When my dad put his atv away for a while the battery seems to lose it charge. We tund off the ignition and remove the key. So what could be the problem. He orderd winch kit and I installed it and followed the directions so it cant be that. He thinks its the on/off switch that is drawing a little from the battery. Can this be the problem or is it something else?

 

Batteries will slowly drain even if nothing is on.

 

i have replaced my battery once since i got my 2002 mag in 06, and he has replaced his two or three times since he got his 2003 mag in 05.

 

differant batteries last differant times.check the machine for parasitic draw.

 

Parasitic draw. Good point K. You know how digital clocks draw almost nothing? A friend of mine had the battery go dead in his conversion van while we were snowmobiling/camping for maybe a week or two. The <u>only</u> thing that was running was a little clock he added to the dash because his radio didn't have one back then.

The winch should have a solenoid so there's no power going to it unless the key is on. The kill switch being on shouldn't allow power anywhere unless the key is on too. If there was something spliced into an always hot red wire instead of a keyed hot red and white striped wire, that would be a problem. I've had ATV batteries last 5 years (?, years anyway) by just running the engine several minutes once a month when I'm not riding. A battery tender would be better and cheaper but when I rode year round I didn't need one. I hope this helps, trybaj.