exmark battery charging system help

[greenthumb]

these months mechanical problems seems to be my exmark z battery is not charging or something. the machine is 5 years old so I put a new battery in a month or two ago because I had to charge it to get it started figured five years on a lawn battery was good. I bought a new battery from tsc and put that in last weekend and today I was mowing and the thing stalls out and the battery is dead. it cranks over just not enough juice to start then of course dies when I try starting a few times. on exmarks are they supposed to charge the battery as you operate? why would a dead battery cause the machine to die while its running? any help before I load it up and spend who knows what amount at the local dealer to tell me something I could have done thanks

 

[studor]

I think (but do not know since I don't have one) that that machine uses a flywheel magneto to charge the battery and run the electrical system. It probably has two fuses -- check those. Sounds like either a fuse or the mag is not functioning the way it should -- just a thought

 

[Iplayfarmer]

If your charging system isn't putting out juice, the engine will sometimes pull power from the battery to spark. Once you run down to where you don't have enough power for spark, the engine dies. The easy test is to re-charge your battery, start the mower, and then check voltage accross your battery terminals. It should be something like 14 volts. If it's only 12-13 volts, you have a bad charging system. It could be as easy as a bad fuse, or it could be a bad regulator.

 

[3Bladz]

Check your voltage regulator connections. Especially the ground.

 

[greenthumb]

a few new parts to this. first i forgot to mention the engine is a kohler 27 air cooled engine. the book says it has a flywheel alternator. I found the two 20 amp blade fuses and one of them was blown. I am assuming that one had somthing to do with the charging system. I am going to replace when i get to town to get a new one and see if it keeps blowing. if so i guess i need to trace a short. if not hopefully problem fixed well see.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

a few new parts to this. first i forgot to mention the engine is a kohler 27 air cooled engine. the book says it has a flywheel alternator. I found the two 20 amp blade fuses and one of them was blown. I am assuming that one had somthing to do with the charging system. I am going to replace when i get to town to get a new one and see if it keeps blowing. if so i guess i need to trace a short. if not hopefully problem fixed well see.

Get a handfull of those fuses!! Shorts are tricky, and sometimes take a few tries to really fix.