[RandyM]

AAArrrrgggg! :nunu:

Well Gang, my 2520 didn't want to run today. Hopped on and turned the key, one big grunt from the starter and I wasn't going anywhere. The stories are true, these Deere Strong Box batteries just don't last. Mine was only a pampered 3.5 years old. Ran to the local farm supply and I got the lawn mowed. Now we'll see how long this one lasts. Bought a cheap $50 bolt-in replacement. The Deere one was rated at 500 cold cranking amps and this one is a lowly 230 cca. Since my tractor sits inside a heated garage I made the concession. What I did like is it was a direct bolt in, no mods. :dance:

Oh, and it just died with out any warning what so ever. I had no clue it was on its way out. In fact I had just unplugged it from the trickle charger.

So, a heads up to all you new Deere owners.

 

[Kennyd]

Yup, the JD batteries seem to go quick like that!

 

[tackit]

I buy Intersate batteries for my stuff, I just bought one of their SP 40 CCA340 batteries for the Snapper last month, I paid around $45 for it but I expect it to last 3 or 4 years where other brands only a year or two.



http://www.interstatebatteries.com/...|101|1|,N~34&Title=Lawn+&+Garden+-+340+CCA340

 

[jfoi]

the old deere strong boxes were good, the 455 still has the original battery in it, its 11 years old

 

[eepete]

Sounds like a pre-emptive strike at 3 years on a Deere battery is a good idea. Randy, I'm sure you checked this but was the water over the cells? I don't use a trickle charge out of fear of boiling off water. Seems some batteries die the second any part of the plate is exposed. I've seen the "battery maintainers" that claim to not overcharge the battery, I just don't trust electronic stuff :mocking:. For my generator and deep discharge battery for emergency lighting for the house, I build a charger. The main win is it doesn't go over 13.8 V no matter what. Only loss is after 4 years, the sulfur build up means get a new battery.

On my generator, I just change out the battery every 3 years with a WallyWorld special.

Finally, let me quote my departed father's wisdom on this topic:

"There are 3 things modern man will never understand. Economics, Women, and Batteries."

Between the state of the nation, the fact that most of us here are married, and Randy's woes, I'd say the old man was hitting on all cylinders :laugh:.

Pete :morning2:

 

[tackit]

Vibration is hard on lead acid batteries, it loosens the paste on the battery's grids and then the paste falls off. I put fatigue matting in the bottom of my generator's battery box to help eliminate it.

 

[RandyM]

Randy, I'm sure you checked this but was the water over the cells? Pete :morning2:

:thumbup1gif: Constant vilgilance.

All I know Pete is that all my car batteries get 7 to 11 years out of them. I attribute that to keeping them fully charged. I use thee "Battery Tender".

http://batterytender.com/?gclid=CPzFjpnvrKoCFYgUKgodJiwWXw

Oh, I double checke and the cold cranking amps on the new one is 340 and not the 230 I previously stated, a little better.

 

[Uncle Wayne]

Well Randy, I'm right the opposite, I never trickle charge or do any type of maintenance on my batteries except keep the corrosion off the post. I have a 1996 Ford F150 that I replaced the original battery in just this past Friday, believe it or not. I think battery life is directly connected to number of starts. The Ford F150 rarely gets used more than once a week.

 

[RandyM]

Well Randy, I'm right the opposite, I never trickle charge or do any type of maintenance on my batteries except keep the corrosion off the post. I have a 1996 Ford F150 that I replaced the original battery in just this past Friday, believe it or not. I think battery life is directly connected to number of starts. The Ford F150 rarely gets used more than once a week.

Believe it or not Wayne, you in a way are trickle charging that battery on your weekly use. My equipment and cars can sit for many weeks or months with out use. And with todays cars there is a definite battery draw just sitting. It is not good to drain a battery down. Only deep cycle marines batteries are really made for this. But, we all do what works best for us. Oh, I too use terminal maintenance, I like the CRC stuff.

http://www.crcindustries.com/auto/content/products_ss.aspx?ID=128

 

[gallianp]

I have never owned a car for eleven years so I can not support that. I do have a bandsaw mill - have to replace the battery every year...

 

[eepete]

Randy, I suspected you were on top of it. Agreed on keep the battery top clean and spray stuff on the terminals. My Deere dealer has some stuff I use, it's the same cost as the auto stores but it give me an excuse to stop by.

Looks like I could get a job at the battery tender place, they have an opening for embedded systems geek. I've toyed with making one. I'd like on that runs on 24 Volts so I didn't have to have 120 going around everywhere. Would use a wall wart to run it. I've read about what the various problems claim to be, not much consensus out there. I heard somewhere that no one really understands batteries...

tackit, I get the pad on the bottom. Do you have a pad on the hold down mechanism too? Seems like without it, you'd still be transmitting vibration to the battery. But your idea makes sense. If you look at hard disk drives and what they do to shock mount them, it doesn't take much to take a 10G force and knock it down to 2-3Gs.

Pete

 

[tackit]

Pete the battery is held down with the short cables and the top of the battery box, it more or less floats inside the box... other than up and down movement it can't move around much ... like most portable generators it sits much of the time in the corner, so bumps and sudden shocks are not a problem. I got tired of the motorcycle battery it came with going dead in the middle of the winter,, now with a car size battery I can start it no matter the temp outside, an important improvement. I bought the Battery box fom NAPA.

The picture shows the box mounted to the generator... The box was a bit to tall, it caused me to have to tip the battery to far on its side to get it into the battery box.. The battery's posts got very close to the frame, thats the reason for the warning.... so I decided while I had the generator up on the table for maintenance I would cut off an inch or so off the front of the box to gain more clearence for when the day comes the battery needs to be replaced..

 

[eepete]

Thanks for the pix and explination :good2:

Pete

 

[tackit]

Thanks for the pix and explination :good2:

Pete

Your very welcome Pete.