I checked the batteries when the mowers running and they are producing more than battery voltage. The batteries have not when dead all summer. All I was saying was next time the batteries do go dead, I would like to have the option of pull starting the engine.
When I had my Snapper, I bought a new battery for it and over the winter, it went dead. I recharged it but eventually it got to where it wouldn't hold a charge for more than a day. So I just used the pull starter until I sold it (for about four years).
One Christmas my father got me this solar powered charger. At first I did not know what to do with it. Then I got the idea to mount it against the window in my yard barn, connect two light sockets in the ceiling using 12 volt RV bulbs and install power points to charge both batteries over the winter. Everything is wired in parallel.
Well after the the first winter, both batteries were dead by spring. I charged them up and mowed all season. After the next winter same thing.
I'm not sure what the cause is. It seems the solar cell is either discharging the batteries. Or because I have two batteries connected together, one is draining the other one.
This might be the problem. You would think wood would not be conductive but I wonder if this is salt treated wood and the arsenic used in wood is conductive. Or perhaps when the wood get's wet, it becomes conductive. maybe I should think about insulating what the clamps touches instead of these lag bolts. Either way, the solar cell is causing me more problems than it's solving.