I have a Grasshopper 718 with a 18 HP B&S Model 422447-1216-01 gas engine. I purchased this unit used and from Day 1 the charging wire coming from the stator was too short. The wire had a connector that periodically unplugged itself due to vibration. I thought I'd fix it so I cut out the connector and soldered in a longer piece of wire. Now my charging system doesn't work! If my memory serves me correctly, the connector looked rather peculiar and I'm now wondering if perhaps it had a diode attached to the back of the connector. I threw that piece in the trash and can't find it.
Does someone have a service manual with a wiring diagram to confirm my suspicion?
I suspect that the stator puts out AC voltage and something,...a diode or rectifier, would convert that to DC voltage. FYI, I see no rectifier in the system unless it is buried under the flywheel along with the stator.
Does anyone have some direction for me? Thanks in advance.
According to Briggs your engine should have the 3/5 charging system which would be a rectangular connector with two wires. One of those wires would of had a bump covered in shrink tubing behind the connector. That bump would of been the diode to convert the AC to half wave DC,
I only have one wire coming from the stator. It doesn't look like OEM wiring above the engine shroud and I haven't had the flywheel off yet to inspect further back. Perhaps someone spliced the wires closer to the stator and only brought out one wire with the diode????
What amperage of diode do I need to replace this with? Is there a way to bench test the stator?
FYI, I have the engine out of the mower and I've pulled off all the shrouds to see if I can find any issues with the wiring. I tried to get an AC voltage reading from the stator wire but didn't get anything. Now I'm starting to wonder if my stator is now an issue after running it without the diode, or if my DVM is scrap.
OK, I've taken it all apart and inspected the wiring back to the stator. Everything is fine. The wire has no continuity to ground. The stator has only one wire coming from it, not two. (see attached)
I've put it all back together, changed the battery in my multimeter, and tested for AC voltage. It goes up over 30 VAC. Now I need to identify the diode I need, and where I can locate one!
