What will happen if wires are hooked up backwards to battery (reverse polarity) on small !6 HP BRIGGS_STRATTON engine. Will it just not start or will something more dang erous happen? If it does turn, fire & then falter does that mean as far p olarity goes that things are correct & problem is elsewhere?
If the starter turns the engine in the correct direction ( same as if using rope starter). then polarity is OK. (If wrong, it would turn backward, assuming the starter drive would even catch).
HP BRIGGS_STRATTON engine. Will it just not start or will something more dangerous happen? If it does turn, fire & then falter does that mean as f ar polarity goes that things are correct & problem is elsewhere?
And to answer the rest of the question, hooking it up backwards could probably damage the charging circuit or any other electronics, depending off course on the actual design.
That is usually the case if it has an alternator style charging system, that is usually just a couple extra coils in the stator, under the flywheel. It blows the diodes and may burn out the stator itself. You can usually get by with a $3 bridge block for the diodes but the stator is a proprietary part.
I'm against doing it backwards, but it's not always a disaster. In the 100 times I've jumped my car or others, ONCE I got it backwards for a second or two and the other car wasn't hurt. Don't rely on this, but don't assume it's been damage either.
There is a big difference between cross connecting 2 batteries and putting reverse current directly into the diode array. That is the forward direction for them and all the battery has to give, goes straight to the stator coil. I am not sure about lawn mowers but boat manufacturers usually put a fusible link in the diode array but it is a distinction without a difference because you still have to replace it.
ll !6 HP BRIGGS_STRATTON engine. Will it just not start or will something more dangerous happen? If it does turn, fire & then falter does that mean as far polarity goes that things are correct & problem is elsewhere?
cross connecting 2 batteries can cause both to explode...... its to be avoi ded at all costs
Maybe you've had really old cars without computers.
I jumped a coworker's car. I hooked up the cables correctly, then she took a look and said I had them backwards, and switched them. In her defense, the negative wire had red insulation though it was marked negative.
When I touched my battery there was a loud pop and her car went totally dead, and needed an expensive computer chip replacement before it could be started. That pop was instantaneous, no chance to realize we had it wrong.
Yeah, you're right. I apologize..., It was a long time ago. Even then they threated you that you'd burn out something (I forget what? It wasn't that the battery would spark and melt. It was about a semiconuctor. It couldnt' be the diodes since there whole purpose is to reject backwards current.
Red insulation... That's terrible. Someone should paint it black.
That's a shame. Was she mad at herself.
My friend left me some jumper cables with a light in the middle, t hat has something to do with not connecting them backwards, though I haven't looked at it. Does it work? Other than that, they're cheap cables compared to my 16' heavy duty. But then again I don't need jumps since I got Priority Start. Maybe other people will.
I find it hard to believe they did not put a 10 cent diode in that power feed.
Yeah, that's what I thought. It cost several hundred for the computer chip replacement.
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