Parasitic battery drain on my new BX2380

[xrocketengineer]

Sorry for the confusion. There is no switch before the relay (on the battery side). Power from the battery goes to the relay switch then to the lights. The lights have a switch on the back of them to turn on off. The dealer installed all of this. It is kubota product. I am talking to the dealer to resolve this but no luck so far. It is a 3 hour drive from where the tractor is to the dealer so this is not that big of a problem to go through that.

I simply remove the relay plug to prevent my battery from draining when not in use. If I need the lights I put back the relay switch and turn on the lights.

I was hoping someone may have the same setup as me and have some electrical knowledge of what could be wired wrong. As I said these are kubota work lights. The wiring and lights come from kubota.

I appreciate all of the responses so far.

How many wires go into the lights? It would need at least three in order for the switch on the lights to control the relay. If there is only two wires to the lights then it seem that the relay is on all the time and is just in series with the switch. That is what I can figure.
If that is the case, then the relay is probably supposed to cut off the power to the lights with the ignition off. The wire connected to terminal 86 in bird dogger's diagram must connect to the "run" position of the ignition switch. If you probe with a voltmeter the relay plug, you will find two terminals with voltage all the time and there should be only one.

 

[tt2]

My tractor is at my vacation property, and I am unfortunately not on vacation. So I do not have any pics of the wiring at this time. But reading all the responses, you guys have given me enough info to get to the next step. I agree that the relay switch appears to be energized all the time, whether the key is on or not. This is the problem. So I will start tracing back the wiring and figure out where it might be wrong. One extra wire must be energized when it shouldn't be. I can do that the next weekend I am there. Thanks.

 

[bird dogger]

My tractor is at my vacation property, and I am unfortunately not on vacation. So I do not have any pics of the wiring at this time. But reading all the responses, you guys have given me enough info to get to the next step. I agree that the relay switch appears to be energized all the time, whether the key is on or not. This is the problem. So I will start tracing back the wiring and figure out where it might be wrong. One extra wire must be energized when it shouldn't be. I can do that the next weekend I am there. Thanks.

Looking forward to what you find out on your tractor, tt2. We're going to turn you into an electrical technician, yet, by the time you get this straightened out! One pointer to help avoid confusion would be to use more proper terminology for the devices. The "relay" is just that, a relay that has a coil to operate its contacts. The "switch" is just that a switch, but you have both the main tractor ignition switch and your light switch which is either separate from your lights or integral with your light housings. It'll help avoid confusion to know exactly what is wired to whom and from where using those more accurate descriptions/terminology. Plus, it'll make you a better trouble shooter when you need to delve into the tractor's wiring diagram in the future. It might also help to have those devices drawn on a sheet of paper somewhat in the same layout as they're on your tractor and labeled as in the earlier posts if those drawings are applicable. Then when you start tracing out the actual wires you can add the wire connections in on your paper which will then become your "electrical schematic" for those work light additions and future troubleshooting, etc. It's also good to add any specific wire colors or any other information on those devices onto your new schematic. Good luck!!

If you're going to need tools to help remove stuff to aid in tracing wires, etc. you might want to pull the battery positive cable off......just to be safe.

 

[PaulL]

If you're going to need tools to help remove stuff to aid in tracing wires, etc. you might want to pull the battery positive cable off......just to be safe.

I added a sprayer switch recently to my B2601. Testing which wires were live. Accidentally cross over the prongs on my multimeter. Need a new fuse now. Annoying. Worth being careful, or having spare fuses on hand just in case - specially if your holiday house isn't near an auto electrical store.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

it's always best to remove the GROUND cable FIRST. This way if you accidentally connect your favorite 1/2" wrench to the frame it won't get WELDED there......
This is also real important when doing multibattery setups as it's easier to 'weld wrenches'.