Scotts battery discharge

[spikeit53]

Own a Scotts 25/54 that has had a charging light problem for years and finally bit the dust. History; for yrs the discharge light would come on for a while then not. Sometimes it'd stay on the entire time I cut grass but never had a dead battery problem. I'd replaced the regulator but changed nothing. Last yr the light stayed on all of the time but in cutting 2.5 acres it never presented a problem. This yr if you run it at length then shut it off the battery is dead. I recently parted out a mower that I used for a back up that finally blew the 25hp Kohler and kept the stator and regulator. Meaning I know by the amp gauge and the way it ran it was charging. Lights would dim at idle then brighten with the rpm increase. I put the donor stator/regulator on my Scotts and here's where I'm at. The oil and discharge lights used to light when you turned the key on but now oddly the discharge light doesn't. When I start it and even when I increase the rpm's the discharge light stays off. As soon as I engage the pto the discharge light comes on. Turn it off the light goes out AND for some reason my headlights don't work now. Battery is pretty new, terminals are clean, 15amp fuse is good. I checked voltage output at the stator terminals and one side (two white wires, middle purple = battery) shows up to 30 amps depending on rpm's, the other white wire shows nothing. Is this normal? I also replaced the donor regulator with my original but nothing changed. When I had the flywheel off I checked and all magnets are in place. I've read where some encountered a problem because the regulator mounts to plastic thus not grounded so they added a ground wire. I did this too grounding to the battery but it made no difference. I'm pulling hair here and the grass is growing! What am I missing???

 

[steve_in_mo]

If you are measuring the regulator across the two white terminals, 30 volts AC is correct and a good reading. The middle terminal
should read 14 +/- DC to ground. You may have bad grounds and/or blown fuses or circuit breaker.
The wiring diagram, and even a new harness, is available from John Deere.

 

[Steve@Advance]

I would look into the oil and charge light not coming on.

They are probably on the same circuit and have lost power. Once they are working it may start charging and the head lights working. Having a wiring diagram will be a big help, test not guess.

As a final test, check the voltage across the battery. Revved up it should show about 13+ volts.

 

[spikeit53]

Sorry, I wasn't clear about the oil/charging lights. The oil light DOES light but the charging light doesn't with the key turned to on but it will light up when I engage the pto.

 

[Russ from MN]

Possibly the pto clutch is drawing too many amps? But most likely the charging system just isn't putting out enough. Use a voltmeter, it will tell you a lot.

 

[mozark]

I have a scotts s2348 and the charge light would stay on for a long time. I had to adjust the gap on the electric pto clutch. I also found corrosion between the nuts and the cable eyelets on the solenoid. No more charge light staying on

 

[spikeit53]

Update; yesterday eve I decided to cut our backyard thinking the battery would last that long. It started, the charge light came on with the pto, remained on for seconds, then flickered and went out. Because of that, I cut the backyard then the front which is about an acre, no problem, Today my wife got it to cut out back; no light and no problem. To give you an idea of the mower, it's a 2001, always shed kept with only 287 hrs meaning it isn't a rust bucket left out in the rain and such. It still looks like new down to the nuts/bolts except for a few scrapes on the plastic. Not to say it can't have issues, just saying it's been taken care of and used mainly to "cut in" the yard then I use a 6' finishing mower. I've checked all the ground connections and none are rusted but I did loosen, check for rust and re-tightened the bolts. The light still came on with the pto but why it suddenly went out I dunno. I'm after a JD wiring schematic now because since I didn't actually find/fix anything, surely it'll return. Lastly, the headlights still don't work but that I can live with as opposed to the charging light being on. Thanks to all for the thoughts/ideas/suggestions; they were appreciated.

 

[Grandpa's Fords]

I have a 2000 Scotts 2348 had the same problem. I believe all responses could be correct. Mine had a loosely woven ground strap that if I didn't remove once a year and soak in a baking soda mix would cause the light. As well not charge well. I never had a machine that developed that much corrosion. The ignition switch caused it for a while, removed cleaned and reassembled with dielectric grease. Every connection seems to have excessive corrosion. Must have spare electrons flying everywhere. 3 years ago put in a new battery and went through all off the connections cleaned and greased them so good for past 2 years, haven't started it yet this year. I use this 48" for trim work I have a 6' deck on a NH for the rest. I think if I were to use it every week it may not have had these issues as badly.
I have 2 pennies on the battery and they really get loaded. I don't know what to blame it on and have had other Kohler twins that weren't like this at all.

 

[spikeit53]

Wow. Yours has it pretty bad. All of my grounds are stranded wire and none are corroded either within the wire ends nor terminals. Here's an odd one; while replacing the stator and still with the plastic shroud off, I was sitting on a bucket tightening a bolt when suddenly the motor started turning over. It's spinning full force and I'm looking to see/find a reason but nothing. Nope, the bolt I was tightening was even near a wire and the solenoid wasn't even close by. I finally had to take the battery ground loose to stop it, re-attached it, and it hasn't done this since. Personally I hate dealing with electrical issues and prefer good old oil/grease related problems any day while others are just the opposite. But your rider, Lord, that's weird and hard to figure why all the corrosion. Just curious; By chance do you live around the Gulf Coast area?

 

[Grandpa's Fords]

In the hills of NE. Pa., nearest salt water about 160 miles east. It's pretty weird it's the only piece I ever had that did this. After posting the other day I have considered a grounding strap to eliminate static. There is a lot of plastic on this thing and the mower really hums maybe building static. Who knows? They are used a lot around here in the gas fields. 50 year old cub cadet sitting next to it never had a bad wire unless I damaged it.