charging light tx1500's

trx400r6 · Oct 15, 2015

hi all recently replaced my entire charging system on my tx1510 (G174) as the previous owner gutter all lights and the alternator wasn't working... replaced alternator and charged at 17.3 volts so had to throw a regulator in as well...

my problem is I did the charging system but haven't added all my lights yet... I did replace the battery charge light as it has to be in the system for the alternator to work, but now since the only power draw is glow plugs when on and the starter my battery light flashes on and off faily quickly when the battery I charged all the way up... (alternator switching on and off on and off constantly cause of no amperge or voltage draw)

can anyone with factory light system tell me if anything uses power all the time when its running? do the amber flashers/ turn lights stay on all the time when its running so there is some amp draw?

thanks!
KC

Ilikeurtractor · Oct 16, 2015

Mine did the flashing charge indicator light when the contacts in the alternator plug were shorting out as the engine vibrated. It is common for the plastic alternator connector (wiring end) to essentially disintegrate over time. If that is ok I don't really have any other suggestions. It should not blink regardless of being lightly loaded or not. I'm not really sure what would happen if the alternator gets over-loaded as far as the charge indicator goes. The flashers are switched on all my tractors but hard to tell what someone may have done over the years to your tractor. Keep us posted if you find it.

trx400r6 · Oct 16, 2015

thanks! I was just curious as to the flashers and stuff... I had a used but good headlight bulb in the shop from the wifes car so just messing around I hooked that up with jumper wires off the battery quick and as soon and I put a load on the battery with the bulb the charge light stops flashing instantly...

my plastic connector for my alternator is gone already I just used insulated female spade connectors on it instead of the plug since I had them here so shouldn't be shorting but I will go through them..

Ilikeurtractor · Oct 17, 2015

Thinking about the flashers some more, on my TX2160 it may have an aftermarket switch for the flashers. The older TX models used a left/right turn switch that I just jumpered so both lights flash instead of just one side. That seems odd about having to have a load on the alternator to keep the charge light from flashing. As far as I'm aware no electrical draws are normally active other than battery charging and whatever current it takes to build the alternator field in the system unless lights are being run or other electrical devicess of course .

trx400r6 · Oct 17, 2015

that's what I think the problems is... there has to be something in the system and drains a little bit of power from the factory... without any lights or anything currently the only thing my battery ever powers is the glow plugs and starter on start up, otherwise I have no electrical usage at all so after running for a few hours with no usage I think the battery is charged all the way and the regulator doesn't really know what to do so it just kicks everything on and off and on and off and so on...

shouldn't be like that in my opinion but it does somewhat make sense to me and by putting a load on it everything works great so I think factory new there had to be something that uses a tiny bit of power all the time when its running.

KC

Ilikeurtractor · Oct 17, 2015

According to the electrical diagram, the lamp relay energizes (lamp goes out) when a predetermined voltage level is present on the 'N' line of the alternator relative to ground. Looking at my past notes, the lamp relay energizes at around 4.6VDC and deactivates around 1.4VDC - at least for the one I tested which was working. There are now solid-state replacement regulators for these that do away with all the mechanical relays and should be more reliable, but the old ones can still be serviced by replacing the relays which are the most likely to cause them to fail. Was your replacement regulator the original mechanical style or a solid-state (transistorized) one?

There is something wrong if it is going on-and-off, even under no load (none of my tractors do this and I can't imagine anybody buying a new tractor back then that would accept this), but I guess it depends on how much it bothers you whether or not it's worth tracking down. You might need an o-scope to help diagnose the issue.

trx400r6 · Oct 17, 2015

I replaced mine withe the old mechanical style just so I diddnt have to mess around too much wiring... its very possible that the "new old stock" from the 80's is a bad regulator... do you have any info on switching to the newer solid state ones or any part numbers that are plug and play?

Ilikeurtractor · Oct 18, 2015

I bought a couple off eBay a few years ago - they were listed under "Satoh regulator" which used the same engines and alternator setup and, most importantly, the same wiring connector. I think I paid $40 shipped at the time and they have increased a bit I see. Which reminds me that you probably don't want to throw away any old parts. As I stated earlier most of these tractor parts are repairable for cheap. When you start dishing out $85 for a regulator and $200+ for an alternator it can get expensive fast and you might not even get a replacement that fits exactly.

trx400r6 · Oct 18, 2015

yea im pretty good about doing things on the cheap... I did a lot of cross referencing part numbers and found out that the alternator is the same one used in a 1974 ford courier and the older little mazda pickups so I bought one of those from napa auto parts for $41.99 the regulator I got for like $30 shipped off of ebay which upon further thought might actually be a solid state cause there are no screws to take it apart or anything and the wire just go in the back all sealed up.... the old mechanical style usually have a cover you can take off if im not mistaken...

Ilikeurtractor · Oct 18, 2015

Yes, the original mechanical regulators have a cover with one or more screws holding it together. Starters from the Fords and Dodge Colts of the 70's work too and are cheap. Sometime you need to drill one of the holes out in the starter mount though if it's threaded. That was a good price for the regulator especially considering it was NOS.