Mistakes were made with the voltage regulator
 

Life is full of mistakes and I made a big one :( I was taking the battery out of my 129 and somehow dropped my wrench and fell on the connections to the voltage regulator and it sparked. Now it won’t turn over, no solenoid click or anything. The starter is still good. Should a new regulator fix the issue or did I fry the whole system? I feel like an idiot but things happen unfortunately

The good news is you certainly have no reason to feel like an idiot. All honest
folks will say " yup messed that one up".
Bad new is I don't have a rock solid answer as to what happened. I would
not buy any parts till I spent some time checking out what went on.
Start looking around and you will learn lots of stuff about your tractor.
Good possibility it may not be as bad as you think. Tell us what you see.:beerchug:

Ken

Ditto. Get out a Meter and start tracing the situation down.

We have a mighty storm rolling through today and from the looks of it I can’t get out there without getting sopping wet. I was just in the process of getting another cub back to working order and this put it to a screeching halt. I’ll let you guys know!

I tested the battery and it’s at 12.9 volts, tested the safety switches, ignition switch, solenoid, and no luck. No burned wires and from what I can tell there’s no fuses at all. My dad’s parts 169 has 2 inline fuses under the instrument panel, pretty sure they were for the brake lights and headlights, i’m not 100% sure if the 129 came with them and if so, mine has been rigged up with no fuses. I took the regulator off the 169 (ran and charged a few years ago) and put it on my 129, no solenoid click, nothing.

It surely can’t be this bad right? I’ll take the original regulator apart tonight and inspect it. I must note that the lone electrode on the other side of the 3 main electrodes has never been wired to anything since i’ve had it, and haven’t had any issues until my “uh-oh” happened. the metal cable that is crimped on the backside of the regulator to ground is hooked up. If the voltage regulator looks decent on the inside i’ll clean every connection since that’s the only other solution I can think of. I’ll keep everyone updated

You can disconnect the wires on the regulator as you do not need them to start the tractor. Tape them up. Your problem may be bad ground on the battery make all connections shiny and clean, same with the s/g, solenoid or the this model may have a safety switch on the pto handle. Let us know your results.

If you have the knowledge to check these items, what is stopping you to go to to the Technical Library Section, on page #5, download the 129 Wiring Diagram, and check where you are missing a voltage ??

:bigthink:

I checked the wiring diagram and I don’t see anywhere it could be failing. I made sure the PTO safety switch isn’t stuck closed, and i polarized the regulator. I can jump the starter over with the battery but it’s not getting any spark, I’m going to check the ignition system afterwhile to see if that’s what’s wrong. I’ve definitely learned a lot about the wiring, but it’s been constantly raining for the past week and I try to get out there as often as I can

Was the key in the "on" position when you jump cranked it?
If not, it will never start.

Check to see if you have juice at the coil with the key on.

No juice at the coil. I had the key on when jump starting it, no spark. I put a ignition switch on it that I saved and it was good when I put it up, still won’t turn over. Next will be the solenoid, may be a few hours before I’m able to. When I accidentally jumped the regulator i’m pretty sure I only hit the middle and top connections which on mine is the battery and generator electrode

When you turn the key and crank the engine does the amp meter move to the - side? May have fried it.

I found out that the solenoid isn’t getting any juice, and I may know why. The electrodes that I short circuited went to the amp gauge and the solenoid. There’s a neutral safety switch, pto switch, and magnetic switch on mine. but I need some help finding the neutral safety switch. It’s very possible that whoever had it before me removed them and spliced the wires. Both lighting attachment plug-ins have one wire connecting both sides of it and haven’t had any issues since i’ve had it.

One is under the tunnel cover, brake switch, the other is behind the gas tank, behind the white panel, PTO switch.

If those items are not getting juice when yoiu activate the switch, therin lies your problem.
Inspect the wire connections to and from the switch for corrosion.
Do you have the correct switch and is it operable?
Check it out with your meter and/or a test lamp

I took the whole wiring harness off for repair and I am going to bypass the pto switch when it all goes back on.

After removing the whole wiring harness and giving it a well needed patch job, it runs. I checked the starter just in case and sure enough, the brushes were worn to the metal, and I had an extra one in storage that’s never been used. I polarized the regulator and starter and it isn’t charging. I did the test on it and it charges when it’s jumped, but when I turn the ignition off the starter keeps running. It’s either caused from a faulty regulator, wrong connections, or both. I’ve seen similar posts in the past about the starter continuing to turn after the key is turned off but I can’t find them atm.