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LSU-Mike said:

The battery on my Scag Freedom Z isn't charging. It has a Kawasaki FH580V. My initial diagnosis a few days ago indicated the rectifier was bad. The AC voltage from the stator was over 24V (and still is). I read only battery voltage between the rectifier terminal going to the battery, not 14 or so as expected. "Assuming" the rectifier was defective I ordered a replacement. I chose to order one from source "A" for $23 instead of a factory replacement at $83.

While I was waiting for the replacement to arrive I charged the battery. The replacement physically appeared identital to the original, so I plugged it in. The mower started quickly. In my rush to catch up on grass cutting, I didn't measure the "charging" voltage to the battery. Everything was fine for a few days, but I began to recognize that startup began to slow down. As with the defective rectifier, I wasn't getting 14+VDC to the battery. Still getting 24+VAC from the stator.

The photo below is the replacement. I don't know what the marking on the terminals are supposed to mean. There are no terminal markings on the original rectifier. Below are the ohm readings for the replacement.
With positive meter lead first on 1, then 2:
1 to 2 - 2.8M Ω
2 to 3 - 0 Ω
With negative meter lead first on 1, then 2:
1 to 2 - ∞
2 to 3 - 0 Ω

The wire for charging the battery is on terminal 3 as it was for the original rectifier. On the original rectifier terminals 2 and 3 are joined together.

Do I have the correct replacement? Is it defective? Do I have some other issue? The fuse in the charging circuit is OK.

Thanks
Mike
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