Engine Battery seems dead..don't know why

Troy Bilt TB30R tractor. I believe that I left the ignition key at one click above STOP and managed to drain the battery. Does that sound plausible?? Battery is on a charger now that shows a .5 amp charge, and it has showed that for three hours now, battery still seems to be dead. Am I missing something?? I intend to leave the charger on overnight. Does anyone have any morsels of wisdom on this problem, or am I on the right track?? Many Thanks In Advance!

Dave

Not turning the key switch all the way off will drain the battery.

daveuno said:

Troy Bilt TB30R tractor. I believe that I left the ignition key at one click above STOP and managed to drain the battery.

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Depends on the wiring but it may be like your car - "accessories" are on draining the battery vs when Off, it is totally open circuit so nothing is draining the battery. If it was old enough like on my 70's skidsteer, it has points and the condensor(step up ignition transformer) got power on all positions except off.

daveuno said:

...still seems to be dead.

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Draining a battery can ruin the battery. Might be your case. You can take it to a car parts store and have them test it.

The carb solenoid draws about .5A and will drain the battery dead flat over time.
Then some rectifiers also need a tiny current and these will do the same thing over a year or more.

When drained dead flat it s very difficult to bring the battery back and very few modern chargers can do it, they just show the battery as being fully charged.
Old chargers with a voltage selector & a simple high / low switch can bring them back but it might take a week or more.

very expensive pro grade chargers can some times bring back a dead battery but they cost more than 5 new mower batteries