By rbrevelle on Unrecorded Date: Edit

This may be a stupid question, but does the Max II 18hp have an alternator to recharge the battery?

Do all Briggs and Stratton motors have alternators? I have a riding mower with a 10 hp, and I have to recharge my battery often. But my Max seems to run forever without having to charge it.

By lcater on Unrecorded Date: Edit

No, they can have regulators as well, or nothing. If you have a pull start with your MAX, then you probably have a regulator for charging the battery. Someone on te board with more expertise can most likely offer some solutions on your 10hp, but I would suspect it is like my snowblower, which has none. Thus have to recharge the battery.

By liflod (Liflod) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Your 10 HP Briggs should have a charging system. There should be a red wire from the flywheel which may have a diode already wired in series with that wire. You can check by starting the engine and meaasuring with a volt meter or using a test light. If you have a multimeter you can measure AC and DC volts. If the wire has more AC than DC, you need a diode to rectify the AC to DC. If you have more DC volts than AC, connect it to your battery. If the DC voltage is more than 12 Volts ( 13-14) it will charge your battery. If you have an electric clutch to drive your mower deck, it may draw more power than your engine can provide the battery so the battery runs low after a while.

By dt5428 on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Hey liflod you sure the diode is not installed just to keep the battery from draining down when the charging system is not running.I just had a bad diode on my Craftsman lawn tractor keep draining the battery.The diode was in the wiring harness from the charging stator and neither Sears or Kohler could give me a part number for the diode and it did not show up in any parts diaghrams.So I figured the part # was in the vendors componet maint. manual so I gave up and just went and bought a pack of diodes from Radio Shack.It has been running and charging fine for over a month now.

Later,Dan

By liflod (Liflod) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

You are also correct about the diode not draining the battery. The charging system is an AC generator or alternator and you need the diode to rectify it. DC generators use commutators and brushes to get all the electrons flowing in the right direction and alternators use diodes.

Lance