OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Tech Talk victa pro with tecumseh 13 hp wiring troubles.

I can't tell what is an 8 and what is a 6 on that diagram leshby, I have been reading the red wire to the ammeter and the black wire to the master switch both as 8. OK, let's call the black wire 6, it makes more sense and I'm sure you are right. Now, black wire 6 was the one you used to stop the Briggs engine, and it did that successfully. You have connected the same wire to the Tecumseh's green wire, and it did not produce the same result: it did not stop the engine. It sounds as if contact is not being made somewhere in the circuit that begins with black wire 6.

Test 1: Can you connect wire 6 to green wire T (for Tecumseh), then go to the first connector in wire 6, where it becomes wire 10, before you get to the master switch. Separate the connector, start the engine, and ground wire 6 with a piece of wire, jumper lead, or whatever you have. This should stop the engine: it should be exactly the same as grounding the spade connector on wire T. If it doesn't stop the engine, wire 6 has a break in it.

Test 2: If the engine does stop in Test 1, go to the other end of wire 10, the clutch switch. Restart the engine, and ground wire 10 at the input terminal of the clutch switch. This should stop the engine unless wire 10 has a break in it.

Test 3: If the engine does stop in Test 2, go to black wire 16 where it attaches to the brake switch. Restart the engine and ground wire 16 at the switch. This should stop the engine unless wire 16 has a break in it.

Please let us know the outcome of these tests. Essentially, if the kill system is not working, there is a broken or disconnected wire in that system, and we just need to go through the sections until we find the problem.

Hello i Have removed the voltage rectifier out of the equation and it wont start unless i earth the black wire That attaches to the green wire on the engine but once it starts it is all good and runs and turns off. but when i try to start the blades it cuts out?? Does not matter weather i am on the seat or not?

Let's go one step at a time. What rectifier is that? I don't recall one in wire 6.

that was a square one a sparky put in for the briggs motor in the wiring harness it was in wire 15 with earths going to position g and m of the key

I think that was very naughty of him, leshby. Let's try to make it work without unauthorised diodes connecting various bits. If the square diode has its minus terminal connected to the upstream part of wire 15, and its plus terminal connected to the downstream part of wire 15, with its two AC terminals not connected to anything, it should act like a normal diode and we might get some sense out of this. Remind me to write a whole new thread on tenants' improvements some time.

Can you tell me what happens when you make Tests 1, 2 and 3 with wire 6 connected to the green wire at one end please? Test 1 is just grounding the other end of wire 6.

i am wondering if the blades clutch switch is wired correctly as it is a pull up one from a john deer

do you have a phone number i can call to make this easier

I'll send you a PM, but I don't think it will make it easier. I've just explained how to eliminate the sparky's screw-up, in my previous post.

What is a PM

the positive wire was to 15 the negative was to position m one ac was to g and the other was other side of wire 15

A Private Message. That wiring is and was crazy, leshby, just remove it and put things back the way that Victa had them. Negative to upstream 15, positive to downstream 15, and no connections to the AC terminals. That will make it act like a single diode in the line, just like Victa had.

Hello Grumpy, I have disassembled the wiring and checked everything the blades switch was the problem the wire 13 was a loop to wire 10 to position M (key) and also to the headlights earth. Cut them all and rewired to the diagram Ran a new violet wire number 13 to the main earth strap and wallah it all works (rotten naughty potty word auto electrician) was a mate who did it for free and didn't want to do it. should have done it myself. Now i have left the square voltage rectifier the so called auto electrician wired in in wire 15 the right way round. the red wire from the Tecumseh has the original diodes in it will that matter with an extra one(the square one) Have just got to tidy up now i rewired a rewired mower correctly. Thank you for your patience and all of your help

Thanks for the report leshby, it sounds as if all is well when you do things the Victa way. Putting random diodes between functions that are required to be electrically isolated is, basically, dumb.

Also, remember that each time you add an extra diode in series with the standard Victa charging circuit it causes an additional voltage drop of 0.7 Volts, which will decrease your battery charge rate a bit, but otherwise it has no effect. In this case, by using a diode ring rectifier (bridge rectifier) where there should be a single rectifier, it doubles that voltage drop to 1.4 Volts, which will have a noticeable effect on what you see on the ammeter. It would be a better job if you ignored the red wire from the engine (didn't connect it at all), and just connected the yellow wire to the same place you connected the alternator wire from the Briggs: the terminal on the end of wire 6. At the same time you could replace the bridge rectifier with a single diode, as shown on the wiring diagram. If you did all that, it would work exactly the way Victa intended, with no extra voltage drops. Of course the headlight circuit would work too. However until or unless you do that, you will get some kind of charge from the way you have it wired, it just won't be much.

And of course the safety circuits will work, now that you have wired them the way the diagram shows, without various diodes shorting circuits to each other.

Looking on the positive side, your mate may not be a great sparky, but he's obviously a good mate. And now you've learned quite a lot from sorting it all out afterwards.

I'll close this thread. If anyone needs to post to it, just send a PM to a moderator.