LX178 Electrical System-Charging

[CaptMarion]

What charges the battery on an LX178 with Kawasaki Water-cooled VTwin 15 HP when the engine is running?

Is there a generator or alternator somewhere? I looked pretty closely, but I couldn't see anything that jumped out at me. Unfortunately I don't have a shop manual.

While it isn't too much of an issue to just throw a charger on the battery every so often, I'd like to get it working correctly.


Thanks,
-KM
JD LX178
1946 Ford 2N
1950 Ford 8N

 

[rayikeo2]

The battery can be charged the same as a car battery. Connect charger pos cable first, Neg cable next ( recommended to frame ), plug in charger. Charge at 10 amps or less for 6 to 12 hours. How old is the battery? Is your water cooled motor by Kawasaki or other?

 

[CaptMarion]

I know how to put it on charge-- that's what I've been doing for at least 5 years now. I actually just went and bought a new battery today as it had a several-year-old battery on it that would discharge enough after a couple of times mowing that the PTO clutch wouldn't engage.

It's the 15-HP Kawasaki Water-cooled VTwin...

What I'm asking is, does the lawnmower have something that provides a charge while the motor is running? Like the alternator in a car or on a bigger tractor...?

 

[rayikeo2]

Under the flywheel there is an electrical coil that charges the battery. There is also a voltage regulater. The charging coil does the same thing as an alternotor.
My 17 HP charges at 15 amp regulated. Yours is probably the same. I found the specs on yours it charges at 15 amp just like mine. LX279 My original battery lasted 10 years before replacement. Never had to charge it. It was a heavy duty 500 CCA battery. Replaced it with a 495 CCA from JD.

 

[CaptMarion]

Okay, that's getting somewhere.

Thanks for the info Rayikeo. Is there a good place online to find info about these? Is the shop manual available online anywhere (like a .pdf or something)?

K7LN- I'll poke my head around the thing and see if I can't find the wires leading to where he's talking about.


Thanks guys

 

[rayikeo2]

I don't know of any online manuals that are available to view. However if you ask specific questions that you need answered some posters here might have a manual and are able to relay the answers back to you here. Do you think the charging system is not working? Or are you wanting to replace something or do some testing?

 

[CaptMarion]

I'm almost 100% sure that something in the charging system isn't working right. I don't think it's the coil on the flywheel or the stators... I'm prone to think it's a problem in the wiring.

The symptom is that primarily the battery gets discharged through the process of starting the tractor and running it to mow. While the discharge from just the ignition isn't anywhere enough to run the battery down, the discharge from starting it and also from sitting is enough that the battery is noticeably discharged (cranks a lot slower, sometimes the solenoid just clicks and it won't even crank) after starting it and running it a few times.

Since we mow for a good couple of hours at a time, you'd think it would keep the battery charged if the charging system worked correctly. I had to replace the battery (about 7 years old) today because after just starting the tractor and mowing for a few hours, if you shut off the blades, the battery didn't have sufficient amperage to re-engage the mower PTO when you flipped the switch. We also disconnected the headlights as they would discharge the battery very quickly. (I can't remember exactly, but I think they would discharge it even with the lightswitch "OFF", leading me to believe a wiring problem).

There's a diagram of the wiring harness on the Deere website (you can view the LX178 parts manual online), but it isn't 100% clear.

 

[rayikeo2]

I think the voltage regulator is a solid state plug in module. There is probably an easy way to test the output. I would think that with the mower running if the alternator/charger was working it would be generating enough amperage to run the electric PTO even without a charged battery. Someone can probably answer that for you. I have access to some information but wouldn.t be able to check my source until tomorrow sometime. See if the problem continues with the new battery. Maybe that will take care of it but if the headlights still draw down the battery there is a drain someplace or a week or no charge. There is a chance the battery was the whole problem if it had a dead cell then it would not take a charge even it it was getting the full 15 amps.

 

[CaptMarion]

Okay, we'll see how it goes. Thanks for checking on this stuff for me.

 

[thl]

Ok.

So the question remains. How does one test the voltage regulator to see if it is the problem?

Thanks!