Smalljobs
Gold Member
I really need some help with this problem:
I've owned this 128 for around 30 years and have done nothing to the charging system. A black VR was on the machine when I bought it.
I noticed the two year old battery kept going dead and it found it would not charge. Although I could jump start the machine, it died when the cables were removed. My charger showed an open cell error code so I installed a new battery. While running, the ammeter didn't move except for vibration so I suspected the Starter/Generator (SG) was not charging. I ran a wire from the F and briefly grounded the running SG with no results so I bought a new SG.
Once I got the tractor running again I noticed the charging meter still didn't move so I bought a new gage and new Stens VR.
First I installed the new gage and then started up the tractor. The new gage didn't move at all.
I carefully installed the new VR and connected the three wires and ground in exactly the same location, one by one, without knowing the label on each tab was different. Then I connected the (+) side of the batter first. When I connected the (-) cable, the SG started turning over the engine. There was sparking when I briefly connected the (-) cable. Then I removed the battery and swapped two of the VR wires and tried again. Same result. Finally I discovered the BATT connection on the VR was on a different tab than the old VR. So I moved the BATT wire to the correct tab on the VR and tried again. Finally I think I have it wired correctly.
So far so good with no sparking when I connect the (-). The tractor started right up and but the new charging gage sits at zero around idle and sweeps to the discharge side when I raise the RPMs. I double checked the (-) and (+) connections on the gage and they are same as when all this began.
I don't know if I damaged the VR or the gage when I miss-wired the VR. Now, I'm really stuck and need help.
I cannot put the old VR back in because I opened the cover and found it was full of old rusty water.
I've owned this 128 for around 30 years and have done nothing to the charging system. A black VR was on the machine when I bought it.
I noticed the two year old battery kept going dead and it found it would not charge. Although I could jump start the machine, it died when the cables were removed. My charger showed an open cell error code so I installed a new battery. While running, the ammeter didn't move except for vibration so I suspected the Starter/Generator (SG) was not charging. I ran a wire from the F and briefly grounded the running SG with no results so I bought a new SG.
Once I got the tractor running again I noticed the charging meter still didn't move so I bought a new gage and new Stens VR.
First I installed the new gage and then started up the tractor. The new gage didn't move at all.
I carefully installed the new VR and connected the three wires and ground in exactly the same location, one by one, without knowing the label on each tab was different. Then I connected the (+) side of the batter first. When I connected the (-) cable, the SG started turning over the engine. There was sparking when I briefly connected the (-) cable. Then I removed the battery and swapped two of the VR wires and tried again. Same result. Finally I discovered the BATT connection on the VR was on a different tab than the old VR. So I moved the BATT wire to the correct tab on the VR and tried again. Finally I think I have it wired correctly.
So far so good with no sparking when I connect the (-). The tractor started right up and but the new charging gage sits at zero around idle and sweeps to the discharge side when I raise the RPMs. I double checked the (-) and (+) connections on the gage and they are same as when all this began.
I don't know if I damaged the VR or the gage when I miss-wired the VR. Now, I'm really stuck and need help.
I cannot put the old VR back in because I opened the cover and found it was full of old rusty water.
