Genn Battery Not charging

[al perna]

My Battery is not charging GuRu s . I am looking for the steps to take prior to assuming it is the Alternator .

Genny will start with dash switch .
will run for 3 min or so
battery is showing 5 amps then 3 then ..
battery is 1 year old

Thanks in advance

[davidbrady]

Hi Al,

Make sure the top of the battery is clean and the connections are corrosion free. I assume it's a sealed FLA; if not, then make sure it's topped up with distilled water. If you disconnect it and let it sit for a couple hours you can test it's steady-state at-rest voltage. A fully charged battery will be around 12.6V. Anything less than 11.6V, or so is considered fully discharged. If it's below 11.0V the battery may be bad. FLA's can only take so many full discharge cycles before they're toast.

I'd start the generator and put a voltmeter on the battery terminals to check for 14.3V, or so. If you're getting good voltage then it's probably a bad battery. You can take it to a NAPA center to have them load test it. If you're not getting good voltage then it's either an alternator or a loose belt. The Kubota alternators have built-in voltage regulators.

The problem with the generator battery is that it's only charged when the generator is running. Since we don't run our genny's enough the batteries tend to discharge. One solution is to wire in a Xantrex Echo charger or similar and wire the Echo charger to your house so when you're house is charging the genny battery is also charging.

[al perna]

thank s David, I was able to check the voltage while it was running and she is not charging . The belt is not broken , it was replaced 2 years back in Iowa .

Is there a fuse or diod somewhere along the line or is the alternator shot ?

[mpierce]

Can you check the voltage right at the alternator? Test at the positive charge wire coming off the alternator? That way you can tell if a problem between alternator and battery, or if alternator itself is shot.

[al perna]

yes , sorry to add I did have power from the alternator , trying to find out what more lye from there .

I don t see a year on your signature , do you have a Alternator on your Genny ? I think there are Diods and maybe fuses?? but don t have a drawing .

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so now after driving with no air in 95 plus temps we stop for the night up here in the Va Mts and guess what ? the Genny battery is charging hahaha

now any idea what would cause this issue ? My favorite intermittent problem

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back to not charging . Also , I was unable to use switches to shut her down , had to wait till battery was Dead , and she Died . any thoughts ?

[mpierce]

We have the 1990 that was at Q. Does NOT have a alternator on the Genny, charges from the main engine, or the chargers.

I do not know about the newer ones like yours, but while at Q, I had a circuit breaker go bad, stopping battery charging. On my 90, right behind the front bumper, under the driver, there are some relays, circuit breakers, etc, that control charging to the generator battery. You might look there? If yours has some of this, maybe a relay or something is sticking?

Good Luck! Enjoyed our talks around the fire in the dark at Q! Hope to see you there next year.

[al perna]

you talking about our " Oil Conversation " lol

[mpierce]

Yep. Hope to have more! I should do the generator fan upgrade like you did. Mine works fine, hard to mess with when working!

[davidbrady]

No fuse or circuit breaker. You might be able to do a simple test of the diodes in the alternator. Take a voltage meter and put it on Ohm's. Disconnect the hot lead of the alternator. Measure from the alternator hot lead to the alternator body. Swap probes and try again. You should get different readings. First way maybe 2 ohms, second way maybe 20 ohms. If the readings don't change then a diode is bad.

[al perna]

ok , so possibly a Diode , maybe I just get the alternator rebuilt , will this also cover the Diode portion or is this a separate part David ?