Stuggling to find what is draining my battery

[justin.lefferts212]

I cannot seem to find what is killing my battery. Tractor has new alternator, coil, distibutor cap, plugs and wires, all internals under distributor cap, battery was new in February of this year, and also a new starter solenoid. I have cleaned terminals, etc. When I disconnect negative battery terminal I am getting at a minimum 4 volts between disconnected ground wire and negative terminal. (Tractor is an 8n with side mount distributor thats been converted to 12v) Please help! Lol. And thank you for any and all help in advance!

 

[Jim.ME]

Is it a one wire alternator? Unhook the battery wire from the alternator and see what you get.

You need to unhook things one at a time to see what is making the discharge draw. You check at the ground wire tells you there is a draw, not what is causing it. Keep your meter in the ground side. Unhook the alternator and see if the draw goes away. If not that try unhooking something else. Process of elimination.

 

[Tall T]

I had a similar problem and this is how Eman85 and others helped me solve it"

Eman said:
"Quick hack, put a test light between the neg battery terminal and the negative battery cable and see if the light comes on.
It must be an incandescent type test light. If the light comes on dim or bright there is current flow which means there is a draw.

Disconnect things to see when the light goes out, start with the alternator. Smart money says the 12v conversion is the first place to look. Are your lights wired to come on with the key off?, if so remove power from the switch to see if that's the source."
___________________________

In my case I started by disconnecting the the big red power wire at the alternator and the test light went out.
My conversion was always fine, it was time for a new alternator so I got one.

 

[Eman85]

Current draw is measured in amps. Do the quick check with the test light or if you want to know actual draw us an amperage meter inline between the neg cable and negative battery post just like you would use the test light. There isn't much that could draw power on an N. What alternator and how is it wired?

 

[Jim.ME]

Current draw is measured in amps. Do the quick check with the test light or if you want to know actual draw us an amperage meter inline between the neg cable and negative battery post just like you would use the test light. There isn't much that could draw power on an N. What alternator and how is it wired?

In his first post of the thread he posted he had a meter between the cable and the negative terminal. He needs to start unhooking things, like the alternator battery wire, now. He said it shows 4 volts. Volts or amps that says to me he has a draw. 4 volts would dimly light a test light bulb.

He has not said what alternator he has.

 

[Richard G.]

I cannot seem to find what is killing my battery. Tractor has new alternator, coil, distibutor cap, plugs and wires, all internals under distributor cap, battery was new in February of this year, and also a new starter solenoid. I have cleaned terminals, etc. When I disconnect negative battery terminal I am getting at a minimum 4 volts between disconnected ground wire and negative terminal. (Tractor is an 8n with side mount distributor thats been converted to 12v) Please help! Lol. And thank you for any and all help in advance!

That is why I have a master cutoff switch on my old tractors that have an alternator.
Cheap, easy to install.

 

[Jim.ME]

I cannot seem to find what is killing my battery. Tractor has new alternator, coil, distibutor cap, plugs and wires, all internals under distributor cap, battery was new in February of this year, and also a new starter solenoid. I have cleaned terminals, etc. When I disconnect negative battery terminal I am getting at a minimum 4 volts between disconnected ground wire and negative terminal. (Tractor is an 8n with side mount distributor thats been converted to 12v) Please help! Lol. And thank you for any and all help in advance!

Have you done anything on this since you posted?

 

[markdtn]

That is why I have a master cutoff switch on my old tractors that have an alternator.
Cheap, easy to install.

Yep. I disconnect the battery if it will sit for more than a day.

OP-alternator as suggested is a very likely source. Unless maybe the key/switch is not disconnecting the coil? The electrical system is pretty simple on these. Need to do some systematic diagnostics.

 

[Ray,IN]

Always suspect the last thing you touched since it worked right.

 

[Caryc]

Quit messing around disconnecting your battery. Just put one of these switches on it.

 

[justin.lefferts212]

Yep. I disconnect the battery if it will sit for more than a day.

OP-alternator as suggested is a very likely source. Unless maybe the key/switch is not disconnecting the coil? The electrical system is pretty simple on these. Need to do some

Sorry for the delayed response I finally got a chance to get back on it today! So I replaced alternator and still having same issue. Other one wasnt charging either so had to happen either way. But when I unplug wire going from alternator to terminal block my test light goes out. (Test light from ground cable to ground terminal) any advice?

 

[Jim.ME]

You never answered my question as to if this is a one-wire or three-wire alternator. Is it a Delco type? It is not uncommon for one wire alternators to have that parasitic draw when setting. A disconnect switch may be your easiest fix.

 

[used red MN]

Sorry for the delayed response I finally got a chance to get back on it today! So I replaced alternator and still having same issue. Other one wasnt charging either so had to happen either way. But when I unplug wire going from alternator to terminal block my test light goes out. (Test light from ground cable to ground terminal) any advice

All this depends on the answer of what alternator you have. When you say unplug, that gives me some question of your setup. If it unplugs because it has other excite and sense terminals that makes sense. If it is the main wire that carries the charge current from alternator to the tractors electric system then “a plug” is not the type of connection I would prefer. For that a stud terminal with a nut tightening down on a wire eyelet is a much more reliable connection to carry the higher amperage.

 

[justin.lefferts212]

All this depends on the answer of what alternator you have. When you say unplug, that gives me some question of your setup. If it unplugs because it has other excite and sense terminals that makes sense. If it is the main wire that carries the charge current from alternator to the tractors electric system then “a plug” is not the type of connection I would prefer. For that a stud terminal with a nut tightening down on a wire eyelet is a much more reliable connection to carry the higher amperage.

I have finally figured it out thank goodness. Whoever had the tractor before me did in fact not hook everything up correctly. I have a 3 wire alternator and turns out the wires that were connected to the terminals on top of the alternator needed to be switched. No more draw at all. But now I cannot cut the tractor off with the key switch. I am assuming I need a diode to keep the current from back flowing now?

 

[Duner Wi]

I have finally figured it out thank goodness. Whoever had the tractor before me did in fact not hook everything up correctly. I have a 3 wire alternator and turns out the wires that were connected to the terminals on top of the alternator needed to be switched. No more draw at all. But now I cannot cut the tractor off with the key switch. I am assuming I need a diode to keep the current from back flowing now?

Diode will work nicely or a 3 position switch. Excite wire goes to accessory terminal.

 

[used red MN]

I am assuming I need a diode to keep the current from back flowing now?

Or a dash lamp like a 194 bulb wired in a series with the ignition feed and the #1 terminal “excite” circuit will also work. When you shut off the key the lamp lights up momentarily as the engine stops but it doesn’t carry enough resistance to power the coil so the engine can’t continue to run.