BradW
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Kohler Not charging.
I have a Craftsman riding mower with a Kohler CV490S engine. Recently it quit charging. I removed the Rectifier-Regulator and checked it with a volt-ohm meter. One side is a dead short and the other is and open circuit. So obviously it is bad, easy fix. So checking further I started the engine and checked the output to see if I would get 28 volts more or less. I barely get 1 volt. I checked the stator and there are no shorts to ground. I checked the resistance between the 2 posts and get .8 ohm. Manual says I should have .1 to .2 ohm, but I doubt my meter is all that accurate. I removed the flywheel and the stator looks fine but that does not mean much. I can replace the stator, but it seems odd that the r/r and stator would both go bad at the same time.
Am I missing something or should I just replace the stator as well?
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AVB
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Re: Kohler Not charging.
2019/03/18 13:52:27
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First check your DDVM zero resistance as they usually resgister more than zero which is the leads resistance. Mine has dead short reading of .4 ohms with leads shorted together. You subtract this from any reading you get.
Also pull the flywheel and check the magnets as they do come loose over time; also they have a good strong pull. If they are present I would a bad stator as it may only be shorting itself out and you meter doesn't enough to jump the bare wire areas. But I would testthe stator right the point where the wires are attach as it could be bad leads as dead short in the regulator may have been shorting the full 15 amps to ground.
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BradW
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Re: Kohler Not charging.
2019/03/18 15:15:09
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I have already pulled the flywheel and the magnets are fine and the stator looks fine. I did check the DDVM as you suggested and doing that the stator checks out fine with the DDVM, but it still puts out nothing. The only thing that makes sense is a faulty stator, but it checks OK
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AVB
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Re: Kohler Not charging.
2019/03/18 15:46:30
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You are checking the out voltage as AC and not DC? As the voltage is both a full wave rectifier and regulator.
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BradW
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Re: Kohler Not charging.
2019/03/18 17:07:08
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Correct. I ordered a new stator and R/R
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BradW
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Re: Kohler Not charging.
2019/03/27 13:49:23
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OK this is odd. I got a new stator and replaced it. Put the flywheel back on, then started it with a voltmeter connected to the leads coming off the statro to make sure it is putting out AC. It is only putting out about 1 volt AC.
The magnets on the flywheel are good, the stator is new yet no AC current. I am stumped. Any ideas?
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BradW
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Re: Kohler Not charging.
2019/03/27 20:15:41
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Some progress. After thinking about this for awhile it seemed quite unlikely that it would put out nothing while brand new, so I wondered where the electricity was going. The wires connected to the stator are white, but attached to the plug that plugs in to the Rectifier/regulator are two black wires that go to the other side of the engine to a plug by the starter, but not to the starter. Once I unplugged them tand started it again I had 40 volts + AC. Finally I have AC but when I went to shut it off, it would not turn off until I plugged the connector back in. So apparently there was nothing wrong with the stator or R/R. Something is wrong with whatever tells this thing to turn off. At the moment I have no idea what that is, but I will figure it out. However if anyone has any idea what part those wires go to, I would be grateful. They do not go to the starter.
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AVB
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Re: Kohler Not charging.
2019/03/27 20:54:51
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Sounds like someone has mis-wired the mower. Or it is possible someone pinch a wiring behind the starter. What is the mower's model number on the serial number tag? That way I can link to the either the owners manual or IPL that has the wiring diagram.
post edited by AVB - 2019/03/27 20:56:40
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Mikel1
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Re: Kohler Not charging.
2019/03/27 22:41:55
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At full throttle what dc volts at battery and at connections to battery do u have?
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BradW
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Re: Kohler Not charging.
2019/03/27 22:49:07
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Craftsman 917. 273140. It is not miss wired. I am the only one who has worked on it and have not done any wiring at all. None of the wires looked pinched, at least that I can see. Once I know what those 2 black wires are supposed to do, I should have the fix. It starts and runs and charges without them, but they were put there for a reason.
I downloaded the repair manual for the CV490S and have looked at the schematic. It shows the white wire that go to the R/R but it does not show the black wires. I can follow them and see where they go, but it would definitely be easier if I knew what they are supposed to do.
Thanks for your help
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BradW
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Re: Kohler Not charging.
2019/04/02 18:38:59
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Turned out to be a solenoid that was not tripping as it should. For some reason when the engine is off the wires off the stator are shorted together. when you turn the key to the on position, the solenoid opens and the electricity can run through the R/R and on to the battery. I can find no reason for that arrangement. Once I disconnected one of the wires from the solenoid, everything works great. I get 44 volts AC and 14.7 volts at the battery. Most likely I will just leave the wire disconnected unless I find something it needs to do.. There was never anything wrong with how it turns off. When you turn the key off it grounds the coil on the magneto. once it it running it does not need the battery to run, the magneto keeps the spark going. I hope this is helpful to anyone else who has this problem.
post edited by BradW - 2019/04/02 18:57:51
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AVB
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Re: Kohler Not charging.
2019/04/03 01:39:12
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Sorry for missing the posting of model number but I can explain why it was wired the way it was. Things do get missed when I don't get the reply posted messages and I am quite busy in my shop.
They were using the stator as an engine brake whenever the operator wasn't present on the seat. Part of the emergency engine shutdown if operator knock of the seat or simply fell off. There was never anything wrong with the stator nor the voltage regulator just a problem in the operator present circuit. This may not even been a problem unless the seat switch had failed as something had to be on the seat in order for relay to operate and the mower would down shut down anyway as the fuel solenoid would shut off the fuel supply when the clutch/brake pedal was up or when the PTO was engaged if the seat is bad.
On this mower there is three operator present relays. OP present relay #1 provides magneto shut down, OP present relay #2 provides stator braking, and Op present relay #3 provides regulator output to charging the battery while the mower is running.
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dojogolfer
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Re: Kohler Not charging.
2019/06/03 20:10:44
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Your posting sounds very similar to my issue. I have a Kohler 26hp. While mowing, the tractor shutdown with an apparent dead battery. Read up that it could be the regulator. After reading this post was the solenoid bad or could it just be the regulator?
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