OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions On Ride On Mowers Questions On Ride On Mowers Frames Bolens Charging

Hi again, i have a question about the charging circuit. my bolens st160 charges up to around 5-10 amps when flat out but when i engage the cutter it drops under 0. after cutting for a couple hours the battery is fairly flattened. how do i fix this?

Thanks

Gary

A couple of clarifications are needed:
1. Does the engine speed drop greatly when you are mowing? If you run the engine at the mowing speed when the mower is unloaded, does the charging current drop to zero? If so you may have a simple fault like a loose alternator belt.
2. Does some additional electrical load come into play when you are mowing? If so, what is it and why does it exist?

Hi Again Grumpy, the revvs do drop a bit but not a huge amount.
and there is no other load on the mower. This mower has an electric cutter clutch system btw.

Oh a bit more on your post, the mower charges fine with no load, higher the rpm higher the current. so, if i run the motor flatout (current around 8 amps or so) then flick the cutter in, it drops to negative, drawing battery power. No alternator belt, i'm not sure how the charge system works on this thing, i have the manual, must sit down and go through the electrics side.

Some serious information is likely to be required here. Seems like there are two generic possibilities: too little charge or too much demand. Since it charges 8 amps with no load and negative with the cutter solenoid energized, the solenoid must be consuming more than 8 amps, or the charge rate is decreased for some reason when the solenoid is turned on.
1. What is the specified current draw of the solenoid?
2. Is there any switching arrangement that changes the alternator output when the solenoid is turned on?

To clarify what I am getting at here, I used to have a Honda step-through bike with an alternator direct-driven on the end of the crankshaft. It just turned out a couple of amps more than the ignition system required normally, but when you switched on the lights, some extra alternator poles came on line and output went up to 4 amps. Now if some amateur messed with the wiring, so current output went down instead of up when you switched on the lights ...

Come to think of it, i think the switches may have been replaced on the dash. I know one switch is totally missing. This is gonna be a nightmare with all the wiring behind there but i do have the diagrams so thats a start. I just hope they rewired it with the same colour code or it will be a major pain. The headlights have been removed and associated switch. Thanks for that Grumpy. i'll get more info and reply back. T

If this is a briggs and stratton engine, also pull the flywheel off and clean the charging system under it, it will help with the efficiency of the charging system if nothing else.