So so helpful. My voltage regulator failed, and when I tried a new one, I got no voltage out of the regulator when not hooked up to the system. I tried a third regulator and got the same thing. As you pointed out the output voltage from the regulator is dependent on whether or not it is plugged into the system. I never would’ve thought that. Thank you so much.
Thanks for watching and glad the video helped you understand the system. It's odd that you can't read the DC output directly out of the regulator but now we know how to check it.
Absolutely fantastic video. You clear up more questions in this video than the past 10! Great demonstration(s) From start to finish thankyou for your time for any and everyone watching this video!
Excellent demonstration! Thanks for showing both the problematic and functional setups so the viewers knows what to expect in both cases. This gives a bit more confidence to the do-it-yourselfers out there.
I have an older JD LA140 that I bought used and have barely put a dime into it over the years. I discovered that the battery wasn't charging and observed 12.7vdc on the battery at rest, 12.51 vdc when running, so obviously there was an issue. Great video. Simple troubleshooting. In my case, it was the VR. Replaced that and it's putting out 14.2vdc at the battery when running, which is ideal. Thanks very much
Absolutely the BEST explanation on here. There are DOZENS that tell you little or nothing...mostly guys that must have NO one to talk to or trying to show how BRILLANT they are.....
@@doncarlson8391Great video on checking the charging system on a B&S Vanguard. I have a question and looking for your expertise. We have an 18HP B&S Vanguard V-Twin that has a problem charging the battery. After troubleshooting the system based on your video the stator was only outputting 11V (I have a Fluke Meter that automatically detects and switches to AC or DC voltage. I ordered a new stator as well as a new voltage regular. I installed the new stator and confirm that the old one was burnt out in several spots. I clean the magnets and the entire system before putting it all back together. After doing this, the 2 pins coming from the stator is only outputting 19V (specs recommend 28V). I also tried connecting the new regulator and do not get any AC voltage on the output red wire out of the voltage regulator. I am now lost on what else the problem(S) can be. Any idea or suggestions to follow would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Thank you very much for this video. I figured out that my battery was not charging but had no way to tell what has failed. Brilliant video!! You may have save me some money and time. Great job!! Best I've seen.
Thank you very much for your excellent video explanation. I followed your instructions on a kohler command 16 HP not charging and narrowed it down to no ground at the rectifier. Added a ground wire from battery to rectifier and system charging at 14.7 volts. 15minutes and 2 foot of wire to fix at ZERO cost.
Excellent video mate! I'm a light vehicle motor mechanic by trade (cars/4wd's) only played with small engines a few times (push mowers/chainsaws). This has to be the best alternator diagnosis video I've seen! Helped me out with my ELS656 Briggs. Keep up the good work. Kind regards from Australia.
Jimbo Jones, Hi from the U S of A! Thanks for the comment and watching. Of all the places in the world, yours is the country I'd like to visit the most and will make that happen one day. All the best!
Many Thanks for this video. This really helped me to diagnose a friends riding mower. Now I have to break the bad news to him and let him know that the regulator is about 80.00 and he is going to need one.
This is an excellent video to test the voltage regulator/alternator. Just a suggestion, your tractor is hard starting indicating the need to adjust you valve clearance (too wide of gap causing not allowing the compression to be released properly).
Jim Kelly, you are absolutely correct and I have a video of setting the valves and how it cranks before and after setting them. I need to get that video put together and posted. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for taking the time to share your expertise on this subject. You save me lots of time trouble shooting. Excellent video, just the right amount to detail saved me the cost of a repair manual. Just needed a new regulator !
This is the best expained video I have watched on youtube. Told me exactly what I need to know. I will check my dads mower tomorow. Thanks for the well explained info and your time.
Thank you so much for making this so easy to understand. I have spent days trying to figure out what what wrong with my mower. After replacing the starter, solenoid and the battery it wasn't till I came across your video that I finally was able to figure out that I just needed a new regulator. Your Brilliant!!!! Thank you so much
Excellent video! Very specific, detailed and easy to follow. Thank you! Your video was extremely helpful and allowed me to troubleshoot my JD LT145 and get straight to the problem (imagine that, it was the voltage regulator!). You definitely saved me $$$. Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to help us 'do it yourselfers'. 👍👍👍
Thank you! I am seeing my dash voltmeter jump all around and I suspect a problem in the charging system. I will follow your guidance to diagnose my gut feel which is the regulator before I buy a replacement.
THAT WAS GREAT! About the time Mr. Know-It-All (me) gets cocky, here comes a mower with a problem I did not know how to fix. From the Era of My Corona... ...THANK YOU --- THANK YOU ---- THANK YOU. Mr Brown, North Central Florida, 3/31/2020
Great video, I wish I would have seen this before spending the $70 on the stator replacement only to have the problem persist. Ran the tests and DC voltage from the VR showed only 12.49. New VR here we come.
Beware NEW voltage regulators that are bad out of the box. I bought one on eBay, installed it, no charging. Returned it, got a second, again, no charging. After tearing the mower down, looking for faults, I found none. Everything pointed to the NEW regulator being bad. In addition to the AC test in this well done video, I have a few tips for people in similar situations. First off, my mower has a built-in ammeter so I noticed that the new regulator wasn't charging right off the bat. Most mowers don't have those and I can only imagine the scores of people who installed a new regulator thinking their worries were over only to find their batteries dead several months after the warranty on the new regulator was expired. The simplest way to check to see if your charging circuit is working is to start the mower and measure the voltage across the battery. It should read about 14.5V - not 12.7V. The battery needs the higher voltage in order to charge. To test the stator, use the AC test as described in this video. The engine should be at full throttle and actual AC voltage should be what the manufacturer specs say. I also load tested the stator by connecting a 12V light bulb to the output. At low RPM, the bulb will light, at higher RPM, the bulb will blow. Incandescent light bulbs run fine on AC. In my case, the bulb drew about 2 amps from the stator with no problems. Next, I hooked the same 12V bulb up to the mower wire that connects to the output from the regulator. The other bulb lead connects to ground. Then turned on the ignition switch. The bulb lit up indicating there was no break or hidden blown fuse. Finally, I bought a 25 amp bridge rectifier from a local electronics store and hooked the AC input to the two stator wires. The positive (+) output of the rectifier connects to the mower wire that the regulator output wire would normally connect to. The negative(-) output to battery ground. When I started the engine, I immediately saw the full 13 amps going through the ammeter and into the battery. This was proof positive that the charging circuit was fine except for the NEW regulator. It should be noted that the bridge rectifier connections were for testing only and the battery will be ruined if you run it like that for very long. The rectifier converts AC to DC, but does not regulate the voltage to a safe level. Hopefully this will save other people from having a dead battery because their NEW regulator doesn't actually work.
Your comment was very well written, logical and easy to understand. I copied it into my Tractor Electrical Diagnostic notes for future reference. That said, wouldn't the process in the video accomplish the exact same thing? In other words, don't assume the replacement regulator is good out of the box. Connect a bare jumper between the two DC output connections and measure from the jumper - the key being the battery needs to be integral to the testing loop for a valid test?
@@MC-hs4mfmost likely not charging. Measure the battery voltage running and then again right after you turn it off. The running voltage should be about about 2 volts higher. Try the bridge rectifier test to be sure.
@@Rein_Ciarfellayes if you have an ammeter or something that can measure current you can measure what the regulator is actually putting into the battery. But remember that a charged battery will not take as much current. It's best to put some kind of load on the battery itself. Or simply compare the voltage of the battery running versus not running.
Great video, showing step-by-step process to test stator and voltage regulator. I have a question concerning a charging issue on a B&S 18HP Vanguard V-Twin. I diagnosed the initial issue to a bad stator only providing 11VAC (my Fluke meter automatically switches between AC & DC with auto scaling). I ordered both a new stator and voltage regulator just in case and took the flywheel off, cleaned all the magnets and coils before putting it back together. I did confirm that the old stator was bad, several burnt up spots where located on it and it was cracked. After installing the new stator and putting everything back together, I’m only getting 19VAC out of the new stator at full throttle, specs indicate I should get around 28V. This test was done while the yellow connector was disconnected between the stator and voltage regulator - no back probe was used while connected. When I connect the Voltage regulator I get no DC voltage out of the red wire coming out of the regulator. This is while it is disconnected going back to the battery! I’m not sure where to look now with the low voltage coming from the stator connection. When all wires are connected and engine is at full throttle I’m still only getting 12.x Volt at the battery when it should be between 13-15V. Lost on the next I should follow to try and troubleshoot this any further. Thanks in advance for your help.
@@rickgaudreau7111 , hi and that's a lot of good information! Simple stuff first, have you tried another meter? Sounds like you need to get the ac volts in spec first and then see what happens. Could be the magnets have lost strength. Pull the flywheel again and see how strongly they attract a screwdriver tip. I don't know of a spec for how difficult the screwdriver tip should be to pull off, but the magnets are usually pretty strong. Have you checked the stator for resistance in the coils, the ohm reading between the 2 yellow output wires? Have you checked for leakage of the stator to ground? There should be no ohm reading between one of the yellow stator wires and ground/the engine block. I don't know where you got the stator but is there a chance it could be the wrong part or an inferior part? Are the stators the same diameter? Are the windings the same wire diameter and does it look like the same number of turns are on each pole? Same number of poles on the old and new stator? Good luck, this is a new one on me, hope this helps. By the way, sounds like you are checking the dc output readings correctly, make sure you take them with a good battery connected, with clean connections. One more thing, long shot but, you might want to verify the engine rpms to make sure it's spinning fast enough to generate 20+ vac.
Thanks Don for the reply. I tried getting a reading of the new stator on two different meter - both read 21V AC. The new stator is OEM and purchased directly from a Jacobsen certified supplier and resaler and both the old and new seemed to be identical in look and size except the old one had allot of burnt spots on it and the plastic ring was cracked - copper coil winding looked the same size. I did do an ohm test on the two pins that came out of the stator and got good continuity. I then checked both of these pins to ground and got nothing so no short to ground. I did not test the strength of the magnets, that could be a potential issue. After spending more time on this unit, I found the existing voltage regulator defective. I was testing the output of the regulator while the red pin was disconnected (after finding out that this test needs to be completed while the wires are connected) - I installed a jumper pin between both ends to test the voltage while it was connected and only still saw the 12V! Lucky for me, I had also ordered a new regulator with the stator. Hooked up the new voltage regulator, made sure it was well grounded and saw 13.x Volts at the two red wire pin jumper. I removed the old voltage regulator, install the new one correctly to its location and started the mower again and got 13.x volts at the battery terminals - shows that it is now charging. Although the stator voltage is still lower than specs (28-30VAC) the system now seems to at least be charging the battery at full throttle. I’m just going to leave it as is for now. If it becomes a problem again, I may have to look at the magnets on the flywheel and see how strong they are. Thanks again for your reply, it was really appreciated. Take care.
Great video and just what I needed to diagnose a Scag with 23 HP Briggs Vanguard on it. Turned out to be a simple sheared bolt on the frame that held the negative/ground lead from the battery - but I was ready!
I have read that if you have a battery trickle charger hooked up to your lawnmower and then you start it that it slowly damages the rectifier until it no longer works, probably why mine doesn’t charge anymore. Thank you!
Mine wasn't charging, also the ammeter would fluctuate and the lights would go bright and dim etc. Your vid showed me how to troubleshoot and replace a bad regulator. Thank you!
Nicely done sir. I'm running a 2007 Simplicity Broadmoor and my first thought was that mice and gunk had gotten into the alternator coil, but after pulling the flywheel it looked practically brand new. This was my next culprit. Thank you for the side-by-side good/bad comparison.
Great vid. I have just this problem. Thanks for the heads up. You need to do a valve adjustment before the push rods fall out. It happens. The compression release won't work right and it will act like a low battery even when it isn't if there is too much clearance. Not very impressed with Briggs these days.
Doug Alan , got a video about adjusting the valves or the compression release? The engine's cranked like this since new and the hour meter had 500+ hours on it before he display went blank. Thanks for watching!
Don't know of any videos right this second, but the compression release is just a little bump on the cam, and if the valve clearance is too great, it won't work. The starter is just lame enough that you have to bump it over the compression stroke to get it to crank. As it turns out, I had a broken wire on the stator. The battery now charges at a solid 14.1V, right where it should be. I think the clearance is .003 intake and .005 exhaust, IIRC.
Doug Alan , hey Doug. Thanks for the reply. I found a video and the guy said to set them at .004" which falls in line with what you said. I really appreciate the explanation about the cam, it all makes sense so I'll do the adjustment soon. Do the rocker covers have gaskets that need to be replaced or are they reusable? Thanks again!
Although you may be able to get the covers to come off without tearing the gaskets, it's probably a good idea to just get new ones. My Briggs originally had a problem where one cylinder didn't want to run, which was caused by bad o-rings in the hideous plastic intake manifold. I found an aluminum manifold from the Vanguard series that was a drop-in replacement and got rid of the problem that way. I just did the valve adjustment as part of that repair. These engines have a bad habit of having the valve seats come loose if they ever get overheated. So, it's just a good idea to clean the cooling system and adjust the valves and feel good about it. You may want to replace the intake o-rings too while you're in there. They're not that terribly expensive. It's only a two beer job.
Great video. Thank you. Been having the same problem with new battery keeps going dead. Volt meter at the battery while running should be closer to 14v and mine is only 12. I will check my regulator like you now. Thanks again!
You need to have the regulator “loaded” to the battery or a power supply in order to properly test the output of the regulator itself. That’s why when you added the jumper wire between the red wire connector, it read the correct voltage output. The regulator is rendered useless unless it has a power supply connected to the output.
Correct. That's why I did both tests in the video. This way people would see you can not measuring the output at the regulator without a battery connected. Thanks for watching.
Just for info.. some B&S engines only have two wires to the Rectifier/Regulator. One from the alternator (yellow) and one to the ignition switch, fuse and battery.
Great video! This made it simple & helped me diagnose my hustler super z. I couldn't figure out if it was the regular or the alternator. I was confused about how to test the system, But after your video I checked it. And it's the regular. Thanks!
a bad or really low battery will fry the voltage regulator on a briggs and stratton engine with this style voltage regulator due to overloading the regulator , always make sure battery is fully charged before attempting to run engine
Good explanation Pretty sure you were reading ac from the regulator, the bad one had 5v ripple, the good one much less Time for a valve adjustment btw..
First off, I liked the video. I have a question though about the red charging wire going back into the engine. When you measured the output voltage feeding to the battery, both that voltage and the voltage at the battery should have been the same except for some difference of using two different meters. I would have liked to have seen the output on a scope. Also why did the red wire need to go back into the case and not directly towards the battery and key. The difference wouldn't be caused by a voltage drop in the wire. I'm going to track this down. I shall return.
robert574, I wondered the same thing myself, why does the charging output wire go back into the engine? But wasn't so curious that I had to know, lol. I took it as, it is what it is and it's working so don't mess with it. Let us know what you find. Thanks for watching!
I think they just did it to confuse us. The wire just seems to route back under the cover and then out to the battery. There is no field winding to energize (it uses permanent magnets. AC out of the stator into the voltage regulator and then DC to the battery (the case is ground). Piece of cake right?
You explained it perfectly. I had a problem with my mower back when I first watched this. My red wire didn't go back in the engine, but the voltage regulator was bad.
Darn good information and you presented it in a way we all can understand. Solid thumbs up Snap Roll! I just inherited a Walker with this very problem.
Good video! My mower used to hesitate like yours does.Yours could be because the battery is low possibly...My mower hesitated similar as yours does but it was because the valves needed adjusting...just a tip .Hope it all goes well..
Same problem...battery running down. I think Bat is ok. I get the ac Volts from Stator, but also get .5 V dc from Voltage Regulator. I am on my 4th VReg change. 3 from ROPS, CA, and a Briggs Box part. I get the .5 on all of them. I see on some videos a Voltage reading of 13 - 14, from the VReg, but like yours, I only got the .5 Volts dc. (until u put a jumper). I wonder if there is a rectifier or etc in the circuit that impedes the current unless a battery is in-circuit, thus the .5 Volt. But I am not confident the Regulators are operating GOOD with only .5V dc, but four new ones in a row?
Good video, you get to the point without droning on and on. I have been looking to find out if the regulator works like an automotive one that shuts off when the battery is fully charged. I find no mention of it anywhere so I am assuming the regulator output will always be on and a battery voltage reading will always increase when the engine is running at some throttle.
Hi Chuck. From what I've seen, the output is regulated similar to a newer automotive alternator with an internal regulator, not like the old mechanical regulators or today's eco computer controlled regulation that has caused my wife's last 2 vehicles to repeatedly have dead batteries due to short trips.....oh sorry, mini rant over. Thanks for watching.
Thank You so much for this vid!!....I only have a little over battery voltage(12.6 volts) leaving the regulator and am going to order a new reg. Fuses ok & new battery...... THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
The regulator needs the DC 12 volts hooked up for it to output the correct charging volts. You cannot test the output of the regulator without the 12 volts hooked up from battery. most the time ihe AC output will be close to this one 22-30volts AC.
Ralph Storrs, my guess would be either a pinched/frayed wire shorting to ground or one of the diodes in the regulator has shorted to ground. Wish I had more concrete info for you. Thanks for watching and good luck finding the issue.
The regulator needs to be connected to the battery which acts as a buffer and stabilizes the voltage.disconnecting battery from regulator and running engine will cause damage to regulator.Thats why your getting funny readings out of your regulator and possible damaging it whitout the battery connected.Excessive voltage drop could mean corroded or loose wiring or corroded ignition switch.
does anyone know ,,, i bought a husqvarna zero turn no engine wire are cut to a mess ,,, its not charging i need to know where the wires go ,, from the stator box on the side of the engine to wherever it goes from there ,, two yellow wires and a red wire where do they go > it has an amp gauge with no wires hooked to it ,,,,i have the electric clutch working and the steering safety switches working ,, but thats it have no idea where the wires go from the two yellow wires and red wire ,,where do they go ????
My suggestion to you is to Google manuals for your mower model. The manufacturer may have them online and often other sites have them as well. Sometimes, even when the manufacturer don't list them. Good luck. By the way, some older Husqvarna mower were built but MTD. MTD made mowers for several different brands, you might find one that is similar?
I've been told by other watchers that on some tractors there isn't a voltage regulator like in my video and there are a couple of diodes in the wiring harness that serve as a "poor man's" rectifier and provide just enough rectification to keep,a battery charged. This is mostly on large single cylinder engines. I remember seeing a video on TH-cam showing this set up. Wish I could be more help. Good luck!
@@doncarlson8391 well thanks for the reply my friend, I guess this is one of those engines, i double checked myself just today looking for it, and I haven't heard about the diod charge thing at all, I will do some more research 😎😎
Very informative and well presented. The difference in the battery voltage at the battery and at the engine could be due to the small resistance in the ammeter. An ammeter is really just a voltmeter across a known resistance. The only thing about the video would have been a better explanation as to why the good regulator only puts out 0.49V and the bad one puts out more.
n4mwd thanks for the comments. I couldn't explain why the good and bad regulators produced the voltages they did when disconnected so that is why I showed the voltages measured inline, with the jumper. This showed the viewer another way to check output voltage and diagnose the system. Thanks for watching!
I tested mine and ordered a new regulator. I'm thinking that the Briggs regulator must work similar to a motorcycle regulator. Those usually work by shorting the output to produce a voltage based on the current draw. Remember the alternator put out about 25 volts. So with only a meter for a load, the output voltage is negligible. If you connect a 12V light bulb to the load, the voltage would likely shoot up. Thanks for a great video.
I got the new regulator. The battery now charges, but only at certain RPMs. ??? The mower has an ammeter and I used the blade clutch as a load which draws about 5 amps. At about 1/3rd throttle, the system just breaks even. Faster than that and the alternator stops charging and the battery discharges. Any ideas what this could be? Bad regulator? Bad Stator? I get 20 VAC when I tested the stator using your method.
n4mwd that is strange! I would trouble shoot it by breaking the system into sections. When I checked my stator I got 26 vac at about half throttle, I assume the voltage would be higher at max rpms. Do you get a good ac output from idle to wide open rpms? Based on my test, you should get at least 26 volts. If that looks good, run a wire from the regulator output lead directly to the positive terminal on the battery. If it charges correctly, something is wrong in the mowers wiring, key switch (if the circuit goes through the switch, like mine does) or the amp meter, or ??? I would also temporarily try running a ground wire directly from the engine to the negative terminal on the battery, to rule out bad grounds. You could also look for voltage drops using your volt meter, by attaching one lead to the engine and the other to battery negative terminal to test the grounds. And you could do the same on the positive side using a jumper like I had at the regulator and then touching battery positive with the other lead. I'd expect to see a voltage drop less than one volt. Good luck, I'd be interested to hear what you find!
I cut the AC terminals off the old regulator to get a good connection for testing. I got about 29VAC @ WOT. However, after the engine was warm, it dropped to about 26 VAC @ WOT. The AC output voltage was linear to the RPM. No sweet spots. After reconnecting the new regulator, I grounded the regulator to the negative battery and there was no change. The regulator output shows a straight path to the positive battery through the ammeter, fuse and keyswitch. If there was a loose wire somewhere, it wouldn't fail at a particular RPM. In fact, I was able to mow my lawn in slow motion and keep the battery charged by keeping it at 1/3rd throttle the whole time. The sweet spot where it sort of worked did not change. I'm thinking that I can either order a new regulator or pop the flywheel and take a look at the stator. I flipped the potting epoxy off the old regulator like you did in your other video and the PCB was nothing but cold solder joints. I made a video of what is going on, but computer troubles prevent me from uploading it at this time.
Great video. I have a question. The alternator has two wires coming from it with AC current. The battery only has red wire going to it with DC current, so where's the black wire to the battery connection in the voltage regulator?
The case of the voltage regulator is ground or you can think of it as being a black wire. The negative/black cable coming off the battery is bolted to the frame so everything else bolted to the frame or something metal that's bolted to it, is grounded. Thanks for watching.
richard cranium you were right about the valves being out of adjustment making the engine hard to crank. One cylinder was ok, the clearance on the valves in the other were .008" and .010". Adjusted them to factory specs and the engine cranks with no hesitation. Thanks.
if you have a bad battery, would it make the voltage drop at the battery when checking while running? I hope that is clear, we started the mower and the voltage was 12.57 but the battery was dead... would we loose that much voltage from trying to charge a BAD battery? thank you
Best explanation I have seen on this. Same goes for my Harley. What people need to see is how to use a voltmeter.
So so helpful. My voltage regulator failed, and when I tried a new one, I got no voltage out of the regulator when not hooked up to the system. I tried a third regulator and got the same thing. As you pointed out the output voltage from the regulator is dependent on whether or not it is plugged into the system. I never would’ve thought that. Thank you so much.
Thanks for watching and glad the video helped you understand the system. It's odd that you can't read the DC output directly out of the regulator but now we know how to check it.
Absolutely fantastic video. You clear up more questions in this video than the past 10! Great demonstration(s) From start to finish thankyou for your time for any and everyone watching this video!
Thanks Joe, glad it helped you. Thanks for watching!
Excellent demonstration! Thanks for showing both the problematic and functional setups so the viewers knows what to expect in both cases. This gives a bit more confidence to the do-it-yourselfers out there.
This video was made Jul 24,2016 and it is still helping others thank you so much!
loved how you explained every step. and gave a few methods of testing. couldn't make it any easier unless you come and tested it for me.
I have an older JD LA140 that I bought used and have barely put a dime into it over the years. I discovered that the battery wasn't charging and observed 12.7vdc on the battery at rest, 12.51 vdc when running, so obviously there was an issue. Great video. Simple troubleshooting.
In my case, it was the VR. Replaced that and it's putting out 14.2vdc at the battery when running, which is ideal. Thanks very much
@@richardgriffith1241 glad the video helped you and you got your mower fixed. Thanks for watching, best regards.
Absolutely the BEST explanation on here. There are DOZENS that tell you little or nothing...mostly guys that must have NO one to talk to or trying to show how BRILLANT they are.....
Thanks for the kind words. Glad the video helped you. Good luck on your repair.
@@doncarlson8391Great video on checking the charging system on a B&S Vanguard. I have a question and looking for your expertise. We have an 18HP B&S Vanguard V-Twin that has a problem charging the battery. After troubleshooting the system based on your video the stator was only outputting 11V (I have a Fluke Meter that automatically detects and switches to AC or DC voltage. I ordered a new stator as well as a new voltage regular. I installed the new stator and confirm that the old one was burnt out in several spots. I clean the magnets and the entire system before putting it all back together. After doing this, the 2 pins coming from the stator is only outputting 19V (specs recommend 28V). I also tried connecting the new regulator and do not get any AC voltage on the output red wire out of the voltage regulator. I am now lost on what else the problem(S) can be. Any idea or suggestions to follow would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Thank you very much for this video. I figured out that my battery was not charging but had no way to tell what has failed. Brilliant video!! You may have save me some money and time. Great job!! Best I've seen.
Thank you very much for your excellent video explanation. I followed your instructions on a kohler command 16 HP not charging and narrowed it down to no ground at the rectifier. Added a ground wire from battery to rectifier and system charging at 14.7 volts. 15minutes and 2 foot of wire to fix at ZERO cost.
Ron McGregor, great job, well done! Glad the video helped and thanks for watching.
Excellent video mate! I'm a light vehicle motor mechanic by trade (cars/4wd's) only played with small engines a few times (push mowers/chainsaws). This has to be the best alternator diagnosis video I've seen! Helped me out with my ELS656 Briggs. Keep up the good work. Kind regards from Australia.
Jimbo Jones, Hi from the U S of A! Thanks for the comment and watching. Of all the places in the world, yours is the country I'd like to visit the most and will make that happen one day. All the best!
Great job putting this together. Concise, to the point and covers all possible issues.
Larry Fine thank you! Glad to help.
Excellent short video. I was going to comment, no power output without battery hooked up, but you got that also! Thanks,
Bill KC2TUX , thanks and thanks for watching!
Many Thanks for this video. This really helped me to diagnose a friends riding mower. Now I have to break the bad news to him and let him know that the regulator is about 80.00 and he is going to need one.
Glad it helped. Maybe you can give him a break on the labor charges, lol. Thanks for watching.
This is an excellent video to test the voltage regulator/alternator. Just a suggestion, your tractor is hard starting indicating the need to adjust you valve clearance (too wide of gap causing not allowing the compression to be released properly).
Jim Kelly, you are absolutely correct and I have a video of setting the valves and how it cranks before and after setting them. I need to get that video put together and posted. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for your time in sharing this information.... EXACTLY what I was looking for!
Thanks for taking the time to share your expertise on this subject. You save me lots of time trouble shooting. Excellent video, just the right amount to detail saved me the cost of a repair manual. Just needed a new regulator !
This is the best expained video I have watched on youtube. Told me exactly what I need to know. I will check my dads mower tomorow. Thanks for the well explained info and your time.
Thank you so much for making this so easy to understand. I have spent days trying to figure out what what wrong with my mower. After replacing the starter, solenoid and the battery it wasn't till I came across your video that I finally was able to figure out that I just needed a new regulator. Your Brilliant!!!! Thank you so much
Wow, you're too kind. Glad the video helped. Happy mowing and thanks for watching!
Wow! one of the best videos I've seen. Simple, yet precise.
Thank you and thanks for watching!
This sir is the best demonstration I seen on TH-cam yet great job
Wow, what a great complement! Thanks a lot and thanks for watching!!!
Very Good! Short and to the point. Good to know it has to be tested under load. Thanks.
August 2021: Knowledge is power! Ordering a new regulator. Thanks very much!
Very straight and to the point. Very nice job. Quite informative also. Thanks for keeping it pretty simple and easy to follow.
Rick Hayes thanks for watching. Hope the video helped you!
Good and very informative video. Sounds like your valves need adjusting because of the way it turns over when starting. Thanks for the video.
Good vid. Often times the stator has a weak output as well.
It should be around 30ish
Great diagnostic and institutional video. Straight to the point great job
Great video! Straight to the point. Just enough explanation, no fluff.
Jason Tumble, thanks! Hope it helps you. Thanks for watching!
Exactly the information I was looking for. Simple and sweet, thank you
Glad it helped you. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for taking the time to share. Nicely done. Short and to the point.
Excellent video! Very specific, detailed and easy to follow. Thank you! Your video was extremely helpful and allowed me to troubleshoot my JD LT145 and get straight to the problem (imagine that, it was the voltage regulator!). You definitely saved me $$$. Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to help us 'do it yourselfers'. 👍👍👍
Xrousn good to hear. Thanks for watching.
Heck yea!!!!!
Thank you! I am seeing my dash voltmeter jump all around and I suspect a problem in the charging system. I will follow your guidance to diagnose my gut feel which is the regulator before I buy a replacement.
Michael Lorello, hope the video helps you. Thanks for watching!
THAT WAS GREAT!
About the time Mr. Know-It-All (me) gets cocky,
here comes a mower with a problem I did not
know how to fix.
From the Era of My Corona...
...THANK YOU --- THANK YOU ---- THANK YOU.
Mr Brown, North Central Florida, 3/31/2020
Great video, I wish I would have seen this before spending the $70 on the stator replacement only to have the problem persist. Ran the tests and DC voltage from the VR showed only 12.49. New VR here we come.
Mark H. , sorry you found this a little late. Hope it helps and thanks for watching.
Beware NEW voltage regulators that are bad out of the box. I bought one on eBay, installed it, no charging. Returned it, got a second, again, no charging. After tearing the mower down, looking for faults, I found none. Everything pointed to the NEW regulator being bad. In addition to the AC test in this well done video, I have a few tips for people in similar situations.
First off, my mower has a built-in ammeter so I noticed that the new regulator wasn't charging right off the bat. Most mowers don't have those and I can only imagine the scores of people who installed a new regulator thinking their worries were over only to find their batteries dead several months after the warranty on the new regulator was expired.
The simplest way to check to see if your charging circuit is working is to start the mower and measure the voltage across the battery. It should read about 14.5V - not 12.7V. The battery needs the higher voltage in order to charge.
To test the stator, use the AC test as described in this video. The engine should be at full throttle and actual AC voltage should be what the manufacturer specs say.
I also load tested the stator by connecting a 12V light bulb to the output. At low RPM, the bulb will light, at higher RPM, the bulb will blow. Incandescent light bulbs run fine on AC. In my case, the bulb drew about 2 amps from the stator with no problems.
Next, I hooked the same 12V bulb up to the mower wire that connects to the output from the regulator. The other bulb lead connects to ground. Then turned on the ignition switch. The bulb lit up indicating there was no break or hidden blown fuse.
Finally, I bought a 25 amp bridge rectifier from a local electronics store and hooked the AC input to the two stator wires. The positive (+) output of the rectifier connects to the mower wire that the regulator output wire would normally connect to. The negative(-) output to battery ground. When I started the engine, I immediately saw the full 13 amps going through the ammeter and into the battery. This was proof positive that the charging circuit was fine except for the NEW regulator.
It should be noted that the bridge rectifier connections were for testing only and the battery will be ruined if you run it like that for very long. The rectifier converts AC to DC, but does not regulate the voltage to a safe level.
Hopefully this will save other people from having a dead battery because their NEW regulator doesn't actually work.
12.86 running ft, regulator or alternator?
Your comment was very well written, logical and easy to understand. I copied it into my Tractor Electrical Diagnostic notes for future reference. That said, wouldn't the process in the video accomplish the exact same thing? In other words, don't assume the replacement regulator is good out of the box. Connect a bare jumper between the two DC output connections and measure from the jumper - the key being the battery needs to be integral to the testing loop for a valid test?
@@MC-hs4mfmost likely not charging. Measure the battery voltage running and then again right after you turn it off. The running voltage should be about about 2 volts higher. Try the bridge rectifier test to be sure.
@@Rein_Ciarfellayes if you have an ammeter or something that can measure current you can measure what the regulator is actually putting into the battery. But remember that a charged battery will not take as much current. It's best to put some kind of load on the battery itself. Or simply compare the voltage of the battery running versus not running.
Wow. Mystery solved! Thank you so much. It was a real puzzle on the low voltage reading without a jumper. Thanks!
Great video, showing step-by-step process to test stator and voltage regulator. I have a question concerning a charging issue on a B&S 18HP Vanguard V-Twin. I diagnosed the initial issue to a bad stator only providing 11VAC (my Fluke meter automatically switches between AC & DC with auto scaling). I ordered both a new stator and voltage regulator just in case and took the flywheel off, cleaned all the magnets and coils before putting it back together. I did confirm that the old stator was bad, several burnt up spots where located on it and it was cracked. After installing the new stator and putting everything back together, I’m only getting 19VAC out of the new stator at full throttle, specs indicate I should get around 28V. This test was done while the yellow connector was disconnected between the stator and voltage regulator - no back probe was used while connected. When I connect the Voltage regulator I get no DC voltage out of the red wire coming out of the regulator. This is while it is disconnected going back to the battery! I’m not sure where to look now with the low voltage coming from the stator connection. When all wires are connected and engine is at full throttle I’m still only getting 12.x Volt at the battery when it should be between 13-15V. Lost on the next I should follow to try and troubleshoot this any further. Thanks in advance for your help.
@@rickgaudreau7111 , hi and that's a lot of good information! Simple stuff first, have you tried another meter? Sounds like you need to get the ac volts in spec first and then see what happens. Could be the magnets have lost strength. Pull the flywheel again and see how strongly they attract a screwdriver tip. I don't know of a spec for how difficult the screwdriver tip should be to pull off, but the magnets are usually pretty strong. Have you checked the stator for resistance in the coils, the ohm reading between the 2 yellow output wires? Have you checked for leakage of the stator to ground? There should be no ohm reading between one of the yellow stator wires and ground/the engine block. I don't know where you got the stator but is there a chance it could be the wrong part or an inferior part? Are the stators the same diameter? Are the windings the same wire diameter and does it look like the same number of turns are on each pole? Same number of poles on the old and new stator? Good luck, this is a new one on me, hope this helps. By the way, sounds like you are checking the dc output readings correctly, make sure you take them with a good battery connected, with clean connections. One more thing, long shot but, you might want to verify the engine rpms to make sure it's spinning fast enough to generate 20+ vac.
Thanks Don for the reply. I tried getting a reading of the new stator on two different meter - both read 21V AC. The new stator is OEM and purchased directly from a Jacobsen certified supplier and resaler and both the old and new seemed to be identical in look and size except the old one had allot of burnt spots on it and the plastic ring was cracked - copper coil winding looked the same size. I did do an ohm test on the two pins that came out of the stator and got good continuity. I then checked both of these pins to ground and got nothing so no short to ground. I did not test the strength of the magnets, that could be a potential issue. After spending more time on this unit, I found the existing voltage regulator defective. I was testing the output of the regulator while the red pin was disconnected (after finding out that this test needs to be completed while the wires are connected) - I installed a jumper pin between both ends to test the voltage while it was connected and only still saw the 12V! Lucky for me, I had also ordered a new regulator with the stator. Hooked up the new voltage regulator, made sure it was well grounded and saw 13.x Volts at the two red wire pin jumper. I removed the old voltage regulator, install the new one correctly to its location and started the mower again and got 13.x volts at the battery terminals - shows that it is now charging. Although the stator voltage is still lower than specs (28-30VAC) the system now seems to at least be charging the battery at full throttle. I’m just going to leave it as is for now. If it becomes a problem again, I may have to look at the magnets on the flywheel and see how strong they are. Thanks again for your reply, it was really appreciated. Take care.
@@rickgaudreau7111 hi Rick. Thanks for the update, it sounds like you're going to be OK. Best regards, Don
Great video and just what I needed to diagnose a Scag with 23 HP Briggs Vanguard on it. Turned out to be a simple sheared bolt on the frame that held the negative/ground lead from the battery - but I was ready!
I have read that if you have a battery trickle charger hooked up to your lawnmower and then you start it that it slowly damages the rectifier until it no longer works, probably why mine doesn’t charge anymore. Thank you!
That was the most helpful thing I have ever seen. Brilliant.
Mine wasn't charging, also the ammeter would fluctuate and the lights would go bright and dim etc. Your vid showed me how to troubleshoot and replace a bad regulator. Thank you!
thank you for the video! Clearest explanation I have seen, much appreciated!!
Nicely done sir. I'm running a 2007 Simplicity Broadmoor and my first thought was that mice and gunk had gotten into the alternator coil, but after pulling the flywheel it looked practically brand new. This was my next culprit. Thank you for the side-by-side good/bad comparison.
Great vid. I have just this problem. Thanks for the heads up. You need to do a valve adjustment before the push rods fall out. It happens. The compression release won't work right and it will act like a low battery even when it isn't if there is too much clearance. Not very impressed with Briggs these days.
Doug Alan , got a video about adjusting the valves or the compression release? The engine's cranked like this since new and the hour meter had 500+ hours on it before he display went blank. Thanks for watching!
Don't know of any videos right this second, but the compression release is just a little bump on the cam, and if the valve clearance is too great, it won't work. The starter is just lame enough that you have to bump it over the compression stroke to get it to crank. As it turns out, I had a broken wire on the stator. The battery now charges at a solid 14.1V, right where it should be. I think the clearance is .003 intake and .005 exhaust, IIRC.
Doug Alan , hey Doug. Thanks for the reply. I found a video and the guy said to set them at .004" which falls in line with what you said. I really appreciate the explanation about the cam, it all makes sense so I'll do the adjustment soon. Do the rocker covers have gaskets that need to be replaced or are they reusable? Thanks again!
Although you may be able to get the covers to come off without tearing the gaskets, it's probably a good idea to just get new ones. My Briggs originally had a problem where one cylinder didn't want to run, which was caused by bad o-rings in the hideous plastic intake manifold. I found an aluminum manifold from the Vanguard series that was a drop-in replacement and got rid of the problem that way. I just did the valve adjustment as part of that repair. These engines have a bad habit of having the valve seats come loose if they ever get overheated. So, it's just a good idea to clean the cooling system and adjust the valves and feel good about it. You may want to replace the intake o-rings too while you're in there. They're not that terribly expensive. It's only a two beer job.
Thanks for the video.
I have the same engine and got the same 30 volts out of the stator and 5 volts out of the voltage regulator.
Excellent, excellent video. Very well done, obviously by a knowledgeable and experienced man. Thank you very much.
Subscribed with no hesitation.
Thanks for such a nice compliment. Glad to help and good luck fixing your issue.
HELPED A LOT!! My voltage regulator needs replaced.
Great video. Thank you. Been having the same problem with new battery keeps going dead.
Volt meter at the battery while running should be closer to 14v and mine is only 12.
I will check my regulator like you now. Thanks again!
You need to have the regulator “loaded” to the battery or a power supply in order to properly test the output of the regulator itself. That’s why when you added the jumper wire between the red wire connector, it read the correct voltage output. The regulator is rendered useless unless it has a power supply connected to the output.
Derek Rohlfsen agree but the regulator circuit needs power to bias the regulator drivers
Correct. That's why I did both tests in the video. This way people would see you can not measuring the output at the regulator without a battery connected. Thanks for watching.
Very good job, i will be able to check mine. Better than several other videos. Thx
Sounds like you might need valves adjusted so not getting that bog when turning the key to start. Great video.
You're absolutely correct. That was my next video and the SD card ended up corrupted. Thanks for watching.
Thank you. This will help me get an old Craftsman 18hp B&S running!
Wish you had done an ohm check to compare the two regulators.
Good details in this video helped Me troubkeshoot my voltage regulator problems! Thanks!
Remember this system is not built to change up the battery, it’s designed to keep it at full charge if the battery is good ..,,
video very informative but what about safety switch??? no mention on how to handle that??
This was quite helpful, was able to fix my Dixie Chopper via this troubleshooting video.
Just for info.. some B&S engines only have two wires to the Rectifier/Regulator. One from the alternator (yellow) and one to the ignition switch, fuse and battery.
Great video! This made it simple & helped me diagnose my hustler super z. I couldn't figure out if it was the regular or the alternator. I was confused about how to test the system, But after your video I checked it. And it's the regular. Thanks!
Thank you ! A lot of great information in a timely manner . 👍👍👍
This is perfect as I have the same issue with the identical riding mower/engine combo.
MikeOrkid Glad it helped! Stay safe my friend and thanks for watching.
a bad or really low battery will fry the voltage regulator on a briggs and stratton engine with this style voltage regulator due to overloading the regulator , always make sure battery is fully charged before attempting to run engine
You got to the point in under 5 minutes! (Unfortunately I have no stator ac voltage)
I happened to check my meter and discovered it will not read any ac voltage, but with another meter I found 25vac!!!!
This was super helpful! Thanks so much for your work on it!
Good explanation
Pretty sure you were reading ac from the regulator, the bad one had 5v ripple, the good one much less
Time for a valve adjustment btw..
Agreed on the valves.. A little loose
Excellent video! Simple and to the point! Other you tubers take note!
Thanks! And thanks for watching!
First off, I liked the video. I have a question though about the red charging wire going back into the engine. When you measured the output voltage feeding to the battery, both that voltage and the voltage at the battery should have been the same except for some difference of using two different meters. I would have liked to have seen the output on a scope. Also why did the red wire need to go back into the case and not directly towards the battery and key. The difference wouldn't be caused by a voltage drop in the wire. I'm going to track this down. I shall return.
robert574, I wondered the same thing myself, why does the charging output wire go back into the engine? But wasn't so curious that I had to know, lol. I took it as, it is what it is and it's working so don't mess with it. Let us know what you find. Thanks for watching!
I think they just did it to confuse us. The wire just seems to route back under the cover and then out to the battery. There is no field winding to energize (it uses permanent magnets. AC out of the stator into the voltage regulator and then DC to the battery (the case is ground). Piece of cake right?
You explained it perfectly. I had a problem with my mower back when I first watched this. My red wire didn't go back in the engine, but the voltage regulator was bad.
Darn good information and you presented it in a way we all can understand. Solid thumbs up Snap Roll! I just inherited a Walker with this very problem.
Thank you! And thanks for watching.
Good video! My mower used to hesitate like yours does.Yours could be because the battery is low possibly...My mower hesitated similar as yours does but it was because the valves needed adjusting...just a tip .Hope it all goes well..
Excellent! Now to hunt up my ammeter: mine keeps blowing fuses
This was quite informative, helpful, and well done. Thank you.
Robert Etzweiler Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching. Sorry I took so long to reply.
everything you need to know, well exsplaned to fix the charging fault. Js
Excellent video and concise directions…….pretty darn professionally done! 👍
Thank you sir... heavy on the SIR ;)
Very good video.
Clear, concise and accurate.
Best video on the subject. Excellent work! 👌
Glad it helped you. Thanks for watching!
Same problem...battery running down. I think Bat is ok. I get the ac Volts from Stator, but also get .5 V dc from Voltage Regulator. I am on my 4th VReg change. 3 from ROPS, CA, and a Briggs Box part. I get the .5 on all of them. I see on some videos a Voltage reading of 13 - 14, from the VReg, but like yours, I only got the .5 Volts dc. (until u put a jumper). I wonder if there is a rectifier or etc in the circuit that impedes the current unless a battery is in-circuit, thus the .5 Volt. But I am not confident the Regulators are operating GOOD with only .5V dc, but four new ones in a row?
Awesome, easy to follow and extremely informative!
Glad it helped. Thanks for watching.
Top notch video. This explained it clearly & to the point.
Thanks for your helpful video. It helped me to quickly determine that I had a bad regulator on my John Deere riding mower.
Dennis Bell, glad it helped. Thanks for commenting and watching!
Just remember a bad battery will make the alt charging system overheat and it will fail 😢😢😢
AllWAYS have a good battery ❤
excellent vid cus to the point & just what one needs to know. ac voltage, dc voltage & amp
Good video, you get to the point without droning on and on. I have been looking to find out if the regulator works like an automotive one that shuts off when the battery is fully charged. I find no mention of it anywhere so I am assuming the regulator output will always be on and a battery voltage reading will always increase when the engine is running at some throttle.
Hi Chuck. From what I've seen, the output is regulated similar to a newer automotive alternator with an internal regulator, not like the old mechanical regulators or today's eco computer controlled regulation that has caused my wife's last 2 vehicles to repeatedly have dead batteries due to short trips.....oh sorry, mini rant over. Thanks for watching.
Thank You so much for this vid!!....I only have a little over battery voltage(12.6 volts) leaving the regulator and am going to order a new reg. Fuses ok & new battery...... THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
Glad to help. Thanks for watching!
@@snaproll94e 12.86 at battery while running full throttle is it charging?
Yup, exactly what I was needing to know. Thank you!!😊
Your welcome. Thanks for watching and good luck with your repair.
Excellent diagnostic video! Thanks.
john cooper glad to help. Thanks for watching.
The regulator needs the DC 12 volts hooked up for it to output the correct charging volts. You cannot test the output of the regulator without the 12 volts hooked up from battery. most the time ihe AC output will be close to this one 22-30volts AC.
What would make the voltage regulator start smoking and burn out the fuse
Ralph Storrs, my guess would be either a pinched/frayed wire shorting to ground or one of the diodes in the regulator has shorted to ground. Wish I had more concrete info for you. Thanks for watching and good luck finding the issue.
Awesome video, educational/to the point, done very well with no bull Sh1t. Thank you....
Excellent tutorial that helped me solve my own problem. Well done. Thank you.
The regulator needs to be connected to the battery which acts as a buffer and stabilizes the voltage.disconnecting battery from regulator and running engine will cause damage to regulator.Thats why your getting funny readings out of your regulator and possible damaging it whitout the battery connected.Excessive voltage drop could mean corroded or loose wiring or corroded ignition switch.
Thanks for this vodeo, I was wondering why my new alternator wasn't charging my battery
does anyone know ,,, i bought a husqvarna zero turn no engine wire are cut to a mess ,,, its not charging i need to know where the wires go ,, from the stator box on the side of the engine to wherever it goes from there ,, two yellow wires and a red wire where do they go > it has an amp gauge with no wires hooked to it ,,,,i have the electric clutch working and the steering safety switches working ,, but thats it have no idea where the wires go from the two yellow wires and red wire ,,where do they go ????
My suggestion to you is to Google manuals for your mower model. The manufacturer may have them online and often other sites have them as well. Sometimes, even when the manufacturer don't list them. Good luck. By the way, some older Husqvarna mower were built but MTD. MTD made mowers for several different brands, you might find one that is similar?
So weird I have looked all over this engine for the regulator, yes I pulled the blower housing, any idea 🤔🤔🤔
I've been told by other watchers that on some tractors there isn't a voltage regulator like in my video and there are a couple of diodes in the wiring harness that serve as a "poor man's" rectifier and provide just enough rectification to keep,a battery charged. This is mostly on large single cylinder engines. I remember seeing a video on TH-cam showing this set up. Wish I could be more help. Good luck!
@@doncarlson8391 well thanks for the reply my friend, I guess this is one of those engines, i double checked myself just today looking for it, and I haven't heard about the diod charge thing at all, I will do some more research 😎😎
Very informative and well presented. The difference in the battery voltage at the battery and at the engine could be due to the small resistance in the ammeter. An ammeter is really just a voltmeter across a known resistance. The only thing about the video would have been a better explanation as to why the good regulator only puts out 0.49V and the bad one puts out more.
n4mwd thanks for the comments. I couldn't explain why the good and bad regulators produced the voltages they did when disconnected so that is why I showed the voltages measured inline, with the jumper. This showed the viewer another way to check output voltage and diagnose the system. Thanks for watching!
I tested mine and ordered a new regulator. I'm thinking that the Briggs regulator must work similar to a motorcycle regulator. Those usually work by shorting the output to produce a voltage based on the current draw. Remember the alternator put out about 25 volts. So with only a meter for a load, the output voltage is negligible. If you connect a 12V light bulb to the load, the voltage would likely shoot up. Thanks for a great video.
I got the new regulator. The battery now charges, but only at certain RPMs. ??? The mower has an ammeter and I used the blade clutch as a load which draws about 5 amps. At about 1/3rd throttle, the system just breaks even. Faster than that and the alternator stops charging and the battery discharges. Any ideas what this could be? Bad regulator? Bad Stator? I get 20 VAC when I tested the stator using your method.
n4mwd that is strange! I would trouble shoot it by breaking the system into sections. When I checked my stator I got 26 vac at about half throttle, I assume the voltage would be higher at max rpms. Do you get a good ac output from idle to wide open rpms? Based on my test, you should get at least 26 volts. If that looks good, run a wire from the regulator output lead directly to the positive terminal on the battery. If it charges correctly, something is wrong in the mowers wiring, key switch (if the circuit goes through the switch, like mine does) or the amp meter, or ??? I would also temporarily try running a ground wire directly from the engine to the negative terminal on the battery, to rule out bad grounds. You could also look for voltage drops using your volt meter, by attaching one lead to the engine and the other to battery negative terminal to test the grounds. And you could do the same on the positive side using a jumper like I had at the regulator and then touching battery positive with the other lead. I'd expect to see a voltage drop less than one volt. Good luck, I'd be interested to hear what you find!
I cut the AC terminals off the old regulator to get a good connection for testing. I got about 29VAC @ WOT. However, after the engine was warm, it dropped to about 26 VAC @ WOT. The AC output voltage was linear to the RPM. No sweet spots.
After reconnecting the new regulator, I grounded the regulator to the negative battery and there was no change. The regulator output shows a straight path to the positive battery through the ammeter, fuse and keyswitch. If there was a loose wire somewhere, it wouldn't fail at a particular RPM. In fact, I was able to mow my lawn in slow motion and keep the battery charged by keeping it at 1/3rd throttle the whole time. The sweet spot where it sort of worked did not change.
I'm thinking that I can either order a new regulator or pop the flywheel and take a look at the stator. I flipped the potting epoxy off the old regulator like you did in your other video and the PCB was nothing but cold solder joints.
I made a video of what is going on, but computer troubles prevent me from uploading it at this time.
This video was extremely helpful thank u very much👌
george bonney90, you're very welcome. Thanks for watching!
Great video. I have a question. The alternator has two wires coming from it with AC current. The battery only has red wire going to it with DC current, so where's the black wire to the battery connection in the voltage regulator?
The case of the voltage regulator is ground or you can think of it as being a black wire. The negative/black cable coming off the battery is bolted to the frame so everything else bolted to the frame or something metal that's bolted to it, is grounded. Thanks for watching.
@@doncarlson8391 Thank you
sounds like a valve adjustment is needed the compression release is not working correctly.
richard cranium you were right about the valves being out of adjustment making the engine hard to crank. One cylinder was ok, the clearance on the valves in the other were .008" and .010". Adjusted them to factory specs and the engine cranks with no hesitation. Thanks.
Doesn't a voltage check of the battery with the engine not running compared to a voltage check with it running accomplish the same thing?
Simple explanation and diagnosis!! great job! Thanks
if you have a bad battery, would it make the voltage drop at the battery when checking while running? I hope that is clear, we started the mower and the voltage was 12.57 but the battery was dead... would we loose that much voltage from trying to charge a BAD battery? thank you