Battery draining on my Simplicity Conquest

juice581

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So I called the local Simplicity dealer about the dashboard display and he said that is not the problem. So he told me to start the lawn tractor and slowly increase the rpm's while reading the volts on the battery. The volts were 12.5 and increased to 13.7 at full rpm's. He said to engage the PTO and read the volts. It was reading 13.3 volts with the PTO engaged. He thinks the rectifier regulator is bad. He told me with the lawn tractor at full rpm's and the PTO engaged, I should be reading over 15 volts. Thought I had it figured out, but this throws a wrench into everything. Once again any help on this new issue would be appreciated.
 

bertsmobile1

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The regulator/ rectfrier unit has a bunch of diodes in it.
If one fails open circuit then the RR unit allows power to go backwards, from the battery to the stator.
It is a very common mode of failure .
The alternator then tries to become an electric motor which can draw a lot of power.
I seem to recall writing something like this a while back.
Remove the + wire from the RR unit and then see what happens.
I need a circuit diagram to go any further but if you remove the engine cover and follow the wires from the stator they will go into a box somewhere.
That box will have 1 or 2 other wires coming from it.
Disconnect these wires.
Some mowers wire the power feed back into the tractor through the ignition switch and others bypass the switch and run it directly to the battery.
Th only thing that could pull 3 amps and not burst into flames is the alternator
 

motoman

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Good stuff from bert. Hope you save $$$ not shotgunning the dash part. I also remember bert's previous input. Electrical stuff is tricky and often the suspected is not the problem as current has a mind of its own following Ohms laws. Try the search function in this forum with various wordings. I think mad mackie also spoke on this subject. I do not know what rectifier replacement costs on these riders, but I have replaced several in auto alternators and the "kits" were cheap ( and still running 10 years later.) Keep us updated as many are watching with similar current or future problems.
 

juice581

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Thanks Bert for the reply. So your saying it most likely is not the dashboard display. Now i'm back to square one. UGH!!! So I called the simplicity dealer back and he said the more he thinks about it, the problem most likely is not the rectifier regulator. The price on a new dashboard display is $192.00 plus tax. Steep price to pay just to try and see if this is the problem. But the dealer said he has a model just like mine, and would lend me the display to try and see if this is the problem. I recharged the battery today and I am going to monitor the battery for any drain over the next week with the dashboard display disconnected. On a side note, I always clean my lawn tractor with water after every cut. Could I have gotten water in the display and it is shorting out causing the draw ? Thanks.
 

motoman

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Sounds like a pretty cool dealer. Without knowing what is in the display and if it is e.g. liquid crystal etc it is hard to know total current driving it, but 3 amps seems way too high to turn on the electronics and keep them running. I would guess it should be maybe 1 amp total, or less. Think xmas tree lights...8 foot tree loaded with leds (diodes) drawing practically nothing. If you could get a mfgr name off the display perhaps call them? Water idea...dry dash with hair dryer or mother nature , take new reading?
 

juice581

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Thanks Motoman. I will try drying the display and probably will borrow the dealers display just to check before purchasing a new one.
Yes Tom, that is exactly what the regulator looks like. That would be the cheaper route to take by purchasing the regulator. I will keep everyone posted as soon as I know more. Thanks.
 

juice581

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I had the battery load tested and everything was good. I borrowed the dashboard display from the Simplicity dealer and got the same reading as my display. ( 3.2 amps) so it's not the display either. Checked all plugs and wiggled different wires and still no change. Still getting the same reading. Looks like I will have to take it somewhere to get looked at.
 

bertsmobile1

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It looks like you are determined to do this the hardest way possible.
You really need a circuit diagram other wise it is just a guessing game.

Now for starters I doubt you are really getting a 3.2A load.
Most lawnmower batteries are between 20 to 30 Amp Hours.
So if you had a 3A load the battery would go from fully charged to dead flat in 7 to 10 hours not over 3 weeks.
30 Amp Hours means exactly what it says.
Any combination of Amps x time ( hours ) that equals 30 ( 15 x 2 , 5 x 6 , 3 x 10 etc etc etc )
If you had a 3A load you would see a large spark whenever you connect or disconnect one of the battery terminals.
This is one method I use for chasing phantom loads, much more reliable than trying to use a multimeter and in particular the modern auto ranging digital meters.
I jack the mower up , put it on jack stands then unplug & replug each switch till one of them flashing at me.

You can download the circuit diagram form Simplicity by going to this link
https://www.simplicitymfg.com/na/en_us/support/manuals.html
Click on the tractor then type in your model number in the pop up box.
Download all 3 manuals that apply to your tractor, Wiring, operators & parts.
On page 49 of the parts book you will see the actual loom as it is installed on your mower
The 3 circuit diagrams are all the same.
The wires that are shown in colour are the ones that are applicable to the task printed underneath, starting, charging & stopping to make it easier for people who get confused by wiring diagrams to understand what is connected to what.

I seem to remember twice suggesting that you check the rectifier.
By check I specifically mean for you to unplug the violet wire , not check with the dealer to see what he thinks
If you want support from the forum it is a 2 way thing.
We ask you to do things then wait for you to post the results.
Based upon what your response is we suggest further testing or replacing parts, that is how it works.
Others look at what you are being asked to do and if they see a problem they chime in and we sort it out.
If you look at both the wiring diagram in the parts book and the circuit diagram on the wiring pages you will see that there is only 1 wire connected to the + on the battery.
that wire goes to the solenoid then to the breaker then to the ignition switch where according to the box in the bottom right corner it connects to the B wire and when turned off, nothing else.
SO test no 1 is to back test the plug on the ignition switch to confirm you have 12V between the B terminal and ground and no VOLTAGE readings between any other terminal and ground while the ignition is turned off.
Test 2 is to verify the connections for the on position the same way
Test 3 is to check the start position but you might need a 3rd hand to do that,
Do this and tell me what you found.
 

motoman

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Juice ,Hang in there ....with patience you can probably trouble shoot as well as many dealers. As you probe around and take readings you may stumble accross something hiding in clear sight causing the problem.
 
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