# Ariens Pro 28 Battery Start Conversion



## rslifkin (Mar 5, 2018)

Today I finally finished putting my Pro 28 back together after the battery start conversion. It turned just about as well as I'd hoped. 

Video of it starting (it was already warm for this start as I'd done some electrical testing before I took the video): https://photos.app.goo.gl/Lfkn3bCTpiPcS84e9

The only thing I've noticed is that the OEM Briggs voltage regulator setup only seems to regulate down, not up. So even though the stator would have some usable output at idle, it won't charge at all until about 2000 RPM (as the regulator output is below the battery voltage up to that point). And it takes 2400 RPM to just barely keep up with the headlight draw. But cranked up to full RPM (about 3700 with no load) it happily stays at a steady 14.2 volts with both the headlight and the heated grips on (and that's what matters). 

It just means no battery charging or ability to warm the grips without draining the battery while it's idling to warm up. Not a big deal considering it charges fine while throttled up for use. 

For wiring features, the top fuse is the charging circuit fuse (10A), bottom one is the main harness fuse (10A) for the feed up to the control panel. Connector is for a battery tender.

The headlight is now on a switch instead of on whenever the engine is running. Headlight and hand warmers both run off battery power, so they'll run at pretty much full performance no matter what, they'll just drain the battery a bit if the engine isn't throttled up far enough to keep up with the electrical demand. Plus, this means the headlight can be left on for visibility when near the street if I shut down for a minute to talk to a neighbor. 

The machine is now a little more nose-heavy, but not terribly so. I'd say of the 30-ish lbs the battery tray and battery adds, it's pretty evenly split between weight on the skids and weight on the wheels (considering it sits about half-way between them). So it'll help keep the bucket down as well as add a little drive traction.


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## legarem (Sep 9, 2017)

I thought doing it with my 926LE with a Honda GX390 which has a 12 volts starter.



What did you use for supporting the battery to the bucket ? What kind of plastic battery tray are you using ?


Thanks


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## rslifkin (Mar 5, 2018)

The battery tray is a stock Ariens tray from an older key start Pro model (should fit any Ariens with a similar enough curve on the back of the bucket). It's part number 52422200 for the tray (metal and gets bolted to the bucket) and part number 04912900 for the plastic top cover. The hold downs that tie them together on mine are just a pair of 7" carriage bolts with washers and wing nuts on the top. The top cover acts as a hold down for the battery. The setup uses a common Group U1 sized lawn tractor battery. 

Most of the rest of the setup is OEM Briggs parts. They make a 12v starter that fits the 420cc Polar Force Pro on the newer carb-ed Ariens Pros (part number 797775). I added an upgraded stator (part number 591100) to make sure it had enough voltage to drive the regulator (part number 845907) and to add some more headroom if I decide to add more lights later on. Briggs calls this stator and rectifier combo a "10 amp" charging system, so it should be good for at least 120 watts at 3600 RPM (closer to 140 if it's 10 amps at the 14.2 volts the regulator puts out). 

When I went to Briggs for info on the stock stator, they indicated it's good for 60 watts, so I figured that was marginal (especially considering I measured the headlight and hand warmers as drawing 4.5 amps at 14.2 volts, which is 64 watts). 

The switches I added are Contura V switches from OTRATTW. Fuse holders are Blue Sea ones. The rest is just wire, terminals, heat shrink, orange wire loom and zipties. 

Honestly, the worst part of the whole job was cutting the 2 additional switch holes into the control panel. The way they're spaced, I can add one more if I add additional lights.

A lot of the part numbers and some of the confirmation that this was possible came from Macplee's thread on converting his Hydro Pro 36 to battery start: https://www.snowblowerforum.com/for...ion/138577-upgraded-12v-key-start-lights.html


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## legarem (Sep 9, 2017)

With the GX390, you have the regulator and the starting switch with the motor. I normally start it by hand and it start normally at the first pull. Last winter I used the starter only one time with a remote battery. I have to figure if it would be useful for me. With synthetic oil, it is really easy to start the motor at low temperature. I'd rather love to get a 120V starter instead of a 12V but...


Also, as I don't have any autoturn, differential etc, I have to keep the snowblower on the low weight side if I don't want to fight with it. I still have to think about the battery conversion.


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## rslifkin (Mar 5, 2018)

In my case, I think 120v start is kinda dumb. Works fine before leaving the garage, but slightly annoying. Once you've left the garage, all you've got is pull start if you have to shut it off for something unless you walk back for an extension cord. 
Plus, adding bucket weight is common, so I figured if I'm adding weight, it might as well be useful and not just steel plates.


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## sidewinder (Jan 3, 2016)

rslifkin said:


> Today I finally finished putting my Pro 28 back together after the battery start conversion. It turned just about as well as I'd hoped.
> 
> Video of it starting (it was already warm for this start as I'd done some electrical testing before I took the video): https://photos.app.goo.gl/Lfkn3bCTpiPcS84e9
> 
> ...


Looks great, really nice work. Do you have any concern about the additional weight only on one side?


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## rslifkin (Mar 5, 2018)

I'm not too worried about the one-sided weight, as Ariens placed a battery over there on factory key start units for quite a few years. Plus, I mounted the tray as close to the impeller drum as I could to keep the weight from being too far out. And once we factor in the chute and how the engine distributes its weight, the right side of the machine was a bit lighter than the left from the factory, which means the difference probably isn't all that huge.

The only thing I'd consider changing is replacing the stock hand warmer switch with a new one (if I can find one with the correct logo). That would allow me to take advantage of the logo on the headlight switch being able to light up when turned on and would make the look of the switches more consistent.


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## rslifkin (Mar 5, 2018)

And to stick with the matching switches theme, if I end up adding lights up front on the bucket at some point, I'll most likely use this for a switch (with the text changed to Bucket Lights): https://www.otrattw.net/contura-v-SPOT-LIGHT-upper-dependent-led-only-V1D1BX0B-PZCM4-5SL.html


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