves in the foot for selling more items.

Everything has just been watered down in quality to a subpar, mediocre level that I have little faith in ever improving.