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Troubleshooting Briggs and Stratton 16 amp charging system

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Troubleshooting Briggs and Stratton 16 amp charging system

Postby Cub Cadet 126 » Thu Jul 12, 2018 7:13 pm

I am having trouble with the charging system on Briggs and Stratton 31H777-0110-E1 engine on an Ariens 1540 Zoom zero turn mower, model # 915403.It has the 16 amp charging system. The battery keeps going dead on it. I have charged the battery and put it back in the mower and let it sit for a few days and it stays charged. The owner says that it goes dead after he has mowed with it four or five times.When I picked the mower up the battery was dead. I checked the leads coming from the stator and it is putting out 30 volts AC. I checked the rectifier/ regulator output using the DC shunt it shows in the Briggs service manual. When you first start the engine it will show 7 amps and drop and level off at about 1.2 amps and then to continue to drop more slowly to .9 amps. It doesn't seem to make any difference when you engage the electric clutch. The engine is running at 3200 rpms. In the Briggs manual it gives a range of 3-16 amps for the 16 amp system . Does any one know if 3 amps is the minimum amps it should put out to be considered working properly or will it go lower than 3 amps if the battery is in good condition. I tried putting a wire with an in line fuse from the output lead directly to the battery and the amperage was still the same. I tried a rectifier regulator off another engine and the amperage was the same.
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Re: Troubleshooting Briggs and Stratton 16 amp charging syst

Postby KE4AVB » Thu Jul 12, 2018 7:26 pm

Do a current draw test or ohms check on the electric PTO clutch. These electric clutch should not be pulling more 7 amps (resistance of 1.6 ohms minimum). These electric clutches can be partially shorted and still work even if they are pulling up to 20 amps.

I got one customer here that refuses to replace his clutch even with blowing 20 amp fuses because it is still working; although, it would last too much longer as it is melting down the connectors. He says since it works there is nothing wrong with it but he still having to charge his battery every time he mows.
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Re: Troubleshooting Briggs and Stratton 16 amp charging syst

Postby Arkie » Fri Jul 13, 2018 4:22 pm

KE4AVB wrote:Do a current draw test or ohms check on the electric PTO clutch. These electric clutch should not be pulling more 7 amps (resistance of 1.6 ohms minimum). These electric clutches can be partially shorted and still work even if they are pulling up to 20 amps.

I got one customer here that refuses to replace his clutch even with blowing 20 amp fuses because it is still working; although, it would last too much longer as it is melting down the connectors. He says since it works there is nothing wrong with it but he still having to charge his battery every time he mows.


Yep, seen them types. He will probably burn out his stator if not already.

Seems some people just hope they die before they have to fix something correctly. (just getting by) ;)

I prefer to not get involved working on those types equipment. (more than once) ;)
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Re: Troubleshooting Briggs and Stratton 16 amp charging syst

Postby bluemower » Sat Jul 14, 2018 10:18 pm

Assuming the current you observed is positive (not discharging), the numbers sound correct. These numbers however, only indicate what is going in or out of the battery. They do not necessarily indicate what the voltage regulator is putting out. Some of the amperage may be going somewhere else - like the blade clutch. Try this check.

Turn off the engine. Leave the shunt and your meter attached to the battery. Make sure the meter leads are attached to indicate the correct direction of the current. Disconnect the blade clutch, voltage regulator, head lights, anti after fire solenoid, and anything that draws currents. Observe the meter - should be zero. Now plug each item in while observing the meter. See if anything changes the meter reading. You may need to select the micro setting to check the voltage regulator.

Try the same test with the engine off and the key turned to the on position. See what the draw is for each item.

The suggestion may give some clue to help find the problem. From your description, the battery is charging when the engine is running. This leaves me to think the battery is draining when the unit is parked. Sometimes a battery may have an internal short that needs 5 - 7 days to drain the battery. If the voltage regulator is always connected to a voltage source, the regulator may draw a small amount of current even when everything is turned off.

if you wish to see what the voltage regulator delivers, acquire a clamp meter with DC ability. Clamp over the red lead on the voltage regulator. Run the engine at full power when checking.
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Re: Troubleshooting Briggs and Stratton 16 amp charging syst

Postby KE4AVB » Sun Jul 15, 2018 1:39 pm

One thing to remember is that the Briggs DC stunt only indicates if the battery is charging or draining and not he overall output of the voltage regulator. With a fully charged battery the current charge will very low but depending on what using electrical energy the voltage regulator may still be putting as much as it maximum output and not register on this piece of test equipment. After the voltage regulator output is exceeded then the battery supplies whatever else is needed.

This is one reason I have not brought the DC shunt as a regular clamp amp meter is more useful. I don't know why Briggs still insists dealers to buy this piece of test equipment when are there better ways of checking current charges and drains.
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Re: Troubleshooting Briggs and Stratton 16 amp charging syst

Postby Arkie » Sun Jul 15, 2018 8:58 pm

A UEI DL49 is user friendly clamp on for DC amps 0-400 amps and will test starters amps draw. (no fooling around with trying to series connect shunts) Using shuts to read DC amps is old school and not necessary with proper modern test equipment.
You can review the owners manual on-line to get an idea. There are others but the UEI DL49 just seems to keep running like the engergizer Bunny. About $100 new MAX. I have a craftsman that reads DC amps, think it was around $60 but I always reach for the UEI.

I have some expensive Flukes of all kinds, that require additional optional clamp on adapters for DC amps above 10 amps, but I never use them around greasy mechanical stuff.

A Battery LOAD Tester that will apply a 100-200 amp load is good to have around at around $40.
My battery load tester has even found NEW lawn tractor batteries that were bad straight from the store. (allowing for the exchange return within the short warranty period)

You need to check to see if the battery has any current drain while the key is off. Should be 0 or less than 1 milliamp.

I've seen batteries work ok until they are stored for few days, then they go dead or weak.
A battery load tester will usually detect such.
If not anything apparent electrical testing give it a donor battery.
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Re: Troubleshooting Briggs and Stratton 16 amp charging syst

Postby KE4AVB » Mon Jul 16, 2018 4:29 am

Yes new batteries can be bad right off the start.

With older batteries I have seen as Bluemower suggested for them to have internal or external shorts draining them. This is where the plastic casing become conductive on external shorts. The internal shorts can be the result from freezing of the electrolyte or extreme sulfcation of the plates of extremely discharged batteries. On the external drain you can actually measure voltage from either one of the posts to the casing. I think the weirdest thing I seen was a couple batteries that flipped their output voltages while in storage. I have seen this only twice and it was on my personal vehicles.

As Arkie said extreme sulfcation (oxidation) of batteries can be found by load testing. Testing by charge voltage alone can be misleading at times as surface charge can make them appear to good. I am suspicion of any discharged battery that appear to quickly recharge. Through I don't have a 500 amp carbon pile load tester, the electronic battery tester I have from HFT seems to find most of these as the battery resistance will show up as higher then normal or have CCA much lower than the battery rating. I have manage to save several batteries from early death by desulfcation of the plates. Usually by using my 60 watts unregulated solar panel which does this by sending a 20v+ pure DC charge through the battery until the battery internal resistance drops and pulls a higher current thus loading my panel down to the 16v or low level voltage output. There is also battery chargers that are designed to do this desulfcation too. It is hit or miss doing this as the damage maybe beyond recovery. Of the battery chargers I have I like my solar panel the best.

Most times I find internal shorts when a fully charged battery reads less than normal output voltage after it sits 30 minutes or so off charge indicating short cells, usually close to 1.2-1.5 voltage per cell drop for each shorted cell. Many times these batteries will not ever fully charge according to a charger as they never reach 13+ volts for a 12v battery. Most cheap battery chargers just keep trying to charge the battery by sending a higher amperage on a fully charged battery as their resistance to charging never becomes enough to stop the charging process as they depends on the battery reaching the 13+v charged voltage.

But we need to hear back from Cub Cadet 126 to see what he has found on his problem or if he has resolved the issue.
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Re: Troubleshooting Briggs and Stratton 16 amp charging syst

Postby Arkie » Sat Jul 21, 2018 2:25 pm

Here is a clean looking UEI DL 49 on flea bay priced within reason. (like is discussed in this thread)

Buyer if not familiar with the unit would have to download the user/owners manual.

Keep a heads up for the itty bitty letters indicating low bat. It won't read correctly if the low bat warning is on the screen and it's not easy to see.
9v transistor radio battery will normally last couple years or longer.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/142875489193?ul_noapp=true
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