Electrical shuts down on 422 Robin

[SwampmanLA]

I'm just back from vacation and have been working hard to catch up on grass cutting duties. Yesterday my six month old 422 just died a couple of times with no electrical power to anything, no lights, starter, or cooling fan. I let it sit for a few minutes and everything came back on and I finished the job.

I have read in this forum that others have had similar problems and I have found one thread about this being a bad connection and I'll look for that. I also remember a thread, that I can't find, about a 'fix' for electrical problems. Does anyone remember a 'fix' for a 422 Robin electrical problem?

Thanks from the Swamp

[cqaigy2]

My fix was to replace the switch.

[BobRip]

I would turn on the lights and key, have somebody watch the lights and start wiggling fuse holders (my personal problem, there is one leading from the starter) connectors, wires on ignition switch (remove front cover) etc.

Good luck and let us know what is happening.

[DHS]

Over the years my PT has stopped running a few times when the machine twisted in an awkward position. It was almost as though the twisted position pulled the power plug. The PT would coast out of that position and start as though nothing happened.

Last week I repaired the PTO switch and noticed the ignition switch connector was nearly disconnected. I fact it did fall off during the repairs. I am not certain if this connector was ocacassionally streached and pulled to the point of not connecting during the twisting positions. It is worth checking and easy to check.

Dale

[SwampmanLA]

I found it! PT put a 30 amp fuse and holder next to the battery and that is the cause of the electrical dropouts. The fuse is right under the exhaust manifold and I am sure heat has something to do with it loosing contact. I'll let you know how I fix this one once I come up with something.

Swamp

[ldabe]

Originally Posted by SwampmanLA

I found it! PT put a 30 amp fuse and holder next to the battery and that is the cause of the electrical dropouts. The fuse is right under the exhaust manifold and I am sure heat has something to do with it loosing contact. I'll let you know how I fix this one once I come up with something.

Swamp

Swamp,
PT also puts some real cheap connections in the harness that runs along the tub on the inside and on the left hand side of the machine. They are real poor, in fact, down right CHEAP! So if what you found does not turn out to be the problem, I would check the harness.

[SwampmanLA]

Originally Posted by SwampmanLA

I found it! PT put a 30 amp fuse and holder next to the battery and that is the cause of the electrical dropouts. The fuse is right under the exhaust manifold and I am sure heat has something to do with it loosing contact. I'll let you know how I fix this one once I come up with something.

Swamp

Yesterday, I had some work to do with my 422 and it was a brutally hot day. I figured heat was going to be an issue resulting in the electrical dropouts I have been experiencing. So before I got started I lined the heat shield and fuel pump with some 1/4" foil backed insulation. My thinking was to keep as much exhaust heat out of the tub as possible and this was really easy. The result was a bit surprising, 1) my 422 never shut down unless I killed it with the key 2) run-on and back-firing was reduced 3) gas consumption was dramatically reduced! I ran it hard for hours with less than one tank of gas.

Swamp