# Replacement engine has smaller amps, damage to old pto?



## shopteacher (Dec 9, 2004)

Hello guys and gals,
I replaced a 24 hp briggs witha 20 horse briggs. The 20 horse has a smaller charging system of 9 amps. The orignal engine had 16 amps. 
Will this damage anything?
I was told the smaller amperage on the replacement engine would harm the original pto clutch and possibly damage the battery.
What do you think?
Thanks


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

If you have a battery in your system and the electric pto clutch runs off the battery, then you should have no problems. 9 amps is not enough to engage the pto by itself, but is sufficient to operate the pto and charge the battery once the pto is engaged. The battery has enough amperage to get the clutch engaged and once engaged the amperage draw is reduced, and the output from your charging system should be good enough to maintain the battery. In any account the worst that could happen is your battery would be drained and you would have to recharge it, other then that it will not harm your system.

You can always upgrade the charging system on your new engine if needed.


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## shopteacher (Dec 9, 2004)

Thanks for your reply.
The charging system on the 20 horse engine that I am using can be updated, but by the time I buy everything, It becomes too expensive.

I was told by a 36 year veteran that the smaller charging system would damage a clutch designed for a larger 16 amp system. 

Everyone else, however, said it should be ok. I am beginning to wonder about veteran guy. He claims to know everything but sometimes he is too cautious.
Thanks for your advice. I think I will try the smaller engine and see what happens.

Any one else with a thought?
Thank you very much.


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

If your new engine is the same series engine as the one you replaced, you may be able to use the charging coil and voltage regulator from your old engine.

Like I stated in my previous post, the only thing that could possibly happen is if your output is too low, your battery will slowly discharge requiring an external recharge. This will indicate that you need to upgrade to a higher output charging system, but I don't think that you will have any issues.


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