Battery not charging

[rajthepilot]

Hi All,

My battery died on Saturday and I bought a new battery on Monday and it showed 12.57 volts, but when I started the engine it was showing 12.45 volts meaning it wasn't getting charged by the stator (alternator). Perhaps the old battery wasn't bad and I shouldn't have returned it, but all good. I had jump started it few times last year, so I thought the battery may have been the issue.

Then I opened it up and checked the yellow wires coming from the stator and they showed around 33VAC. Then I checked the red wire coming out of the voltage regulator and I touched the red multi meter lead to that and then I touched the black lead to the battery's black terminal and it showed about 1 volt or so, so I figured the voltage regulator is the problem. After I turned off the engine, I was expecting to see 12.57 volts between battery's black terminal and the red wire going from the voltage regulator (not coming from it, but that connects to it and goes to the battery) and I got 0 volts. I was expecting to see 12.57 volts on it. i even turned on the key to the on position and still didn't see it.

When I attached the new voltage regulator today, I got about 5 volts when I touched the red lead to the red wire coming out of the voltage regulator and the black lead to the battery's black terminal.

1. Is there any way to test the voltage regulator when the engine is not running.
2. How can I test the voltage regulator's output while the engine is running without connecting the red wire to the mower (I thought I could touch the output red wire and the bolt that connects the voltage regulator to the mower (I thought that would be negative) but that didn't work
3. How can I verify that the wires after the voltage regulator are good ( I thought I should see 12.57 volts when I connected to battery's black terminal and the red wire going from the voltage regulator)

Thank You

 

[bertsmobile1]

Welcome .

It would really, really, really,really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, help if we knew which engine you have rather than having to guess from the colour of the wires

So I will assume that this is a B & S ENGINE
I will assume it has the rectifier regulator mounted on the PLASTIC dip stick tube
So then I will jump to the conclusion that the ground strap that goes from the blower mounting bolt to the rectifier mounting bolt is not there or broken so the rectifier has no ground
And because I do not know what bloody mower the engine is on I will assume that the return power to he battery goes through the key switch so there is no circuit once the key is turned off
But of course this is all guess work because you could no be bothered to indicate which engine in what mower r even post in a specific engine or mower sub section.

 

[bullet bob]

 

[rajthepilot]

Welcome .

It would really, really, really,really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, help if we knew which engine you have rather than having to guess from the colour of the wires

So I will assume that this is a B & S ENGINE
I will assume it has the rectifier regulator mounted on the PLASTIC dip stick tube
So then I will jump to the conclusion that the ground strap that goes from the blower mounting bolt to the rectifier mounting bolt is not there or broken so the rectifier has no ground
And because I do not know what bloody mower the engine is on I will assume that the return power to he battery goes through the key switch so there is no circuit once the key is turned off
But of course this is all guess work because you could no be bothered to indicate which engine in what mower r even post in a specific engine or mower sub section.

Welcome .

It would really, really, really,really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, help if we knew which engine you have rather than having to guess from the colour of the wires

So I will assume that this is a B & S ENGINE
I will assume it has the rectifier regulator mounted on the PLASTIC dip stick tube
So then I will jump to the conclusion that the ground strap that goes from the blower mounting bolt to the rectifier mounting bolt is not there or broken so the rectifier has no ground
And because I do not know what bloody mower the engine is on I will assume that the return power to he battery goes through the key switch so there is no circuit once the key is turned off
But of course this is all guess work because you could no be bothered to indicate which engine in what mower r even post in a specific engine or mower sub section.

Hi,

My apologies, I have a Briggs and Stratton 28 HP engine, on a Snapper Pro 200XT Lawn Mower. After reading your post, I went to check the ground connection and the ground connection worked. As I mentioned in my question # 3, I was surprised that I'm not getting 12.57 volts going from the red battery terminal to the red wire. After following the red wire that goes from the voltage regulator connection to the red battery terminal, I saw that it was cut off. I did a continuity check from that cut off wire to the red battery terminal and there was continuity. So now once I connect these wires, I believe I should be good. The mower was sent in for repair due to an oil leak, and I assume that while they were putting the engine back, something happened and that red wire got cut off.

But even if that wire was cut off, I thought I would see at least 13 to 14 volts coming out of the voltage regulator (if I insert the red lead into the red wire that comes out) and black lead to the body of the voltage regulator, but I only saw around 5 volts or so.

 

[rajthepilot]

So I was able to get the charger system to work properly as the red wire going to the mower had been cut off. I'm not sure how, but I assume that while it was in the repair shop, there was some mistake that occured. But no hard feelings, I got to learn so much about how the charging system works now, so I at least feel really good about that.

 

[Honest Abe]

So I was able to get the charger system to work properly as the red wire going to the mower had been cut off. I'm not sure how, but I assume that while it was in the repair shop, there was some mistake that occured. But no hard feelings, I got to learn so much about how the charging system works now, so I at least feel really good about that.

and this folks is why it pay$ to learn some of this chit; because, repair shops are not always that, i.e. I had my zero turn come out sans the brakes. Almost drove the damn thing right into the road . . . . . .

 

[bertsmobile1]

Good to hear raj
Happy mowing
And feel free to pop back any time .
B & S put out a rathe nice series of booklets called the "Repower Guides"
A bit deceptive as most ( included me ) think it is about replacing engines but it is all about replacing electrical systems
Older ones are all over the web so have a bit of a search and download one .
HAs all the electrical knowledge that you will even need to fix a mower and universally applicable