engine charging

[dhunter]

i have a kawasaki fhv500. 17hp. and it is not charging. the battery is only a year old. have had this problem since day one. it will run about and hour and then the blades will shut off.. charge the battery restart it and the same. how do these engines charge? it is on a convertable mower

[White Gardens]

Not sure about a Kawi, but on briggs, Kohler, they use magnets under the fly-wheel to charge the battery. Similar to an alternator. I've seen the magnets wear down or fall off. But usually they ground each other out and blow fuses when they fall apart.

Might be your problem, not sure though.

[mowermankevin]

Do you have a volt/ohm meter? The regulator/rectifier takes the volts to the battery (if no magnets inside the flywheel have fallen off). The two wires that come from the stator (under the flywheel produce A.C. voltage which goes up and down with engine RPM. The single wire going to the battery is converted to D.C. by the regulator/rectifier, no reading on meter to battery means no charge to battery=dead battery. Also check fuses, it's easy to show you, but get a Cow-A-Socky engine service manual to help you. Good Luck,keep us posted.