My horrible battery luck

[nomochevys]

Last year I had to buy a new battery for my riding mower. The old one was about 4-5 years old give or take. No biggie. I go to Lowes and get a new one. It lasted about 2 weeks and it went bad. So, I took it back and they gave me a new one. Its about 12 months old now and out of warranty of course. I keep it on a tender all of the time.

I mowed yesterday and shut the mower off to get a glass of tea before I got the lawn sweeper out and it would not restart. Just click click click. Put a charger on it and got it started and finished up. No warning given.

Is this what we can expect these days?

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I have had no issues with the Interstate batteries that I have in my lawn and garden equipment.

 

[Lubener]

With batteries, you get what you pay for. Duting the winter, I remove batteries and charge them monthly. I am able to get around three years for a Walmart battery. You might try cleaning all connections in the starting system.Freshness also matters. I try to buy the ones in the back of the display.

 

[FFeng7]

Also might consider checking the mower ' s charging system too.

 

[Mud]

^^this^^
You never said what mower this was but it probably has a solid-state regulator for battery charging while it's running. They can fail and lead to the issues you have. Put a voltmeter on the battery and see what voltage is at the terminals when running, should be around 13.5-14.5 volts.
I had this issue and solved it with a new regulator. I've always kept a tender on the battery as well. With proper charging system, it can sit for months on the tender and start right up, but if it's not charging when running, it can soon deplete the battery.
I'm assuming that the starter is ok.
Mowers with electric PTOs' sometimes do strange things when the PTO is engaged due to low running voltage - the PTO draws a fair amount of amperage when energized.

 

[Donald]

I agree, check the charging system. And have the battery checked.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: FFeng7
Also might consider checking the mower ' s charging system too.


+1. Recycled lead in Chinese junk parts may not last that well, but I'd say something is off. Easy enough to start investigating with a multimeter.

 

[Eddie]

Always buy batteries from a place that moves many batteries. If batteries are old and remain on the shelve to discharge, you can never get the capacity back up to like new. Ed

 

[mrsilv04]

That sounds like the experience that I had with my pickup, back when NAPA was selling Exide batteries...

Once NAPA started sourcing from Deka, the problem mysteriously went away.

Try a battery from somewhere else, stop getting them at Lowes. Who knows how many months (years?) that they're on the shelf before you're buying them. Probably not a high volume seller.

 

[stockrex]

I read an article on how to keep batteries good.

The steps are very simple:
1. Disconnect battery when not in use,
2. Charge with a high amp charger monthly
3. Even when in use, charge few times a month with a high amp charger.

google is your friend as to why, to reconfirm the above.

I don't think the above applies for AGM batts.

 

[Eddie]

I disagree on the high amp charger. The charger should be a low amp charger.

 

[Errtt]

^^ Yes high amp charger are for large battery and small batteries use low amp chargers. I use small charger/maintainer for the small batteries. Don't want to heat & boil a little battery out.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: Eddie
I disagree on the high amp charger. The charger should be a low amp charger.


This. A trickle charger works best, especially on lawn and garden batteries. You also don't want to constantly keep the battery on a charger either. I trickle charge mine about once a season, but my tractor also gets used year round.

I have an Interstate battery in the John Deere that is going on 7 years old.

 

[JTK]

Yep, I keep a $5.99 HFT trickle charger on my OPE batteries over most of the winter. They're like $12 when not on sale.

The other thing that kills OPE batteries is if they're not secured well in their holders. Real hard jolting will kill them.

For as expensive as they are, they sure cannot tolerate any abuse.

 

[RF Overlord]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I have had no issues with the Interstate batteries that I have in my lawn and garden equipment.
Me neither. I bought Interstate because the generator manufacturer recommended it.

 

[SHOZ]

I bought an Odyssey for my John Deere 5 years ago. It doesn't even need a boost in the spring.