Battery

[mountainlake]

 
 My battery on my is getting weak, wouldn't crank it over very good a -2 f so time for a new one.  I called the local International truck dealer who has a group 31 stud type 925 amp battery for $75. That's what I run on my mill, got rid of those crappy post and converted the cable ends to the stud type.  Thats maybe $30 to $50 less than most places want for the same battery.  Yes its cold again +3 f at 1 pm and windy.   Steve

[A.O.]

Oh man... -2 f ?? Just stay inside..   

[bandmiller2]

That's a good price Steve, usually group 31 is about $100.00. They can be had with 1000 CCA. I have built or modified  my tractor battery boxes to take them. Some battery distributors will sell blemished battery's for half price. Had one fire truck that used six group 31's I would renew all after three years. Frank C.

[furu]

Yes I think that is a great price as group 31 here look more in the $115 range and that is before sales taxes that add another$10-12.

Did you modify your B-20 to take the larger battery or is that the size it came with.  My mill does not have the room for a larger battery unless I do a major mod and relocation of the battery or a bunch of hydraulics.  Having said that I have had no real issue with my battery for the last 5 years after a complete disaster for the first 6 months of electrical and battery issues. 
Mill was delivered/showed up with a dead battery and then the battery would be dead in a couple of days after it was charged.  I had it on a charger nearly all the time or it was dead.  Complete runaround from the service folks as I tried to tell them something was wrong with the electrical system. 
I was told the constant low draw on the battery was normal for all their mills and that could not drain the battery down the way I described.  There is nothing on the mill that should cause a constant amperage draw when not in use.
After running all the wiring down and re doing most of the connections and splices the amperage leak went away.  The "rube goldberg" connections and wiring were not at the level and quality that I expected for the cost of the mill.

Since then the battery has been bullet proof and 5 years on it has caused me no more grief.  The first 6 months however was a nightmare trying to figure out the electrical issue.  I would have expected after that type of continual discharge and recharge that the battery would have failed before now but it is hanging on just fine.
Many other things took years to sort out but the battery has been good.

[A.O.]

If you have a phantom power draw, you could always install a battery disconnect switch .

[furu]

If you have a phantom power draw, you could always install a battery disconnect switch .

All true but there should not have been one to start with.  Bad QC during manufacturing and the like.  I resolved it and there has been none for years now.  Battery stays good for long periods even if I don't mill.

[mountainlake]

 The group 31 fit in my mill fine, plenty of room.  I had change the cable ends to the lug type.  Furu, where do you the power draw was, if I leave my computer on it must take a little juice but not much.   Steve

[Ox]

I'd be more than a little peeved with a power draw or short or whatever that killed batteries and was told it was "normal" and then had to completely rewire an entire brand new sawmill to fix it.  What do you do when a company doesn't back up what they sell?  They know hardly anyone would ever take them to court to make it right.  Dirty, low down bastards these days.  I wish I knew personally the "good old days" when things were made to last and be rebuilt.  But at least I know enough to appreciate the older stuff (most times) so it could be worse.  I could have been born one of those yayhoots that need to have new everything and aren't ever happy with used stuff - even if it's superior.   

[mountainlake]

 With over 14000 hours on my TK I have nothing but good to say about my mill or the little bit of service I've needed over the years.  At first there were a couple of design flaws but I just fixed them and I completely trust my mill even after all the hours. Many times out on custom jobs I've heard the comment(you can saw all day without working on your mill).  Steve

[Ox]

Do you have a chain turner on your mill, mountainlake?  Reason I'm asking is because I'm going to build one and would like to verify the information that I've gotten on the hydraulic motor used for this task on the TK mills.

Info I have is that this is a Char-Lynn 101-1008-009 running direct drive to the turner chain.  Can you verify please?  It would be a big help.

[mountainlake]

 Yes I have a chain turner on my B20 but it isn't direct drive, it uses a short #50 chain geared down around 9 tooth to 14 tooth or so.  I did gear it down 1 extra tooth which gave it way better power than when new.  The newer TK 2000 and up use a direct drive motor which is way bigger, we were sawing some big ugly oak logs a couple weeks ago and he could use 1 less tooth on the motor .  I think the number you have above is the motor that's on the B20 so it wouldn't be strong enough for direct drive.  Steve

[Ox]

Thanks for the info, it's appreciated.