B & S Vanguard not charging

[geneP]

I have 29v ac on the terminals from inside the engine shroud and less than one volt dc on the red (center )wire out of the rectifier. It's on a Cub Cadet and the manual says it is a 15 amp regulated charging system. Is it safe to say I have a bad rectifier? Is there anything else I need to check? Thanking you in advance,
Gene

 

[Fordlords]

Check for any fuses that might be in the circuit, but if there are none its safe to say you'll need a new regulator/rectifier.

-Fordlords-

 

[geneP]

Yesterday I took the regulator off the engine and saw a burned spot on the circuit board. I dug through the epoxy sealant with my pocket knife and found that a soldered connection had burned open. I resoldered it, reinstalled it and mowed for about 1 1/2 hours. When I finished mowing I put my volt meter on the battery and it was charging at 16.5 v. That worries me a bit, but it tells me that with a proper regulator I could get back to charging normally.

 

[mwood]

16.5 isn't really that high for a charging battery. I would have expected more line 14.5 or 15, but it doesn't seem too bad.

 

[Fordlords]

That charging voltage is a little high, but the battery might have been a bit run down from not having been charged for a while. Keep an eye on it, and if it stays that high I would get a new R/R, or else you might be digging in deeper later to replace both the R/R AND the stator-- no fun. Cool to hear you went into the R/R itself and could work on it, most folks would not be that bold and daring

-Fordlords-

 

[geneP]

I had just charged the battery with the charger, so it was at full charge. I wasn't comfortable with 16v, so I dug around in a box of parts from a blown up Vanguard and found the regulator from it and put it on the mower. Checking the output wire with it disconnected from the battery feed wire it read no voltage, but I hooked it up and mowed with it for a while and checked at the battery and it was charging at 13.5v. If it continues this way, I'm happy.