charging wires


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Old 04-30-03, 12:56 AM
mower17's Avatar
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charging wires

I have seen on some briggs and stratton engines that there are three wires coming from the stator near the flywheel. What are these three wires for? Do they carry ac or dc voltage? Is there always three wires? I also saw in one wiring diagram that there was a wire carring ac voltage on an old briggs. Where does that ac voltage go? Thanks for the help.
 
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Old 04-30-03, 03:29 AM
mikejmerritt
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Hello mower17, some have two some have three. All will have a ground wire dropping from the tab on the coil to either side depending on the method used to kill the engine. The other wire/wires- the one with the one way diode (little bump under the insulation just before the plug) is the stator or charging lead. The diode prevents current from getting back into the stator and destroying it. If there is a third wire it is usaully in the same plug as the stator wire and it is for running headlights or other 12 volt stuff ......Mike
 
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Old 04-30-03, 10:34 PM
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Correct. Many charging systems begin with AC voltage, but it is rectified through diode(s) to become DC. Alternators on cars are the same way. The AC current which is a smooth wave of current alternating from + to - goes into the diode set, and comes out DC which is a very fast series of positive pulses. The diodes only let the current go one direction, so it lets the pos part of the AC voltage through, and stops the neg part, converting that part of the electrical energy into heat energy. (that's why diodes burn out when the charging system is overworked).
 
 

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