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I have Tiger Cub STC48V 24 BS . Is the solenoid bad? A new battery reading 12.5 v . The solenoid activates but just chatters. If I jump it with a car battery it's OK and spins the starter. the battery voltage does drop some when trying to start.I did the following tests

read battery voltage 12.5
disconnected starter cable at the solenoid
connected voltage meter to G/W wire and read 11+ voltage when trying to start, black wire to ground
solenoid seems to come in like its supposed to
read 12 + at the starter terminal when trying to start

connected starter cable back to the solenoid

read less than 2 volts at the g/w wire when trying to start ,solenoid chattering
read 0 voltage at the starter terminal when trying to start

the solenoid will chatter some when jumping but does come in and spln the starter

Jump from you battery directly to the starter +
Spins better, bad solenoid .
Jump directly from the battery - to the starter mounting bolts & crank engine
Spins better = bad ground
Do both above at the same time
No difference =bad starter.

Jump directly from the battery - to the solenoid body or solenoid ground trigger terminal
Spins better = bad ground to solenoid
Jump directly from the hot solenoid terminal to the + trigger terminal.
Spins better = bad cranking circuit.
Do both of the above, no difference = bad solenoid.

Do in the sequence shown because a bad starter will also show no difference at this point.

bertsmobile1 said:

Jump from you battery directly to the starter +
Spins better, bad solenoid .
Jump directly from the battery - to the starter mounting bolts & crank engine
Spins better = bad ground
Do both above at the same time
No difference =bad starter.

Jump directly from the battery - to the solenoid body or solenoid ground trigger terminal
Spins better = bad ground to solenoid
Jump directly from the hot solenoid terminal to the + trigger terminal.
Spins better = bad cranking circuit.
Do both of the above, no difference = bad solenoid.

Do in the sequence shown because a bad starter will also show no difference at this point.

Click to expand...

I will do this today and post what I found , Thank you

The first test 12.26 at the battery before test
Jumper direct from the battery to starter turned slow then stopped ,battery voltage dropped to less than 2 volts (1.3 v)
all other test no change
I disconnected the battery and connected a good 12v battery with jumper cables ,every thing worked correctly
the battery I used was a bigger car battery.
I then charged the mower battery which was new in May . I put the battery back in and the starter worked fine . I tried to start maybe 5 times then it quit back to low voltage when trying.
I'm thinking this is telling me the battery is a fault .Does this indicate that the battery is bad ?
Any recommendations for a battery replacement?
The battery that is in it is type U1R-7 230 CCA

Yep.
I did miss one thing in the previous post.
No difference with jumpers directly on the starter ( + & - ) can also be bad battery as well as bad starter.

When you get the mower started , check the voltage across the battery terminals.
Should go 14.5 V to 13 V.
Any lower than 13 V then the battery will not properly recharge and die well before time.

essikr said:

The first test 12.26 at the battery before test
Jumper direct from the battery to starter turned slow then stopped ,battery voltage dropped to less than 2 volts (1.3 v)
all other test no change
I disconnected the battery and connected a good 12v battery with jumper cables ,every thing worked correctly
the battery I used was a bigger car battery.
I then charged the mower battery which was new in May . I put the battery back in and the starter worked fine . I tried to start maybe 5 times then it quit back to low voltage when trying.
I'm thinking this is telling me the battery is a fault .Does this indicate that the battery is bad ?
Any recommendations for a battery replacement?
The battery that is in it is type U1R-7 230 CCA

Click to expand...

230 cca is way too small. 350 cca and the battery will last much longer.

charged the battery again and mower is starting . Did more than 10 restarts and still working.
With the voltmeter on the battery reading 12.6 , starting the engine the voltage drops to 10 +volts while cranking
when it starts the voltage increase's to 13.8 gradually . How can I test if the starter could be drawing to much
I agree with the low CCA going to look for a better battery . This battery did work for 5 months with no problem till now.
I fear that I haven't found the problem and it will return .(see previous posts)

After reading my previous posts I can see it's confusing to read. I need to learn how to write simple and clear. I think it's a battery and charging problem. If the battery is charged it works fine ,if it's low or getting low that's when the problem starts. Is there any way to raise the charging output or is 13.30 at half throttle enough to keep it charged. Full throttle doesn't seem to raise it.
I'm replacing the battery with more CCA . It was always hard to start in cold weather. In Ohio it can be cold anytime of the year. Thanks all for helping ,will report back to see how it works out.

13.3 V is not really enough to keep the battery fully charged particularly if you do a lot of starts.
That sounds like an old diode 3 or 5 amp alternator and once they get a bit old they can just not cut the mustard.
A quick photo of the alternator plug where it comes out from under the flywheel will confirm this.
Again as the system is low output, any corrosion, bad joints anywhere , including the main ground wire will render the recharging almost void.

The engine is a 2009 24 hp . I tested the output of the alternator at 35 volts AC. The output of the voltage regulator varies up and down from .48 to.28 DC
with the lead disconnected , with it connected the output is 13.3 volts at the regulator. I agree that the output should be over 14 volts. Am I looking at a faulty regulator ??

35v AC / 2 = 17.5V DC.
Allow abut 10% for losses and you get 15V .
SO Yes there is a problem with the rectifier.
Usually a bad ground connection through the base.

Thanks again for your reply's . I removed the regulator and wire brushed the base, checked the leads and reinstalled . I got a reading at the battery of 13.90 volts. That is better than the 13.3 I was getting. To make sure I put a ground wire on the base but that didn't change the output. I am checking this with a new battery installed ,would that make any difference to the output. I did order a regulator , won't be delivered till next week.