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General Product Question

    Cruz Rodriguez
    With a fully charged brand new battery; voltage across the...
    General Product Question posted June 26, 2016 by Cruz Rodriguez 
    192 Views, 2 Comments
    Question:
    With a fully charged brand new battery; voltage across the battery posts, reads 12.53 vdc.
    1) What should voltage read across these same posts with the engine running, if the regulator is working properly? On a car, the voltage would read about 1 vdc higher; would that be the same for a lawn tractor?
    2) In the schematic it says charging system output should be 9 to 16 amps. If that's the way we should determine adequate charging output; wouldn't it be nicer to just include a built-in simple amp meter?
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    Answer

     

    • Eugene Rounds

      Which engine charging system are referring to? Some are half wave rectified without an regulator and other are full wave rectified with a regulator. Those with regulators usually are bewteen 13.8 and 14.5 vdc. Unregulated can be as much as 16 vdc and that is an average voltage with peaks above that. The battery acts as capacitor and load that smooths out the unregulated voltage.

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      • Cruz Rodriguez

        Thanks Eugene for your assistance. I did find detailed information on my question at my Kohler engine's manufacturer's web site. I downloaded the PDF for the SERVICE manual for my exact engine. It revealed, as you stated, that the voltage should be between 13.8 to 14.7 vdc between Batt (+)  and a ground point. It also provided some detailed step by step instructions on how to troubleshoot this and other issues. They also provided some very good wiring diagrams. Anyway, I did find my issue which was a connector which had been factory installed in a *** position. Over the years it had been making a very loose contact with one of the 28v terminals of the Regulator, and from the stator; which was evident by the pitting caused by its arcing. I guess with vibration it finally separated enough to not provide sufficient current flow, and thus no charging voltage to the battery. I cleaned of the pitted area with a wire wheel, being very careful not to remove any of the epoxy(?) sealant. Chks. 4.0

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