X300-Battery dead, slow speeds a factor?

[kevrdaniel]

Hello all,
First time posting, so bear with me. I am the custodian..I guess, of my dearly departed grandfather's 2007 X300. While he was alive, I was able to do the small simple jobs like airing up tires, reattaching belts that had slipped off due to sweetgum balls getting stuck in the deck, etc. Now, however, my uncle, who mows the grass for my grandmother, is the main user of the lawn mower. Last weekend, he told me that the battery was dead. So I took it upon myself to do a badly needed tune up on the old girl. Everything went smoothly except for replacing the battery. The mower had a john deer battery in it, and since trying to repair it on the cheap, I elected to just swing by walmart where I purchased a U1 lawn and garden battery. I installed it, and it worked perfectly. This was last saturday. My grandmother called me today and told me that the battery was dead. They opened up the battery and said the cells were dry. This leads me to believe one of two things. A) I got a defective battery from walmart or B) there is some sort of operator error. First of all, the battery was maintence free, so it shouldn't have needed any water. Secondly, I notice that my uncle does not operate the mower at full throttle, only at slow speeds. Is this effecting the battery? Is this causing a drain on the system like I think it is? Or am I nuts?
Thanks in advance,
Kevin D.
(Baffled in Baytown)

[Rivets]

All batteries have acid (water) in them. Take the battery back to Wallyword and get a new one. Low engine speeds will only shorten a battery life if it is done for a very extended period of time. If you have a multimeter test the new battery after you install. At half throttle you should have about 13.5V if the charging system is working properly.