Battery/Wiring issues...

[BroncoMadMan]

Ok..so when I bought this kart the guy pointed out a small grey wire coming from the engine connecting to the negative terminal. He told me this was a charge wire, that when u were riding it would charge the battery.

I have alot of lights wired up...head lights, tail lights, and kc running lights on top that draw almost 20 amps by their selves. My wire coming from the engine isn't reading JACK, nothing...after riding for about an hour I had no lights and was having to pull start instead of push start ignition ...do cart engines have a magneto or alternator type mechanism?? Or am I going to have to charge the bat inbetween uses??? Its on. 5hp briggs and stratton.

Thanks guys!

 

[fowler]

if it is factory e start then it should have a charging coil

 

[klicky96]

if it is factory e start then it should have a charging coil

This is true, unless it is a plug-in and hit the button, not using a battery. If it is factory, it should have a magneto or charging coil if it uses a battery to start.

 

[anderkart]

Ok..so when I bought this kart the guy pointed out a small grey wire coming from the engine connecting to the negative terminal. He told me this was a charge wire, that when u were riding it would charge the battery.

I have alot of lights wired up...head lights, tail lights, and kc running lights on top that draw almost 20 amps by their selves.

Your charging coil output should be connected to the positive battery terminal, not ground. If its been grounded, your charging coil may have been damaged. Try disconnecting that wire, then use a volt meter to measure voltage with the engine at 3600 rpm.

A functioning (1-wire) charging coil in a 5hp briggs would only have between .5 and 1.5 amps of output, (depending on what model engine you have). So even if yours is working It'll never cover your 20-amp load.

Here's a link to the specifications: http://www.willardssmallengines.com/alternator_chart.html (check your engines model # to find the max output of your charging coil)

 

[BroncoMadMan]

Wiring...

It wasn't a factory estart...it was initally a pull start but it had an estart added on. Does this alter the scenario??

 

[anderkart]

Yes, then it would depend on what charging coil they installed.