Dagnabbit!!! (stator failure)

[AApple]

....I gotta get back on two wheels....I'm havin withdrawals!!! :smilie_happy:

Dan....post your video of your riding in the country....that should help Joel in the meantime! :smilie_happy:

:rant: Oh...kick a man while he's down, eh? Why I oughta....

:cheeky:
:smilie_happy: :mrgreen: :smilie_happy: :mrgreen: :smilie_happy:

 

[AApple]

:rant: :crying: :sensored: :fiddle: :rant: :rant: :rant: :head bang: :Awe: :crying: :crying: :crying: :sensored:
TO be continued.....I'm too pizzed off right now.... :rant:

 

[dan filipi]

You got my number don't cha Joel, Call me if you need to.

 

[AApple]

Talkin ain'ta gunna fix it...Imma bout ready to scrap it and buy anudder un. We're goin to a swap meet this weekend....I may be ridin home on a different bike...ya never know.... :rant:

I got the RR today. I took all of the terminals/wires out of what was left of the connector, and used my original connector, bolted it to the frame, then plugged it in. Got the solenoid and battery cables back on, then hooked up my good Fluke meter to the battery. Fired it up, and....12.45v @ 5000 rpm...same as before. :rant: :head bang: I ALMOST :crying: . I just shut the garage door and came back inside. Ain't no two ways about it...the stator has to be fried. I did check the yaller wires with the Fluke, and I'm showing 1 ohm resistance from each one to ground. Not much, but still...from what I unnerstand there should be NONE. This other RR is getting pretty hot...my original one was only getting warm. I just so friggin confused now. The stator putting out 60+ AC volts was supposed to be confirmation that is is good...Idano......I don't know what else to do other than rip this b :sensored: h apart and put a new stator in it. I just don't have the equipment anymore to do the external alt mod...my welder got stolen with all my other stuff, and I don't have the patience anymore to spend hours at a time fabricating brackets that don't need welding. I've been studying the Alternator forums, looking at all the pics of different bracketry.......
I give up... :swoon:

 

[dan filipi]

So who's near Joel to help him do an external alternator?

 

[mcgovern61]

I have the '81 stator if you are interested.....but that one has over 169k miles on it. :builder:

 

[mcgovern61]

Ain't no two ways about it...the stator has to be fried. I did check the yaller wires with the Fluke, and I'm showing 1 ohm resistance from each one to ground. Not much, but still...from what I unnerstand there should be NONE. This other RR is getting pretty hot...my original one was only getting warm.

Hang tight for a minute......if the RR is getting hot, the stator should be putting out! It only gets hot when it dumps excess. Gotta think this through.......... :laptop:

The RR is dumping because it thinks it has the right voltage? (14.8) Unless something else is drawing it?

 

[dan filipi]

Yeah something doesn't make sense.

You have 60 volts ac on all legs so it has to be putting out, no 2 ways about that.
1 ohm continuity is damn near none.

Battery shorting?

 

[mcgovern61]

I'm afeered the stator has toasted. All was fine until I started running my driving lights all the way to work in the mornings. All I know about them is they are halogen bulbs...no clue what kind of wattage/amps they pull. I did have to replace the switch for them the other day, tho...it melted.

A clue that I missed earlier. You might need to check other wiring! Because the one wire heated up on the stator, the battery went to a low voltage condition with continual output. If there were any other bad connections they would have heated up just like the driving light switch. I would isolate all of the other wiring as best as possible (pull fuses if needed) and see if you can't get the voltage up. I might be shooting in the wind here, but I think you have another bad connection somewhere.

 

[dan filipi]

That makes sense Gerry.
Maybe a partial short only when the key is on, enough of a drain to make the stator output full but not so much it drains the battery.

I wouldn't rule out a shorted battery cell even if it's not very old.

Have you put it on a charger?

 

[backlander]

one more test. pull main fuse and bridge gap with test light. if you have a 1/2 amp drain going on the light will light up. pull other fuses one at time until light goes out, narrowing down your search area. (from virgilmoble at goldwing docs.) He says if there is a drain going on it could affect the charging rate. Just a suggestion. Good Luck.

 

[joedrum]

thats a good test ....backlander

 

[backlander]

I ain't got much sense joe, but I can Google the hell out of something till I find some answers :laptop: :smilie_happy:

 

[AApple]

I agree that sumptin don't make sense....prolly ME! I was just tinkin this mornin...HOW does the voltage from the RR get back to the battery in the first place? I haven't looked at the wiring diagram to answer that yet, so...there may definitely be an issue somewhere that I have missed.
I have eliminated the battery as a problem, since I disconnected it, and used my booster box in it's place, with the same results. Now....I'm wonderin if I dint mess something up in the process of replacing the driving light switch, which is mounted in the fairing on the left side, where the factory wiring runs for the head/turn lights. I like the idea of it NOT being a stator problem, but...seems like if I had something drawing that much voltage from the system, I should be able to follow the smoke to the problem?
I guess this weekend I can start disconnecting stuff, and see what happens. With my luck, it will be somthin REALLY stoopid...in which case I may not tell anyone... :blush:

The only work I have done recently, before this problem appeared, was installing the new driving light switch, and that was pretty straight forward remove/replace. I gotta start there, I guess...maybe just disconnect the faring harness first. I also removed the speedo a few days before, and lubed the bushing in it to quieten it down. I may have jiggled a wire(or 30) in the harness up around the gauge cluster/ign switch....

Thanks for the support, youse guys...I feels a little better now, but still not happy drivin a cage every day...I wanna RIDE! :moped:

 

[MrGeo]

I agree that sumptin don't make sense....prolly ME! I was just tinkin this mornin...HOW does the voltage from the RR get back to the battery in the first place? I haven't looked at the wiring diagram to answer that yet, so...there may definitely be an issue somewhere that I have missed.
I have eliminated the battery as a problem, since I disconnected it, and used my booster box in it's place, with the same results. Now....I'm wonderin if I dint mess something up in the process of replacing the driving light switch, which is mounted in the fairing on the left side, where the factory wiring runs for the head/turn lights. I like the idea of it NOT being a stator problem, but...seems like if I had something drawing that much voltage from the system, I should be able to follow the smoke to the problem?
I guess this weekend I can start disconnecting stuff, and see what happens. With my luck, it will be somthin REALLY stoopid...in which case I may not tell anyone... :blush:

The only work I have done recently, before this problem appeared, was installing the new driving light switch, and that was pretty straight forward remove/replace. I gotta start there, I guess...maybe just disconnect the faring harness first. I also removed the speedo a few days before, and lubed the bushing in it to quieten it down. I may have jiggled a wire(or 30) in the harness up around the gauge cluster/ign switch....

Thanks for the support, youse guys...I feels a little better now, but still not happy drivin a cage every day...I wanna RIDE! :moped:

Best of luck, keep lookin. GEO :music3: :music3:

 

[AApple]

one more test. pull main fuse and bridge gap with test light. if you have a 1/2 amp drain going on the light will light up. pull other fuses one at time until light goes out, narrowing down your search area. (from virgilmoble at goldwing docs.) He says if there is a drain going on it could affect the charging rate. Just a suggestion. Good Luck.

I have one of these that I can insert in place of my main fuse to check amp draw....never thought of that. :thanks: I also have a low amp probe for my scope that clamps around a wire and measures amp/current flow thru the wire.
I started thinkin this mornin(dangerous...especially this early in da mornin!)...could the issue be in the starter solenoid? I still ain't looked at the wiring diagram, but Imma guessing that's where the charge voltage from the RR/stator gets back TO the battery? I'll do some serious wire/connector checking this weekend, after the swap meet....Thanks fellers! :clapping:

 

[dan filipi]

Ok, you got 12.45v at 5000 rpm at the battery.That means it aint charging.
BUT the RR is getting hot which means it's working.

The charge line from the RR does go back to the starter relay.
I'll look at this more. It seems like there's a splice in the line.

 

[dan filipi]

(click image to zoom)

Black= Hot from ignition

Both greens= Ground

Both reds= Hot to Start relay, charge lines

Checking each one:

Black should have battery voltage with the key on
Both greens should have ground
Both reds should have battery voltage with the key off and key on

Now start it and check these voltages AT the regulator plug, particularly at the reds.

Mom wired it funny.
As you can see both the greens and the reds tie together so in essence there only needs to be one ground wire and one red wire but where they are spliced together in the wire harness there could be a high resistance connection either by broken strands or not connected at all so each wire at the RR plug has to be tested for resistance.
Myself I'd bypass the reds and greens straight to battery and ground for troubleshooting then go from there.
Might even need to jumper the 3 yellows since they do go through the harness to get to the RR plug but I think that not going to be needed because you had 50 volts on those at the RR plug.

 

[MrGeo]

Ok, you got 12.45v at 5000 rpm at the battery.That means it aint charging.
BUT the RR is getting hot which means it's working.

The charge line from the RR does go back to the starter relay.
I'll look at this more. It seems like there's a splice in the line.

:hi: :laptop: I explained where it is (the splice, a spade plug) on mine in one of the posts I put up, if that is the same one you are speaking about. :music3: :music3:

 

[AApple]

I'm not sure the 1200 has the same wiring G...
But....here's what I found tonite, in the short time I had to mess wid it.
Key off, there is NO draw from the battery...zero.
Engine running @ 3000 rpm:
Headlamp(low beam) is pulling 3 amps
ALL running lamps(front, tail, and 4 lamps around the trunk) pulling 3 amps.(I think this also includes the gauge lamps)
Driving lamps pulling 6 amps. :blush:
Fan draws 4 amps.
Brake draws around 3 amps
Here's the semi-good news...maybe....possibly...
With the fuses pulled for the head and tail lamps, I see 13.40 volts at the battery(@ 3000 rpm)...that's a good thing, right...right? :beg: At least it's a step in the right direction?
The RR is getting really hot, as is the connector for the RR...not enough to melt the plastic, but still a little warm. The main fuse connector that I installed a couple of years ago(to replace the dogbone) seems to be getting a little warm, also.
That's as much as I found out this evening. I had to stop and get the swap meet wagon ready and loaded into the car for an early start tomorrow. :mrgreen:


Sooooo....whadda youse guys think? Does I needs to re-wire the whole dang thing? I did NOT remember to check the two green wires from the RR to see if they were making a good ground...I'll do that Sunday. I'll also rip the harness apart and find the splices, and cut them out, and solder them. I'm starting to believe the voltage is just not getting from the RR back to the battery. I guess I COULD check voltage coming out of the RR, eh? Maybe it's got 14v there, but loosing it along the road back to the battery. That's what I'm hoping, anyway...
I'm not quite so angry now....but I still ain't all that happy....I WANNA RIDE! :moped: