I have a BX2380 I bought right before lock down fever hit. Every 5-6 days the battery would drain if I didn't run the tractor (good battery). I figured out over the last couple of days how to test for parasitic draw and low and below I have a 300 mA draw coming from the work light circuit. How hard is it to find a short in the line......or is this a no brainer send the Tractor back and let them deal with it? My only issue is I don't have a trailer and the dealer is at least 1 hour 20 min drive. Any =body deal with this kind of thing. Temp fix is to pull the fuse....but I want to mount work lights in the very near future.
Parasitic Draw
- Thread starter PNWBXer
- Start date
Has this been an issue from the day you bought it? Looking at the wiring diagram it shows to have a work light relay, pull that and see if draw goes away. Could be they got the power feeds swapped during assembly and relay always energized. Could be the relay itself too.
i7win7
Well-known member
Equipment
BX2370, B2650 grapple, tree puller, trailer mover, 3 point hoist, mower, tiller
Was any electrical items added by dealer? a short in the line - I expect that to draw more than 1/3 amp, expect blown fuse. 1/3 amp could be the coil winding on a relay. anti-theft item (gps tracker) or anything dealer forgot to remove?
GreensvilleJay
Well-known member
Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
This sounds 'familiar'...... same problem...dead battery, huge drain, somehow related to 'work light' wiring..
300ms is a normal amount of current for a relay to draw when energised, so it does sound like it's 'on' 24/7.
First order of business..get a good,readable copy of the wiring diagram. Just folow the wires to see how a work light gets it's power.
If you can't ,please post just the wiring diagram ( or a link to it), then I'll be able to troubleshoot it for you.
Jay
300ms is a normal amount of current for a relay to draw when energised, so it does sound like it's 'on' 24/7.
First order of business..get a good,readable copy of the wiring diagram. Just folow the wires to see how a work light gets it's power.
If you can't ,please post just the wiring diagram ( or a link to it), then I'll be able to troubleshoot it for you.
Jay
xrocketengineer
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
BX1880, FEL, Grapple, 36 in. Forks, 48in. MMM, Quick Spade, Ripper
Yep, here but he never came back:
https://www.orangetractortalks.com/...ery-drain-on-my-new-bx2380.48615/#post-427153
I'm back.......family time is the best time! lol
When should the work lights turn on? They must be wired wrong if they are drawing on an off Tractor right? I pulled that fuse and the draw went away...meaning that was the culprit right?
When I first got the Tractor I was putting several hours a week on it so the first time it sat for over a week the battery was dead. So yes its been a problem since new.
Not sure how this will turn out but here a screenshot from wiring diagram
The load side of the relay is a constant power feed, control side is ignition switch fed from the dc outlet circuit. If those wires are swapped at the relay it would cause it to be energized all the time
how to test for voltage drain
disconnect a batt cable from it's terminal. Put a digital volt meter (DVM) inline, one probe on the terminal, other probe on the cable u just took off.
a normal drain is 500mA or less. If you are above that you have something pulling. How do ya find it?
Start taking fuses out of the fuse box until the draw drops off significantly. Certain electrical items are gonna pull a few milliamps, normal. But if you are seeing 1000mA draw and you pull the fuse for the opc and current drops from 1000mA to 250mA (for example), you know that the opc circuit is where the problem lies. At that point grab your wiring diagram and research where the opc fuse is, and then trace out what components are on that circuit. Write them down. Now, go back to your tractor (or whatever) and locate those components you wrote down. With the fuse back in the box so you now have a drain again, disconnect one of those components that you have written down. If current draw drops off, that component is your drain. If not, reconnect and move onto the next component.
300mA ain't gonna pull your battery down in 5 days, in my opinion but if you think it might be, disconnect your work light and see if your drain goes away (if you ain't already done it). Also, if the worklight has a little switch that has a light in it, I can't tell you how many of those stupid switches Ive had to replace...they fail and the little bitty led will kill the battery over a length of time. I don't like them and I generally remove the ground from the back of the switch, at a minimum, and/or replace the switch with a standard non-backlit switch of some sorts. It is very hard to find decent electrical switches anymore, 99% of them are cheap GARBAGE with high failure rates. OEM if you can find one to fit where it needs to and don't over power it. IF the switch is labeled 5A, don't try to put 50A through it. U get the idea
oh by the way wen you get your wiring diagram make darn sure you get the correct one. Some of the crap online is for overseas tractors or canadian tractors or whatever. They are not reliable the only reliable way to get the correct one is to order it and they are not cheap.
disconnect a batt cable from it's terminal. Put a digital volt meter (DVM) inline, one probe on the terminal, other probe on the cable u just took off.
a normal drain is 500mA or less. If you are above that you have something pulling. How do ya find it?
Start taking fuses out of the fuse box until the draw drops off significantly. Certain electrical items are gonna pull a few milliamps, normal. But if you are seeing 1000mA draw and you pull the fuse for the opc and current drops from 1000mA to 250mA (for example), you know that the opc circuit is where the problem lies. At that point grab your wiring diagram and research where the opc fuse is, and then trace out what components are on that circuit. Write them down. Now, go back to your tractor (or whatever) and locate those components you wrote down. With the fuse back in the box so you now have a drain again, disconnect one of those components that you have written down. If current draw drops off, that component is your drain. If not, reconnect and move onto the next component.
300mA ain't gonna pull your battery down in 5 days, in my opinion but if you think it might be, disconnect your work light and see if your drain goes away (if you ain't already done it). Also, if the worklight has a little switch that has a light in it, I can't tell you how many of those stupid switches Ive had to replace...they fail and the little bitty led will kill the battery over a length of time. I don't like them and I generally remove the ground from the back of the switch, at a minimum, and/or replace the switch with a standard non-backlit switch of some sorts. It is very hard to find decent electrical switches anymore, 99% of them are cheap GARBAGE with high failure rates. OEM if you can find one to fit where it needs to and don't over power it. IF the switch is labeled 5A, don't try to put 50A through it. U get the idea
oh by the way wen you get your wiring diagram make darn sure you get the correct one. Some of the crap online is for overseas tractors or canadian tractors or whatever. They are not reliable the only reliable way to get the correct one is to order it and they are not cheap.
How does the relay work (not an electrical guy)? Suppose to only allowed a running tractor to power the lights?
If wired properly (according to the diagram) the relay would only be energized in the run/glow/start position of ignition switch. Basically it shouldn’t be energized when off.
je1279
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
LX2610 w/ 60" MMM, LP 72" Snow Plow, EA Wicked 55" Grapple, and Woods 60" BB
Can you turn on your work lights when the tractor is off? If so, this indictates that the relay may be wired incorrectly as others have mentioned.
I don't have work lights yet...I should have made that more clear at the beginning of my post. But all BX's are pre-wired for them right? I do want them in the future....but I think it has to be wired wrong since pulling the circuit breaker breaks the draw. I interpret that to mean the relay (which I need to find) is wired wrong providing power with the tractor off and key off. I've pulled the fuse for now trying to figure out if I can rewire the relay....I mean I assume thats my next step. Which sounds a lot better than trying to track down a short.
Orange1forme
Active member
Equipment
B2650 HSDC, filled tires, wheel spacers, B2728B , LA534A FEL, 3rd valve kit
Even if you don't have the lights there should be a factory plug you can check for voltage there.
it’s on the work light circuit for sure given the 300 mA went away when I pulled the circuit breaker.
je1279
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
LX2610 w/ 60" MMM, LP 72" Snow Plow, EA Wicked 55" Grapple, and Woods 60" BB
I'm not familiar with the BX2380 but on my LX2610, the work light circuit terminates in a pair of bullet connectors under the right rear fender. If yours is similar, replace the fuse and use a multimeter set to DC voltage between the connectors of the red/blue wire and the black wire when the tractor is off. If you see something around 12-14 volts, the relay wiring is suspect.
- red/black-always-hot
- red/blue-hot-with-ignition-switch
- black-ground
***Disregard as my logic was flawed with this. As Fordtech86 mentions below, only the relay would remain powered with the tractor off if the constant power and switched power were swapped at the relay.***
- red/black-always-hot
- red/blue-hot-with-ignition-switch
- black-ground
***Disregard as my logic was flawed with this. As Fordtech86 mentions below, only the relay would remain powered with the tractor off if the constant power and switched power were swapped at the relay.***
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The op may not want to take back for warranty work, but I’d consider having battery replaced under warranty. Depleting a lead acid battery below a certain state of charge reduces capacity. While it may still charge, the capacity will be reduced along with its life.
When the dealer does warranty repair, kubota feels the financial impact and data for them to react to the cost of poor quality. Otherwise they have no knowledge of issue. If they strive for continual improvement they need data to react to.
Hope the OP reports back what they find.
When the dealer does warranty repair, kubota feels the financial impact and data for them to react to the cost of poor quality. Otherwise they have no knowledge of issue. If they strive for continual improvement they need data to react to.
Hope the OP reports back what they find.
If the two power feeds were switched you still wouldn’t have power to the work light connectors with the key off, all you would have is the relay staying on all the time. The lights would still work “normally” as instead of switching power to the relay on the control side it would be switching power on the load side.
GreensvilleJay
Well-known member
Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
If the BX2380 is a cousin of my BX23s, there's a blue taped area of the wiring harness under the left fender kinda. Bit of a pain to get at when the bachoe is on... Carefully remove the blue tape and 'magically' there's 3 connectors, Black wire, male bullet is ground. The two female bullets are 'live +12 volts' and a 'switched +12 volts'.
300ma can drain a battery in 5 days. That's a LOT of electrons to lose every hour of every day,especially in cold weather and a not 100% charged battery. You shouldn't have ANY curent flowing with the key off,though my 'schematic' is really,really fuzzy I don't know of anything that should be drawing power.
If you can , post a picture of the tractor rear, near left fender. The added relay should be obvious if there.
300ma can drain a battery in 5 days. That's a LOT of electrons to lose every hour of every day,especially in cold weather and a not 100% charged battery. You shouldn't have ANY curent flowing with the key off,though my 'schematic' is really,really fuzzy I don't know of anything that should be drawing power.
If you can , post a picture of the tractor rear, near left fender. The added relay should be obvious if there.
je1279
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
LX2610 w/ 60" MMM, LP 72" Snow Plow, EA Wicked 55" Grapple, and Woods 60" BB
If you are able to locate the relay (likely under the dash somewhere) see if you can listen to it once you turn off the tractor. A relay is an electromagnetic switch and usually makes a slight humming or buzzing sound when active. A mechanics stethoscope would be good for this but you can also put your thumb over the handle of a screw driver pressed against your ear while the tip is against the relay.