Electrical Assistance Please

[Kirk_Allen]

LT40HDG25

While running my mill today I had it idling for about 5 minutes and it started to die.  I engaged the throttle and a reved it up and I thought it was just cold but when I went to run the hydraulics to lift the log I noticed everthing slowing down to a point where if I continued to engage any hydraulic lever the motor would die.  If throttled up it was better but still weak.

I checked the Red terminal off of the alternator and am getting about 14 volts either at idle or full throttle.  

Is there another lead to check to isolate the alternator?

I believe its a batter that simply wont hold a charge.  I know that when I run full throttle for several logs there is just enough juice to run the hyrdraulics to turn a log then it goes dead.  This tells me that the alternator is sending a charge but the batter simply cant hold it.

Any other tips before I take this batter to town to be checked would be appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

[Minnesota_boy]

Have you cleaned your battery terminals and cables?  You may also have an alternator with an intermittent connection internally.  Mine has done that.  If you have a spare alternator, try that first.

[J_T]

If all your conections are good I would say you are right the batt. I only buy batterys with handles on them as if one is down I just try a known good one  Good luck. I like lots of amps

[Tom]

Sure sounds like a battery problem to me.  Cold snaps are notorious for making battery cells, that are on the verge of going out, fail.

Your alternator light on the panel is a "tickler" for the alternator too.  If it has burned out, your alternator won't charge.

Check your battery for a dead cell before you do anything drastic.

[Kirk_Allen]

The battery in the mill came from WM and it is a sealed unit.  No way to check for a bad cell.  It was 4 years old this month.

I took it to sears and they load tested it.  A whopping 4.6 volts under a load.  It was toast.

I baught a new Optima Blue Top battery.  All is good now!

Thanks for all the input.

[Percy]

While we are talkin batteries, does any one have a favorite brand/model/whatever??. It seemed on my old LT40, about a year and a half was all the life I could get from a battery. Ive already toasted one in the LT70 at slightly over 18 months. Is this just a fact of life or is there some"wonder" battery that would last longer in these applications?? ;D

[Kirk_Allen]

Optima Batteries seem to be the best I have found in years.

I have one in my suburban and run a 9000 lbs winch with it.  Its several years old with no problems.

www.Optimabatteries.com

This is the same battery the military has been puting in the combat humvee for years.  A little spendy but they have lots of benefits over the conventional batteries.  

Check out the spec info on their web site.

[Engineer]

Optima is definetly the way to go.  I put one in my F150 a couple years ago, and it's one awesome battery.  Used to be we couldn't sit on a jobsite and listen to the radio for more than 5 min without killin the battery, now with the Optima, i can leave the radio on all day and still start the truck no problem.

[ksu_chainsaw]

Currently, we are replacing all the batteries in the vehicles over here with the optima yellow tops.  On some of our communications vehicles, we were cooking them in about 6 days!!  ;D    With the optimas in there, we have been running for over 6 months with no problems.  They will even run our systems for 30 min when the alternator is shut off, and it takes a 200 amp alternator to run the systems.

Just my 50 dinars, ($.02 american)

Charles

[MemphisLogger]

I run Yellow Tops in both trucks and the LT-30.

The stator on BS18 on the mill went bad last year and I didn't have access to a flywheel puller so I kept recharging the Sears battery it was equipped with and it would never make it more than a few hours.

I put the yellow Top from my truck in it and the mill ran for 2 days (12 hours on the tach) before it started cranking slower--now we just rotate batteries and the poor stator will have to wait 'til I need the flywheel off for something else.

Back when I was still taking my VW around the country to see concerts, I'd regularly leave my stereo (2 amps and 6 speakers), fridge, etc. on all day in the parking lot and never have a problem cranking at the end of the night.

Optimas are DEFINITELY worth the extra bucks.   ;D

[Kevin_H.]

We also get about 18 mos out of the WM battery, The biggest problem we have is getting the warranty honored. Doesnt seem to matter if it's walmart or autozone seems like you have to threaten to call a higher up to get anything done.

The last battery I took in would not hold a charge, the guy at walmart put his little tester on it and said all it needed was charged. I explained that it didnt matter how long I charged it, as long as it had one dry cell it twernt gonna work.

Might have to look into a little better battery  ;D