Another electrical issue

[Larrym]

Details??

D'oh!!

DGXSER is right...uhh "I concur".

If you didn't rev up the engine then the charging system wouldn't have had the chance to "kick-in".

BTW: Nice of you to point out all those little details I have a tendency to overlook. Good to have you back in the "system of checks and balances", Don.

[CatatonicBug]

I think I have narrowed it down to a dead Stator. When I removed the cover, I grabbed the center of the stator, and it lifted off in my hand!

There are 2 sets of wires that come out of the alternator and lead back to behind the fuse panel. One of the sets has the 3 white wires (which I have already soldered together) and the other has 2 wires from the center of the stator (I don't know the real term for that piece). After removing that item from the cover (3 bolts from outside the cover), and losening the wires from a bracket, I found that the insulation was so damaged that it was shorting before it ever got to the windings. Not only that, but the stranded wire that goes into the cover, after it clamps to the stator itself, transfers to a solid strand of wire that becomes the windings (one on the inside of the coil, and one on the outside). One of those wires was broken completely (which is why I was able to lift it of with my hand).

I attempted to re-insulate the wires, and solder the broken wire to the windings, but it still doesn't work.

[Larrym]

Skunk or no Skunk?

Good one C-Bug!

I hope the "repair" works and continues to do so.

You didn't mention any "smell" though and hopefully that's a good sign.

Wait a minute. Your saying you've done the repair and still no worky???

[b.walker5]

Sorry Bug, but jeez, is anybody out there... Could have saved yourself a whole lotta time way back here ... http://www.xs11.com/forum/showpost.p...07&postcount=2 I know I'm from a different part of the world but we do actually have electric light over here...

[CatatonicBug]

Sorry Bug, but jeez, is anybody out there... Could have saved yourself a whole lotta time way back here ... http://www.xs11.com/forum/showpost.p...07&postcount=2 I know I'm from a different part of the world but we do actually have electric light over here...

Yeah, I deserve that "I told you so". However, I needed to go through all this so that I would understand why this was happening. Elecrical is the item I know the least about with this stuff, so the learning process is very important to me. I really appreciate all the help from everyone.

I do have some good news though! After my last post, I decided to just put it back together and go hunting for a replacement MNS Stator. When I got done putting it together, I hit the starter to see what would happen, and IT WORKED!!

I literally did a happy dance in my driveway! I put it ALL back together and took it for a short spin, and everything seems to be working now! I'll cross my fingers, and hope my fix stays fixed.

[randy]

Well I'll be damned...glad you found it!

[DenyP]

All of what Randy said + You are one lucky guy if it holds

Deny

[draketrumpet]

So sad no video on that dance...

May want to keep your eye out for a stator anyway, just in case.

[CatatonicBug]

So sad no video on that dance...

May want to keep your eye out for a stator anyway, just in case.

Sorry, novideo. I was to excited about the fact that it was working. I do have a bid on a stator on ebay, so if the price doesn't go up, I'll be getting that to be on the safe side.

I did take pictures of the broken stator though:

Here is the broken wire. Point A is supposed to be firmly connected to Point B.



Here's the center of the stator turned upside down, with the uninsulated wires separated form each other. I ended up wrapping them in elect. tape, then covering the ends in RTV to replace the old epoxy glob that was on there before.

[b.walker5]

That bit is the field coil. The other bit with the heavy wiring around the perimeter is the stator.

[CatatonicBug]

That bit is the field coil. The other bit with the heavy wiring around the perimeter is the stator.

Good to know! That was the broken part, anyway.

[3Phase]

Oops, looks like Brian already answered but -- Nice repair job!

Just so you know what was wrong and what you fixed because you say you don't know much about the electrics and I'd hate for you to buy the wrong part from eBay:

Technically, the part that you fixed is the field coil, not the stator. That's what the Brown and Green wires at the small regulator connector go to.

The stator is that big mass of epoxy-coated spaghetti wires with the rectangular metal bits stuck into them that sits around the outside of the field coil and the rotor. The White and Yellow wires come from the stator with the White wires going up to the large connector at the rectifier. The Yellow wire isn't used on your bike but it runs the headlight relay on the '78/'79 bikes.

The field coil creates an electrical field that turns the plain steel rotor, the big metal chunk that's bolted onto the end of the crankshaft so it will spin, into an electromagnet. The spinning electromagnet induces electric current in the stator. The more current that is supplied to the field coil the stronger the electromagnet becomes and the more current the alternator will produce.

With the broken field coil wire you just had a chunk of steel spinning around and around on the end of the crankshaft doing nothing. No field coil, no electromagnet.

Again, good work on the repair!


Regards,

Scott