I was given a Craftsman riding lawnmower. The problem....it drains the battery in as little as a day. Have to charge it every time I try to use it. Have NO clue as to why it's doing this. The positive cable is always corroded after a day or two after I clean it up. Anyone have a clue as to why it's doing this? My father in law bought it new and after a yr or so it started doing it. He never took it in to get serviced and just charged the battery as it needed it. He was having to get a new battery EVERY yr and finally just gave it to me.

Probably needs a new battery now . Maybe the problem came from the way he charged it. Did he charge it correctly?

I'm thinking you're right. This battery won't hold a charge. He hooked it up to a small battery charger he bought. He charged it right, it just seems that it completely drains it after a couple of days, sometimes after ONE day.

Get a volt meter and check the batt with the engine off and see what it reads. Then turn the engine on with no lights or any other accessories on.
At the battery you should have 12 volts with the engine off. With the engine running you should have 13-14.5 volts. Start there , this will tell you if the charging system is working. Also check the voltage again after you shut the engine off. If the chargin system is working you might have a voltage "leak" some where in the system. This is after you are sure the battery and charger were correct for the application.

I've got a Troy Bilt that does the same thing. Don't know what causes it. The neg and pos connections are both clean and on the right post. I personally think Troy Bilt is a piece of junk, but Craftsman shouldn't be.

I'm thinking you're right. This battery won't hold a charge. He hooked it up to a small battery charger he bought. He charged it right, it just seems that it completely drains it after a couple of days, sometimes after ONE day.

My F-I-L has a Craftsman riding mower and while I'm not sure about the corrosion on the cables, I do know that he has to charge it or jump it before each use. I had it die a couple of times on me while using it and I had to jump it to get it started again.

Those batteries rarely last. I have one and when I used it, I replaced the battery each year.

The battery on my Craftsman riding mower is 4 years old.

Unhook your neg. cable from the battery after your next mowing, and don't replace it until you get ready to mow again. Battery up means good battery. Then leave it hooked up between your next mowings, and if it's down something on the mower is draining it.
Also, freezing temperatures can ruin an uncharged mower batteries, so make sure to keep them charged during the winter if they are stored in an unheated shed.

That's exactly what it's been doing uncle_bagster. This battery is now over 2 yrs old and won't take a charge anymore. Just got back from wally world and a new battery. So if something in the mower is draining it, what could it be? I've unhooked the lights off the front so they won't have anything to do with it. Just trying to go through the process of elimination. Thanks fellas.

You can get an inexpensive volt/ammeter at Radio Shack (<$10) and with the ignition switch in the "off" position remove the negative (black) wire from the battery. Switch the volt/ammeter to DC Current measuring measuring function on the highest range. Use alligator clips or hold the leads one to the negative battery post and one to the battery cable you took off - slowly change range on the ammeter - high to low - if you get a reading on the ammeter that will indicate there is current flowing through the wires while the ignition switch is in the "off" position and something is draining the battery between uses.

Troubleshoot from there by disconnecting one thing at a time until current stops flowing. My bet is you have a faulty ignition switch.

Thanks. Will try that Dan.

If your battery is mounted directly underneath your hood, make sure the hood is not dented. I've seen this happen on older model Chrysler cars that used a shorter battery. The taller, standard-size battery was cheaper and the hood would clear, but the metal was close enough to cause the battery to slowly drain. This is a stretch, but it would be worth checking.

This is EXACTLY what it did! I just hooked it back up to move to the other side of the garage to put the boat in and it started right up. So something IS running it down. Disconnected the lights and time to start tracking down the culprit.