battery charging issue has me stumped

[FishHog]

Pretty much confirms what I’ve said all along… your battery is bad.

4 different batteries now. I've ruled out battery. Original was tested fine. 2 more from my trolling motor setup that have been used lots this spring and are working fine, and one from my lawn tractor just as an experiment of using a low charged battery (small was easy to drain down quickly)

 

[FishHog]

yet at several posts OP says battery charges up fine, runs the starter fine and no apparent "voltage change" when hooked up to a different battery (lawn tractor battery)

well in theory with RPMs current/volts should flow out of the stator/rectifier and to eliminate the battery " option" as the source or the cause a simple 12v filament bulb could be attached to the output of the rectifier alone and grounded on the engine frame may solve the mystery

IF the rectifier/stator assembly is pushing out volts and amps the bulb should light up.If it does not the problem is engine side. if it does problem is battery side but all his batteries can't be bad can they ?

An ammeter would do the same to observe things between rectifier and battery.

the ground hog is out again...snow is all gone

Thanks for that. Will try with the test light idea. Don't have a DC amp meter. But that's a good explanation of why I might be seeing what I'm seeing.
Out of town for a couple weeks so will report back when I return, but really appreciate the ideas.

 

[Crosbyman]

check your VOM most can handle 10 amps dc curent unless your's is a small .. very basic version .

 

[FishHog]

check your VOM most can handle 10 amps dc curent unless your's is a small .. very basic version .

guess I need to read the manual. Thanks

 

[dingbat]

yet at several posts OP says battery charges up fine, runs the starter fine and no apparent "voltage change" when hooked up to a different battery (lawn tractor battery)

Certainly missed the part about 4 different batteries

No apparent voltage change would suggest “normal” operation but im guessing no apparent voltage change means the voltage changes as before…lol

if it does problem is battery side but all his batteries can't be bad can they

Odds are they are not bad, but he still has not ruled out that the voltage he’s looking at is not real.

Could be a bad diode in the rectifier. Very easy to check with a scope, but measuring the output for AC at the battery will answer the question rather quickly.

What is the rated output of the stator?
140 watts or so? Easy math from there.

 

[Faztbullet]

Make sure you have 12V on the purple wire or rect/reg will not come on

 

[Crosbyman]

here is another option ... remove rect/reg .

test stator specs for your engine

if stator ok and generates AC

hook up the stator AC source to cheap amazon full wave rectifier
direct connect the Amazon unit to the battery and check for volts going up with rpms

if your's is a 3 phase get a 3 phase rect. and hook up all 3 stator wires

most likely ..... if plain 2 wires from stator get a regular full wave (square) rectifier ..

Amazon.ca : full wave bridge rectifier

if nothing works take it in a shop.

 

[stresspoint]

i seen the green death on a jet ski years ago, , the cable seemed to carry normal voltage , when it was loaded with amps it would fail and the battery would not accept a charge..
i did the same eliminated wiring as i was getting voltage reading s that appeared normal but the starter would not fire.

try hooking a jumper cable direct to the solenoid battery post and a direct ground to the motor eliminating the regular cabling . see if that sends charge though tp the battery .

 

[Crosbyman]

All good suggestions yet OP said 0 ohms measured from rectifier output to batery end of the cable . I asked several time to clean all connection points ....across the solenoid

In telcos whenever we had green death on cable pairs joints/splices a good shot of DC 130v fromthe CO. would clear things up

 

[FishHog]

All good suggestions yet OP said 0 ohms measured from rectifier output to batery end of the cable . I asked several time to clean all connection points ....across the solenoid

In telcos whenever we had green death on cable pairs joints/splices a good shot of DC 130v fromthe CO. would clear things up

It is a good suggestion and I will give it a try as its easy. Although I kind of think I ruled out that issue as I did clean all connections (they were all spotless, but are more spotless) and I'm showing 0 ohms on all wire runs. Wouldn't corrosion add resistance? Either way I'll give it a try once I'm back home in a couple weeks.

Truly appreciate all the advice and ideas.

 

[Crosbyman]

It is a good suggestion and I will give it a try as its easy. Although I kind of think I ruled out that issue as I did clean all connections (they were all spotless, but are more spotless) and I'm showing 0 ohms on all wire runs. Wouldn't corrosion add resistance? Either way I'll give it a try once I'm back home in a couple weeks.

Truly appreciate all the advice and ideas.

I am not suggesting you zap things at 130v... that is for Telcos only clearing oxyde on cable pairs ...if that is what you had in mind !

 

[stresspoint]

if the cable is rotted inside the sheathing no matter how clean the terminal is there will be a problem.

 

[saltchuckmatt]

The easiest way to load test the battery cables is to load test the battery cables.

Go to the starter side of solenoid or relay and see how many volts you have while cranking.

Can't remember the exact voltage but 10.5 volts or so is acceptable and much lower than that it not.

If it's lower than that then you know it's the battery wires back or the other way.

 

[FishHog]

Good tips guys. Thanks
Will give them a try

 

[saltchuckmatt]

Good tips guys. Thanks
Will give them a try

By the way, let us all see a hog of a fish sometime.