After recharging the battery for the electric starter for my Toro mower,
the 40 amp fuse keeps blowing whenever I turn the key. The 12 volt rated
battery is currently at 12.74 volts. Is the electric starter bad, or is the
battery overcharged?


--
If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible
warning.
* Catherine Aird


6/3/2005 9:16:40 PM

On Fri, 3 Jun 2005 21:20:41 -0400, Rocinante wrote:

After recharging the battery for the electric starter for my Toro mower,
the 40 amp fuse keeps blowing whenever I turn the key. The 12 volt rated
battery is currently at 12.74 volts. Is the electric starter bad, or is the
battery overcharged?

I should mention that the manual pull will start the engine easily.

--
"If you want a place in the sun, you've got to expect a few blisters."
-- Abigail Van Buren


6/3/2005 9:23:15 PM

Rocinante wrote:
After recharging the battery for the electric starter for my Toro mower,
the 40 amp fuse keeps blowing whenever I turn the key. The 12 volt rated
battery is currently at 12.74 volts. Is the electric starter bad, or is the
battery overcharged?


--
If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible
warning.
* Catherine Aird


6/3/2005 9:16:40 PM

A conventional automotive engine will start with 150-200 watts. You
poor little mower is apparently trying to draw over 400 watts
(AmpsXVolts). Your battery voltage is correct and the fuses are doing
their job. Your problem is either the starter binding up or shorting or
the motor itself is frozen up. See how the mower turns over manually.
If it is free enough then the starter is the problem most likely.

In article , wrote:
On Fri, 3 Jun 2005 21:20:41 -0400, Rocinante wrote:

After recharging the battery for the electric starter for my Toro mower,
the 40 amp fuse keeps blowing whenever I turn the key. The 12 volt rated
battery is currently at 12.74 volts. Is the electric starter bad, or is the
battery overcharged?

12.74 volts is perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with your battery.

I should mention that the manual pull will start the engine easily.

That's good. That eliminates really ugly problems like a seized engine.

There probably isn't anything wrong with your starter, either - most likely,
IMO, is that something in the wiring harness is shorted to ground.

There's an easy way to tell, though: remove the starter and lay it on the
ground. Then connect a set of jumper cables from the battery to the starter:
from the negative battery terminal to the frame of the starter, and from the
positive battery terminal to the terminal(s) on the starter. (Some starters
have one terminal, some have two - if yours has two, make sure you hit them
both at once.)

If the starter motor spins, it's good, and your problem is in the ignition
switch or the wiring harness. Finding the problem could take several hours'
work with a voltmeter.

If it doesn't spin, well, you just found the problem. :-)

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Doug Miller wrote:
In article , wrote:
On Fri, 3 Jun 2005 21:20:41 -0400, Rocinante wrote:

After recharging the battery for the electric starter for my Toro mower,
the 40 amp fuse keeps blowing whenever I turn the key. The 12 volt rated
battery is currently at 12.74 volts. Is the electric starter bad, or is the
battery overcharged?

12.74 volts is perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with your battery.

I should mention that the manual pull will start the engine easily.

That's good. That eliminates really ugly problems like a seized engine.

There probably isn't anything wrong with your starter, either - most likely,
IMO, is that something in the wiring harness is shorted to ground.

There's an easy way to tell, though: remove the starter and lay it on the
ground. Then connect a set of jumper cables from the battery to the starter:
from the negative battery terminal to the frame of the starter, and from the
positive battery terminal to the terminal(s) on the starter. (Some starters
have one terminal, some have two - if yours has two, make sure you hit them
both at once.)

If the starter motor spins, it's good, and your problem is in the ignition
switch or the wiring harness. Finding the problem could take several hours'
work with a voltmeter.

If it doesn't spin, well, you just found the problem. :-)

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Doug, I agree with the idea of eliminating potential shorts elsewhere
in the system. I should have included that with my post. My concern
with just hooking the starter up with jumper cables directly to a
battery is that the circuit will be unfused when he does this and there
is a safety issue. That's precisely why the manufacturer fused it at
40amps. If he does this he better put an inline fuse there to protect
the battery and himself.

(Doug Miller) wrote in
:

In article ,
wrote:
On Fri, 3 Jun 2005 21:20:41 -0400, Rocinante wrote:

After recharging the battery for the electric starter for my Toro
mower, the 40 amp fuse keeps blowing whenever I turn the key. The 12
volt rated battery is currently at 12.74 volts. Is the electric
starter bad, or is the battery overcharged?

12.74 volts is perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with your
battery.

I should mention that the manual pull will start the engine easily.

That's good. That eliminates really ugly problems like a seized
engine.

There probably isn't anything wrong with your starter, either - most
likely, IMO, is that something in the wiring harness is shorted to
ground.

There's an easy way to tell, though: remove the starter and lay it on
the ground. Then connect a set of jumper cables from the battery to
the starter: from the negative battery terminal to the frame of the
starter, and from the positive battery terminal to the terminal(s) on
the starter. (Some starters have one terminal, some have two - if
yours has two, make sure you hit them both at once.)

If the starter motor spins, it's good, and your problem is in the
ignition switch or the wiring harness. Finding the problem could take
several hours' work with a voltmeter.

If it doesn't spin, well, you just found the problem. :-)

A safer alternative, if you can afford another fuse, is to just
disconnect the starter and tape up the wire end so it can't touch anything.
Now turn the ignition switch and see if it blows the fuse. If it does,
you know that something else is probably the culprit (although the
starter motor could still be bad once you get everything else fixed).