Thanks for the info. Now I know where to go if the one I rewound, dies. Impatient as always, I did not want to wait for shipping.
I tired 17 AWG high-heat ceramic coated wire. Cost me $5 from a local rewiind shop that had a couple of remnant spools they were happy to unload. I have to say, 17 AWG is too big. What came off is smaller. A can of "Spray-on" brand insulating varnish which seems just like the real thing "Glyptal" (but at 1/4 the price) cost me about $7 and change at Grainger's. They allow local pickup to the general public now. Yay ! The Grainger's store-front/warehouse was about a block form the rewinder. How convenient.
I stuffed as many winds as I could onto all the poles and put it onto the bike. Didn't think to measure ohms before soldering the three windings together. Combined I get 0.4 ohms on two pairs and 0.5 ohms on the third pair. Not sure how that could be but it is what it is. Running, I got 40 volts AC across the board. Battery voltage definitely went up from above 12 V at idle to a little less than 15. El-cheapo Radio Shack multi-meter does not provide much detail.
Smelled something plastic-burning-like after 25 minutes of riding and then the right side turn signal stopped flashing. I thought maybe it was the insulating varnish heating up. It was still tacky from being applied the night before, when I installed the stator. That was my 1st indication I needed to do something the other day when the battery stopped charging in the first place ... right side turn signal not flashing. U-turned and went home dismayed. Turn signal started working again.
At home, I tried a better (Fluke) multimeter and it told me about the same story as the l el-cheapo. Above 12 V at idle and under 15 revving. I taped a 3rd multi-meter, another el-cheapo freebie from Harbor Freight, to the gas tank so I could monitor the voltage. Everything was absolutely fine all the way to work and back. About 85 miles round trip.
I'll leave the meter taped to the gas tank for a week or so. For what it's worth I did NOT do a very neat job winding the poles. The first layer of each pole went on ok but it all started to get more and more impossible as I finished the first entire set of 6 poles and started on the second. Doing the third set of 6 poles, it was almost impossible to get a complete first layer. 2nd layer was even less turns and the 3rd layer ... fuggedaboudi'. A real mess.
Maybe 30 turns on the first set of poles. Less on the second set and even less on the 3rd. Maybe about 20 turns. Frankly, I was amazed at what I got for the AC readings, to be so closely matched ... but then again I was using an el-cheapo multimeter.
It all started a few weeks ago. The idle was deteriorating and I didn't notice at first but the headlight was getting dimmer and dimmer. At night it was very noticeable but I didn't think anything of it, in particular. The bike started and ran and got me where I needed to go. Finally, the other day, I had to push start it. The battery was all but dead.
Turns out, the seat pan has rusted at the rubber support pad underneath. The pan had dropped enough to rest on the wires going to the rear lights. It was causing an intermittant ground I believe as I see evidence on the bottom of the metal seat pan. I rerouted those wires but it was too late.
Long story short : I wasn't sure the wires should not go over the frame at that point but ignored it. I also ignored all the symptoms until it was too late and the stator fried. Now I have paid (partially at least) the piper. I'm thankful the Rectifier/Regulator still seems to be working ok.
If my rewind fails I'll post it on here so everyone can tell me you told me so. Next time I may try two very thin wires to make it easy to wind and get all 41 turns, as it was originally. The guy at the rewind place where I bought the wire told me to write down all the data as I unwind and so I did, if anyone is interested in what a 1980 GS850L (T model) had for a stator winding layout. Apparently there are a bunch of different ways these stators have been wound at the factory, through the various years and models.
The last four poles I unwound are where the wires come in and go out. It seems this is the spot that requires careful attention when unwinding and rewinding. Each or these four poles are wound slightly different than all the rest. Apparently to accommodate where the wire ends terminate. The finished product was so ugly I decided to not insult this forum with a photograph of it. In fact, I didn't take any. I just wanted to get it into the bike to see that it would not work and then I would have no choice but to buy one. Turned out I maybe got lucky ... once again.
