Charging System Question

[rkidd]

Had to replace the battery on my 6 month old B2650 which I love by the way. Dealer warranted it out no problem. He has been great. Made sure post and cables were clean and installed battery and charged overnight with battery tender to full charge. Next day pulled out to check charging system with dvom and found was putting out 14.98 volts at pto speed with fully charged battery and no lights on. Only dropped a couple hunredths with lights on. Not familiar with dynamo system but from automotive style is on the high side. Looked all through my wsm and there are no specs for maximum or minimum voltage out put or even how many amps this unit produces. Does any one here know what the maximum voltage should be on this system and how many amps it is rated at?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

If you notice I changed the thread title, this is because you might or might not have a dynamo on that tractor, depends on the exact model, cab or no cab is one factor.
One has a dynamo with external regulator, and the other has an alternator with an internal regulator.

Dynamo is 14 amps
Alternator is 55amps
13.5VDC to 15VDC is normal range of operation, is fine for the system in either case.

 

[rkidd]

Thanks for the reply North Idaho Wolfman. I appreciate it very much. I had used my WSM to see what I had and trace down components and verify connections were good before testing. Dissapointed WSM didn't have the info you gave me in it to know min and max parameters. Again thank you very much.

 

[85Hokie]

Had to replace the battery on my 6 month old B2650 which I love by the way. Dealer warranted it out no problem. He has been great. Made sure post and cables were clean and installed battery and charged overnight with battery tender to full charge. Next day pulled out to check charging system with dvom and found was putting out 14.98 volts at pto speed with fully charged battery and no lights on. Only dropped a couple hunredths with lights on. Not familiar with dynamo system but from automotive style is on the high side. Looked all through my wsm and there are no specs for maximum or minimum voltage out put or even how many amps this unit produces. Does any one here know what the maximum voltage should be on this system and how many amps it is rated at?

14.98 is a tad high.......even a "good" $200 battery charger will not place that high of a voltage on a system/battery. The problem with a charge that high, over time it will boil the water/solution out of a standard lead-acid battery. I had a alternator on a 71 ford that was putting out something that high......after a long day of cussing and new parts (battery/vr)- found a very,very bad ground. Now - you might not have any problems at all, but if it does have a VR - see how the connections are on it.

Does the charge go down a bit when lowering the RPM of the engine?

NIW points out some good points about Dyno's vs Alternators, easier to place a larger load on a typical alternator as opposed to a older style dyno. But those dynos have served a great deal too.

 

[rkidd]

Thanks for responding 85 Hokie. I agree with tad high and hurting battery. Dealer just replaced battery on 6 month old machine. That is why I was checking charging system to see if in spec. Don't know if that higher voltage hurt the battery or was just defective. Tractor sits in heated garage. Anyway dealer agreed it was on high side and warranted out regulator. My dealer has been fantastic. Installed new regulator, one plug connector which was clean as could be. Really hoping for a 14.4- 14.5 reading on the voltage regulator, more like every other system I have worked on for the last 40 years. With everything charged and ran for 10 minutes and settled out at idle was 14.72, at 2400 rpm was 14.75, at 2400 rpm with load= headlights and taillights on was 14.95 volts. A little better than the old regulator and that is where I am at. After this I did disconnect all of the grounds on the tractor battery to frame and 2 sets to starter clean and reconnect. Retested everything with the same results. Would love to hear your thoughts on this now. Thanks again.

 

[rkidd]

Thanks for responding 85 Hokie. I agree with tad high and hurting battery. Dealer just replaced battery on 6 month old machine. That is why I was checking charging system to see if in spec. Don't know if that higher voltage hurt the battery or was just defective. Tractor sits in heated garage. Anyway dealer agreed it was on high side and warranted out regulator. My dealer has been fantastic. Installed new regulator, one plug connector which was clean as could be. Really hoping for a 14.4- 14.5 reading on the voltage regulator, more like every other system I have worked on for the last 40 years. With everything charged and ran for 10 minutes and settled out at idle was 14.72, at 2400 rpm was 14.75, at 2400 rpm with load= headlights and taillights on was 14.95 volts. A little better than the old regulator and that is where I am at. After this I did disconnect all of the grounds on the tractor battery to frame and 2 sets to starter clean and reconnect. Retested everything with the same results. Would love to hear your thoughts on this now. Thanks again.

 

[Dave_eng]

Sometimes it is helpful to double check with a high quality multi-meter just to be certain you are not chasing ghosts.
The dynamo is putting out AC which is then rectified by the external regulator/rectifier and infrequently there is a little AC leaking through which confuses cheap meters.
Dave m7040

 

[rkidd]

Thanks for the thought Dave. I actually have 2 quality DVOM,S with one from Matco tools. I just bought the third, a $100.00 Klein with ac dc amp clamp to be able to check total amp draw so as not overload the dynamo. Checking the regulator voltage with the new Klein I was within 2 hundredths of my other DVOMS.