Charging System - Dummy Light On & Confirming Dynamo Test

[halg]

Hello (again for those who have seen and replied to my other recent posts). The battery light has been on my '04 B2910 for 5 years or so and so I took it to my local dealer to fix that among a handful of other things. They came back with a price that told me they basically didn't want to work on it. Which is fine.

So, I got a WSM (shout out to kubotabooks and RCW for posting the sticky!) and went about diagnosing and fixing. Should have just done that in the first place.

Regarding the battery light in the instrument cluster being on, the dealer told me a new regulator was needed. When that light first came on 5 years or so ago I had replaced the generator (dynamo in the WSM) thinking that was the problem. But no change. So the dynamo is only a few years old.

Because the dealer said the regulator was the problem, I purchased and replaced the regulator. But, the light is still on.

So, I found the page in the WSM for diagnosing the charging system and tested the dynamo with my meter.

As best I can tell, the appropriate voltage is not being generated. My meter fluctuated in the mV range but did not read the 14-15 volts specified in the WSM.

Before I order another dynamo, can anyone see anything wrong I'm doing here when testing it. It seems very strange to me that something only a few years old would not be good.

I guess I could open up the dynamo and see if I can fix it too. It just seems strange and I feel like I'm missing something. From what I know about a dynamo, there really is not a lot going on in there just a rotor and a stator.

Thanks for your support in my other posts!

Hal

 

[RCW]

I think you have your multimeter on VDC. .

If your tractor has a dynamo, they produce AC, not DC.

Rectifier/regulator converts VAC to VDC.

Trust me, electric stuff is not my strong suit, but I think you need to click the dial one more spot to ~V.

 

[Mruysch]

Dose your tractor have a probe that gose into the battery?

 

[halg]

I think you have your multimeter on VDC. .

If your tractor has a dynamo, they produce AC, not DC.

Rectifier/regulator converts VAC to VDC.

Trust me, electric stuff is not my strong suit, but I think you need to click the dial one more spot to ~V.

Well don't I feel like the dumb a$$ wasting everyone's time. You are right. What a brain fart. Yep. 14 volts AC so its not the dynamo. It is obvious electric stuff is not my strong suite either! I just replaced the regulator so I would not think that is the cause.

The wiring diagram from the WSM shows a fuse in between. But there is not an obvious fuse in the fuse box for this.

Here is the fuse box label. None of the fuses are blown. It is not obvious which fuse might be the one the charging system goes through. If the head light instrument cluster was blown it would be obvious I would think and I checked the other 10a fuse. It is fine.

I'm pretty stumped. Perhaps there is an inline fuse somewhere? Otherwise, with a functioning dynamo and a new regulator I can't think of a reason the light for the charging system would be on.

One thing is that I did put in a sealed lead acid battery vs the flooded one that requires maintenance. That couldn't be it could it?

Thanks again.

-hal

 

[halg]

Dose your tractor have a probe that gose into the battery?

Thanks for the reply.

Not that I have read in the manual. But, as I mentioned in my previous reply, I did replace the battery a few years ago with a plain sealed lead acid automotive battery from Sams. The previous one was an old school flooded with ports to check the water level and add water when needed. Do you think that might be a problem?

 

[MOOTS]

Are you getting AC at the regulator plug? DC out of regulator plug? Betting it in the wiring somewhere.

 

[halg]

Are you getting AC at the regulator plug? DC out of regulator plug? Betting it in the wiring somewhere.

Thanks for the reply Matt. I will check that out next. My fear is the culprit will end up being a wire some GD mouse snacked on.

-hal

 

[Mruysch]

Thanks for the reply.

Not that I have read in the manual. But, as I mentioned in my previous reply, I did replace the battery a few years ago with a plain sealed lead acid automotive battery from Sams. The previous one was an old school flooded with ports to check the water level and add water when needed. Do you think that might be a problem?

My tractor which is a 65hp tractor will blink all the lights simultaneously when there is a charging issue. But when the battery light comes on it is low on battery acid. My probe failed so I bypassed it. That's why I was asking

 

[halg]

My tractor which is a 65hp tractor will blink all the lights simultaneously when there is a charging issue. But when the battery light comes on it is low on battery acid. My probe failed so I bypassed it. That's why I was asking

Ah gotcha. Yeah no probes into the battery to check for levels or anything on my little b2910. Thanks for the idea tho.

 

[Dave_eng]

Hello (again for those who have seen and replied to my other recent posts). The battery light has been on my '04 B2910 for 5 years or so and so I took it to my local dealer to fix that among a handful of other things. They came back with a price that told me they basically didn't want to work on it. Which is fine.

So, I got a WSM (shout out to kubotabooks and RCW for posting the sticky!) and went about diagnosing and fixing. Should have just done that in the first place.

Regarding the battery light in the instrument cluster being on, the dealer told me a new regulator was needed. When that light first came on 5 years or so ago I had replaced the generator (dynamo in the WSM) thinking that was the problem. But no change. So the dynamo is only a few years old.

Because the dealer said the regulator was the problem, I purchased and replaced the regulator. But, the light is still on.

So, I found the page in the WSM for diagnosing the charging system and tested the dynamo with my meter.

As best I can tell, the appropriate voltage is not being generated. My meter fluctuated in the mV range but did not read the 14-15 volts specified in the WSM.

Before I order another dynamo, can anyone see anything wrong I'm doing here when testing it. It seems very strange to me that something only a few years old would not be good.

I guess I could open up the dynamo and see if I can fix it too. It just seems strange and I feel like I'm missing something. From what I know about a dynamo, there really is not a lot going on in there just a rotor and a stator.

Thanks for your support in my other posts!

Hal
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I think you will find the troubleshooting procedure prepared by forum member Lugbolt to be more helpful than the WSM.
Dynamo's rarely fail they are so simple. Most are replaced because owner's measure their output as DC volts rather than AC volts which is what they produce.
Dave

 

[MOOTS]

Thanks for the reply Matt. I will check that out next. My fear is the culprit will end up being a wire some GD mouse snacked on.

-hal

Hopefully it’s that fuse you pictured. Though it will be buried in some inaccessible location in the harness I’d bet. Always seems to be.

 

[Mruysch]

Ah gotcha. Yeah no probes into the battery to check for levels or anything on my little b2910. Thanks for the idea tho.

That's why I mentioned it. Wasn't sure if they all had it

 

[halg]

I think you will find the troubleshooting procedure prepared by forum member Lugbolt to be more helpful than the WSM.
Dynamo's rarely fail they are so simple. Most are replaced because owner's measure their output as DC volts rather than AC volts which is what they produce.
Dave

This is great info thanks!

 

[halg]

This is great info thanks!

Many thanks to Dave_eng and Lugbolt.

After following the instructions they provided I found the red wire had corroded and come loose in the 6 pin wire connector. Some solder and shrink wrap and it is back to charging. Great to have everything working again!

This forum has been a big help. Hope everyone has a good Sunday.