"Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 1/25/2014 4:18 PM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Sat, 25 Jan 2014 16:03:12 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 1/25/2014 3:25 PM, KC wrote:
On 1/25/2014 11:44 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 1/25/2014 10:48 AM, KC wrote:
On 1/25/2014 10:41 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 1/25/2014 10:28 AM, True North wrote:
I bought an led side marker type unit and put alligator clips on the
two wires.
I attached them to my boat battery to put a small constant drain on
it.
Then at the first of each month u til spring, I'll attach the battery
charger to bring the volts back up.
Also bought a battery blanket for the Highlander to supplement it's
block heater.
When I hear it's going to drop to 15F or lower, I attach the extension
cord.
If I plan on going out I'll throw the outside plug switch about 45
minutes in advance.



I'd be a little concerned about running your battery down too low
between chargings. A fully charged battery won't freeze (well, to a
point). A battery that is not fully charged is more prone to freezing
in the kind of single digit or below temps we've been having here.

I think that's what screwed me up. I started and briefly ran the
tractor the day before the storm just to move it about five feet.
I didn't let it run long enough to recharge the battery from that
start.
It takes a lot of amps to turn over a diesel in cold weather.



Surprised you tried to put a charge on it...

There's no danger in trying to charge a frozen battery with the charger
on low current (2-6 amps). The danger is when jump starting and having
a hundred or more amps available.

I could tell it was frozen because it wouldn't even take a slow 2 amp
charge.

I just went outside and tried starting it for kicks. The temp is up
about 38 degrees right now. Tractor fired right up.

Cool.... so you think the cells are ok, battery saved?

I think it's due for replacement but it has no problem starting the
tractor with temps in the 30's. I run the glow plug for about 15
seconds and it fires up within two revolutions.

It's when we have a deep freeze with nights close to zero that it has
problems. It's not a huge battery to begin with and diesel engines,
even small ones, take quite a bit of current to turn over, especially
when it's that cold.

Sounds like a good place for a nice warm incandescent light bulb. We
used to hand a trouble light
with a 60 watt bulb alongside the tractor engine. Worked pretty well.



I thought about that but at zero degrees in a battery compartment open to
the elements, I don't know how much a light bulb would help. I was
thinking of making a battery box using the 1/2-inch aluminum foil covered
Styrofoam panels sold at Lowes and the Home Depot. I have a bunch of it
left over from another project. I could install a 100 watt light bulb
inside of it and it would probably do the trick.

Or, I could just buy a battery blanket. They are inexpensive and effective.

Buy a heat lamp for a bird incubator. Heat and little light.