Charging a battery in a riding lawn mower video

Supplies you may need

• Battery charger

• Safety glasses

• Work gloves

Hi, Wayne here from Sears PartsDirect. Today we're going to talk about how to charge the battery in a riding mower. You may need to charge the battery before starting your mower for the first time in spring. And you should fully charge your battery before storing your mower for the winter.

Of course, you also need to charge the battery if it's unexpectedly dead—perhaps because you left the ignition switch on and drained the battery.

Find the correct charger for your battery

Most riding mowers use 12-volt batteries, but some models built before 1980 use a 6-volt battery. Use a charger that matches the voltage for your battery. Also, use a charger with an output of 10 amps or less. Charging a battery with more than 10 amps can damage it. You can charge the battery without removing it from the mower. Wear work gloves and eye protection when charging your battery.

How to connect charger cables to battery

First, unplug the battery charger from the outlet. Lift the seat and connect the red charger cable to the red, positive battery terminal. Connect the black charger cable to the black, negative battery terminal. Set the battery charger to 12 volts and 10 amps or less. Plug in the charger.

The charger should fully charge the battery in one hour at the 10-amp setting. You might have to charge the battery longer if your amp setting is lower. Some chargers shut off automatically when the battery reaches a full charge. Unplug the charger once it indicates the battery is fully charged. Disconnect the charger cables from the battery and lower the seat.

There you have it—a fully charged battery, ready for use or storage. I hope this video helped you out today. Be sure to check out our other videos here on the Sears Parts Direct YouTube channel. Subscribe and we’ll let you know when we post new videos.