1450 not charging...can someone help?

[johnhenry]

I purchased an old 1450 recently that runs fine but did not charge, so a battery tender between each usage. I was able to determine that the ignition switch was bad and preventing charging of the battery. I replaced the ignition switch with a brand new one and the problem was resolved for a couple of hours over a couple of uses of the tractor. Yesterday I was mowing up some leaves and during the time I was using the tractor and mower the amp meter went back to not charging. I am "assuming" the ignition switch failed again. Any idea why?
Thanks
JohnHenry
1282 and 1450

[dyoung66]

What is the voltage reading from the stator when running

[J-Mech]

Without testing anything, why would you assume the switch failed?

Pull out a meter and start testing. Start at the battery and work your way back. Or start at the regulator/rectifier and work forward.

dyoung66, testing power from the stator needs a little more explaining. It puts out AC power. At this point, no reason to suspect a bad stator, so lets just skip that part.

[R Bedell]

One of the biggest issues with the tractors not charging is the loss of a "ground connection" from the engine to the battery negative terminal.

AS A TEST...... Run a long jumper wire from the V/R case (or housing) to the battery negative terminal and see if it charges.

If it does, you need to look at the engine grounding.

[johnhenry]

Thanks for the input thus far. I had a jr battery tender on the battery so with it disconnected it read 13v and after starting and while running it reads 12.3V. output off the bottom leg of the voltage regulator vs ground says 14+V. Touching a wire from negative battery to the voltage regulator appears to make no difference. There appears to be no rust on the battery to frame cable or bolt and all connections to-from the battery seem clean and solid. Next steps??

[R Bedell]

IF...you have about 14VDC on the V/R output terminal and 12.3V at the battery, then there is a "line loss" to include: Bad wire, bad wire connection, high resistance switch contact, etc.

With the engine off, and the Ignition Switch in the run positive, you can measure the resistance between the V/R output terminal and the battery positive terminal. It should be zero ohms.

[Yosemite Sam]

What about the ground cable from the engine to the frame?

[johnhenry]

I checked the resistance from + post to the VR with the key on...about .5 ohms. I reconnected the VR end of the wire as well as reconnecting the plug about 6" from the VR as I checked at both places. I started the tractor and it was charging per the amp meter. I made two trips around the years mowing leaves and then no more charging and it was discharging just as before. I made sure all cable connector bolts were tight...positive and negative from the battery, from the frame and from the engine. I put electrical contact grease on the lugs for the ignition switch and also the two connectors at the VR and also the one 6" away from the VR. still not charging. I went out to mow some more leaves and now the hydrostatic lever snapped off (at a previous weld spot). I limped it back to the garage and pulled the gas tank out of the way and pulled the lever out. Just not my day.

[johnhenry]

ok. I got the hydrostat lever fixed. While looking at things under the dash I see the wire from the bottom fuse is not connected. It appears that the connected side goes to the amp meter but the other side is just hanging loose. Where should it connect? and what is the bottom fuse (there are two) supposed to be protecting??

[R Bedell]

Click on this link and scroll to the bottom of the page..... Wiring Diagram

One fuse is for the PTO, the other for the Lights.