polaris battery guestion

[straydog]

I have a 96 scrambler, after sitting about a year the battery was shot so I bought a new one at mills. It wasnt the one were you have to pour the acid in it was the good sealed battery, any way it lasted a couple of weeks and it was dead so I charged it and it lasted over night, after a few more chages I brought the battery back and it was shot so they gave me a new one, the new battery had good charge but it still would not start so I changed the starter solenoid and wolah it starts again, but after a couple days the battery does not charge from the machine and it does not hold a charge, so I gave up and just started it with the rope all winter. Before I break down and take it in does anyone know what could be causing this and how to test it?

Thanks, Brad

[Dave]

Well, the battery might not be holding a charge because the ATV is not charging it back up. Do you have a volt meter? Check to see what voltage is on the battery now, should be about 12. When the ATV is running, the voltage should go up to maybe 14 volts. Check those things first and see what ya get.

[straydog]

the battery has been dead all winter so it is proboby shot, I just use the rope, but it didnt charge on its own last fall.

[straydog]

Ok, I put in a new battery, it reads 12.6 volts when the machine is running or not, but the lights worked when the battery was shot so it must be generating some electricity but not getting to the battery???