Charging 856

[IH Guy]

Recently purchased an international 856 diesel. The batteries are less than 2 years old and not holding a good charge. It has 2 6 volt batteries
connected in series to produce 12 volts at the starter. Owner told to charge the batteries on the left battery at 12 volts. Is this right? I thought it might
be 6 volts . Thought I better ask. Batteries purchased at Thiesens. If I have to replace can you recommend a good battery that will last?
Thanks for your help.
Gregg

 

[rustred]

hook the one pos. charger cable on pos. cable at starter. then connect the ground to the starter or one of the transmission bolts. you are now charging both 6 volt batterys with 12 volts. those long skinny 2 volt battery's dont seam to last and they are not very high amp battery.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

IF (big IF) it is cabled properly, the + on the left battery goes to the starter. Verify, then connect the + from the battery charger there, and the - to the chassis of the tractor, and put the charger on a 12V setting.

The starter is buried behind the batteries on this tractor so you have to pull a battery out to get the charger clip in there. May as well just connect the + to the battery direct.

You can also charge each battery separate with 6V by connecting + to +, and - to -.

 

[John T]

If two 6 volters are wired in series for 12 volts, its okay to charge the 12 volt series combination with a 12 volt charger. Sure you could charge each 6 volt with a 6 volt charger, but I prefer charging BOTH at the same time in series pumping the same charging amps through both at the same time.

John T

 

[wore out]

When you have it running check to be sure the charging system is working correctly.

It should be putting out 13.75 to 14.5 Volts at the battery terminal connected to the starter.

If it is losing charge when sitting unused installing a battery disconnect (at least 'til you can troubleshoot for any parasitic drains that are "killing" the battery) is a GREAT idea.

I wasn't always a believer in them, but have learned it's pretty darned nonce to walk up to a machine that has sat for a while, flip on the battery disconnect and START it vs. messing around setting up a charger or rounding up booster cables.

 

[caterpillar guy]

After charging if they still don't hold a charge and the charging system is working then get a regular group 31 stud top battery and don't look back. Those 3EH batteries are poor excuse of a battery. Don't last and are in general a poor setup. The 31 will crank it even in cold weather and last for several years.

 

[the tractor vet]

Yep wo 6 volts hook for 12 and when charging charge the left pos post and ground where ever . If she is not holding a charge then start looking for a draw . Remove the right batter ground and place a test light in the cable and hook the test light ground up to the battery , if it lights up then ya got a draw and start unplugging thing till the light goes out . Yep it is true that some 3 E H batterys are junk and don't last and some are good and we get 5-7 years out of them . Yep you can butcher up a battery box and hang anything off the side . Ya want real cranking power and your going to butcher something then might as well hang a D 8 battery . we run the stock batterys on the 806 and the 1066 and if it gets that cold where they do not want to start then i don't want to come out of the house.