onan stator leads

[liketoplayto 6]

should both leads show 30 plus or just one lead 1988 520h

[TT-(Moderator) 1,127]

Both :hide:

[bigd 0]

i'm getting over 30 volts out of the lead closest to the dash tower around 1 volt out of the second one there is no continuity to ground out of the leads but there is continuity between the 2 leads does this mean my stator is bad i hope not we have 2 520h's and both are doing this.any sugestions?

[sorekiwi 761]

The procedure is to test the AC voltage across the two stator leads when the engine is running.

From the Demystification Guide:

:hide:

[Save Old Iron 1,563]

the AC voltage must be measured BETWEEN the two AC terminals of the regulator.

the 0 Volts you read on one terminal suggests you were measuring the AC voltage using one voltmeter probe on chassis ground.

The stator AC windings are not grounded to the chassis BUT one AC terminal is connected to the B+ terminal which it makes it 12 volts DC above the chassis and 0 volts AC above chassis ground.

This is a similar concept to measuring household AC voltage in a wall socket.

Hot to ground = 120

Hot to neutral = 120

Neutral to ground = 0

Sounds like your stator is functioning OK

this is not the best picture to show the connection between the B+ terminal and one of the AC terminals, but they are indeed soldered and riveted together on the regulator circuit board.

your Onan style regulator is physically different that what is shown above, but electrically, it is the same.

[bigd 0]

thanks for the help it looks like i've got a bad regulator i tried grounding it that did'nt help my voltage at the battery is the same as it is at the b+ terminal when the engine is running from the manual it should be a little higher.i was wondering where do you get the dymystification guide i could use a copy of that.you were right one probe on ground and one on a stator lead.

[liketoplayto 6]

Our the voltage regulators known to go bad in the 520 h mine our both 88 seems like when i turn lites on volt meter drops down to red and batterie starts droping soon as i turn lites off batterie goes back up but i never get a reading much over 12.7 with lites off i figured regulator be keeping it between 13 and 14 volts thanks

[Save Old Iron 1,563]

i tried grounding it that didn't help my voltage at the battery is the same as it is at the b+ terminal

glad to help and if I missed you before

The best way to check for a grounding issue is to run a jumper wire between the case of the regulator (between the mounting screw head and the regulator case) directly to the negative battery terminal. The regulator picks up ground thru the metal shrouds on the engine and often they are not properly grounded after rust sets in.

The demystification guide is well worth having. You can search out the word demystification

on this site and several posts have shown links to the toro website (TORO.COM) to allow download of the guide.

[Save Old Iron 1,563]

when i turn lites on volt meter drops down to red and battery starts drooping soon as i turn lites off battery goes back up but I never get a reading much over 12.7 with lites off I figured regulator be keeping it between 13 and 14 volts thanks

you are correct - the regulator should allow the battery to stay 0ver 13.6 volts with the lights on.

the regulator is not doing its job, but as mentioned above, before saying the regulator is bad, run a separate ground wire from the regulator's case directly to the negative battery terminal

also check all the terminals on the regulator for corrosion, tarnish and general poor wiring techniques

this is how I found my reg wired on a 520 I picked up a few years back

give it a look and ask questions - folks will help you out

[liketoplayto 6]

we did run a ground wire like u sugested and still got nothing also ran volt test on regulator and it wasnt even putting out much past 2 or 3 cant remember at the moment been working on a lot of things today ive got my dads old 100 c and took snow blower off it and we put a 36 inch rear discharge deck on it we worked on my wiring for my 312 8 classic got the lites back up and running and tail lites and worked on both the 520 h and found one bad connection on stator and positive battery wire but when we turn lites on the volt gauge berries itself in the red and lites draw juice from the battery both these tractors do it so im hoping we got two bad regulators cause all the leads and grounds seem clean at all connections plus we put carb back on one that we took out and put in dip for a week and it runs like a champ now and got the deck all fixed up and put under it and mowed with it a little and mows like a true wheel horse should so tomorrow gonna order 1 regulator and try it on one see if it is the problem then order another one if it is and thanks for all u guys help on here much apreciated

[Save Old Iron 1,563]

when we turn lites on the volt gauge berries itself in the red and lites draw juice from the battery both these tractors do it so im hoping we got two bad regulators

this is somewhat surprising

just turning on the lights to a tractor should not "bury the needle in the red"

that would mean the battery voltage would be under 10 volts on most voltmeter scales

a fully charged battery with good CAPACITY should be able to maintain 12 volts plus for at least a half hour or so running ignition and lights.

One of my favorite first line of defense tools is

http://www.harborfreight.com/50-amp-6-volt...ster-93784.html

this tool will tell you how well a battery will maintain voltage under a 50 amp load ( approximate starter current draw on these tractors).

A good battery will maintain voltage under load - a near dead battery will nose dive into a lower voltage output due to age / internal defects.

some folks say you can bring a battery to an auto parts store to get it tested. I have not had the need to do so with this tool. These days, If I can save $10 in gas to the store, that is half the price of a new battery.

Are you starting these tractors by jump starts under their own battery power ?

[liketoplayto 6]

Both batteries brand new when lites go on shows batteries dropping in voltage 12.7 12.4 11.7 so on so on but soon as shut lites of slowly climbs back up to 12.4 or 12.5 all im saying is when u turn on lites volt meter on tractor berries itself in the red which mite be a bad volt meter dont know at this point all i know is im not reading 13 or 14 on battery at anytime

[Save Old Iron 1,563]

when lites go on - batteries dropping in voltage 12.7 12.4 11.7 so on so on

not to make too big a point of this, but

if you are measuring the battery voltage directly at the battery terminals, with a multimeter - and the voltage change you state above (12.7, 12.4, 11.7) is seen over a short period of time,

the battery charge would be dropping from about 90% charged to about 15% charged in that period of time. With just a headlight load on the battery (about 7 amps), the battery capacity would be questionable.

But let us say the battery is ok.

when u turn on lites volt meter on tractor berries itself in the red which mite be a bad volt meter

Here is what I would check.

Measure the voltage DIRECTLY ACROSS THE BATTERY TERMINALS

Turn on the lights - the voltmeter on the tractor should read the same voltage as the multimeter attached across the battery terminals.

If there is a significant difference with the lights on, then we have a wiring / corrosion issue we have to find. Could be a corroded fuse holder or ignition switch / ignition switch wiring.

Perform this test and check back in with us.

im not reading 13 or 14 on battery at anytime

This is expected if you are not getting charge current from the regulator into the battery. This may be a separate issue due to corrosion or bad wiring / defective ignition switch, or just simply a bad rectifier regulator unit.

[liketoplayto 6]

OK i went out and mowed with it stopped three times shut tractor off never ran the lites volt meter went from green and into the yellow just buy starting tractor 3 times during mowing and never returned to green i found a place that sending voltage regulator i bought new for 21.00 cheapest i seen so i went bought 2 for both tractors cause there both doing the same and i tested the volt in the one i mowed with and it read just under 12 volts which tells me it is not charging at all and when i use the battery not being charged back up at all. Maybe im wrong but ive went thru all the connections fuses they look fine even tested with meter showed everything working just not thru the voltage regulator i always wanted wheelhorse 520 but never knew they were so darn sensative my 312 ive own new since 94 and i use crap out of it matter of fact i replaced its first belt this year and it still runs like a new one thanks for all ur help by the way otherwise rest of my hair be gone as soon as regulators come in im going to change them both anyways and go from there

[liketoplayto 6]

Wow i ordered new regulators on monday got them today but so hot out wont have chance to put them on till this weekend there exactly whats on my 520s now got them for 21.00 a piece wohoooooooo hope at least it helps with the problem thanks again all for ur wisdom and advice much apreciated

[bigd 0]

he s talking about the voltmeter on the tractor when we had my volt meter hooked up to the battery it did nt show a large drop across the posts i figure the gauges need the terminals cleaned or the gauges need replaced.

[sorekiwi 761]

Wow i ordered new regulators on monday got them today but so hot out wont have chance to put them on till this weekend there exactly whats on my 520s now got them for 21.00 a piece

Who did you order them from?

[Save Old Iron 1,563]

I knew I had helped someone else with a very similar issue.

Here is the link.

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/index.php?...12

as it turns out there were several corroded connections on fuse holder, switches, etc that all added up to a large voltage drop at the input to the voltmeter.

[bigd 0]

i cant remember the name of the company he got them from but he found them on amazon two companys had them at that price.i think one was called damn low prices or something close to that the other one had lower shipping.

[liketoplayto 6]

i got mine threw damlow.com but there is another place thats called crankncharge to all u do is go to amazon.com and type in onan voltage regulator and it will show u a list of difrent ones and difrent things till u come to the ones u need

[liketoplayto 6]

ok put both the voltage regulators on and one worked like it should now the other had problem with the 30 amp fuse in the front and replaced the fuse holder now it works like it should thanks for all the help guys :hide:

[Save Old Iron 1,563]

now that's some fine troubleshooting

thanks for the update

and by the way .... if you still have the fuse holder, is it possible to tear off the rubber coating and take a picture of the fuse contacts ?

[bigd 0]

there was melted plastic on the fuse had a hard time getting the fuse out.after we seen the tractor was nt charging we did a continuity test i got a solid tone on one side of the fuse and an intermitent on the other after we fixed that it worked great.i dont know if hes still got the fuse holder we took out if he does i'll try and get a picture posted.