Went to hop on the Murray and cut the yard yesterday and the engine was very slow turning over, but after about a minute with multiple tries, it fired up. Cut grass for about 30 mins, shut engine off and it restarted as normal.
Decided to check out the battery so removed it to put on charge and clean terminals, check water. The POS cable was almost welded to the post. I had a very hard time getting it disconnected and actually damaged the ring connecter on the cable somewhat. Water was fine in cells. It showed 9.4v. Hooked to the NOCO 5A charger but even after 3 hrs it does not appear to be taking a charge. Date code on battery case is "11/18." (N)Everstart 275cca from Walmart.
1) Should I just replace it or maybe try the repair mode on the smart charger?
2) What are my options for repairing the damaged cable end?
Just replace the battery. Battery 3.5 years old so most likely dying. Smart chargers repair modes are a farce and don't do anything to repair a battery. And you can either replace the cable, or most auto parts stores and some lawnmower shopts probably have the ring end to clamp on the cable after cutting off the old ring.
#3
troy-built
Your battery is junk at 9.4v replace it. Buy a new terminal end and crimp it on. You will be good to go for a few years.
I decided to get a new cable for the battery as I did not want to have problems with one I cobbled a new end on. The parts diagram was really no help in identifying the part number so I took a guess and ordered a cable. After waiting for it to show(backordered from mfr) it turned out to be the short ground cable, not the POS cable that runs all the way to the solenoid, which I'm guessing lives under the dash panel near the key switch?
I've got a longer cable coming tomorrow but won't be surprised if its too short also.
I did find a 6ga 49 inch cable at WalMart yesterday that I bought. Is there any downside to using a 6ga in place of an OE 8ga? This one is 49 inches which should be plenty long?
#5
Scrubcadet10
4 feet should be plenty long, the bigger the gauge the better if you ask me,
Mower batteries take a pounding both mechanically & electrically
So buy a good quality SEALED battery and that will last a lot longer
Heavier gauge battery cable ( smaller number ) will be better than the original # 6 cable fitted provide you can get an end that fits both the cable & battery terminal.
Buy a can of liquid electrical tape and seal the end of the cable to prevent moisture wicking in under the insulation and when the battery is connected paint over the batery terminals every where that 2 different metals touch.
I use long coach bolts so I can paint over the bolt & terminal while leaving something bare to attach jumper leads or test leads to without disturbing to painted terminal .
Finished up the repair finally a couple days ago. The OE wire to the solenoid from battery was a 8ga wire about 42 inches long or so. It snaked through one very tight spot where Murray used one of those flexible cable covers to prevent chafing. There is a small gauge yellow switch wire that also travels along the same route with the battery cable. I was still able to coax the thicker 6ga wire I bought through the same route and use the cable cover in the tight spot. The cable runs along the left frame rail to front and is zip tied to frame in a couple spots. The new cable was a little too long but I looped the cable at the battery and at the solenoid and that took care of the extra length. The cable rings on the 6ga were a little bigger that the 8ga rings but seemed to hook up fine. I have a new sealed Made in USA Duracell(East Penn Mfg) battery I got from Sam's Club. The solenoid is accessible through the panel on the bottom of steering wheel/dashboard. Looks like I need to start opening that panel and cleaning it out good when I do periodic thorough cleaning on the machine.
Its still a mystery as to why the cable seemed welded to the POS battery post. Everyone tells me corrosion but I did not see any while detaching it?
Anyway, just wanted to post up the final outcome hoping it might help other shade tree mechanics like me. Thanks for the advice I received on here.
#8
sgkent
corrosion. Where you have corrosion and a bad connection you have resistance. Resistance and amperage across it creates heat. Get the surface hot enough, or have it arcing and it will weld the connection together, or not work, or start a fire if it gets hot enough.
Because the ends of the battery cables are not sealed to the atmosphere , over time as the insulation goes hard it shrinks back and no longer seals against the wire.
Water wicks in then corrosion starts inside the insulation whee you can not see it .
I have cut old cables apart to find that inside there is only a couple of strands still in one piece .
This causes an increase in the current draw
Current draw = heat
Heat can easily weld battery terminals to the battery posts .
I've seen old cables before with a lot of corrosion amongst the strands. This tractor is 23 yrs old so wouldn't be surprised if its cable was corroded.
When attaching a wire to anything such as a crimp connector or a ring terminal to a battery terminal there is a term called "gas tight connection". This means the connection between the wire and what it is connected to is compressed enough that oxygen molecules can't penetrate the connection. If oxygen can penetrate the connection you will get oxidation. Most people don't understand how to or have the tools to properly crimp a terminal onto a wire. Battery terminals that are not clean and gas tight can get oxidation, a bad connection and that causes heat that can melt the terminal.
