cooking stator wire?

[Guest]

What would cause one of the three stator wires to run so hot to melt the spade connector? I have had the stator cover off recently. Its possible that i could have a pinched wire, but why would that cause it to run hot
I checked that it is charging properly and its running ~14 volts higher rpms. I installed a new Duaneage R&R last spring and did my best to get it wired properly.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Corrosion causes resistance. Resistance causes heat. Clean all the connections and grounds in the charging system and all over the bike; battery terminals, fusebox, ignition switch, etc. It sounds like your stator may just be giving up the ghost. Do the active and passive stator test to see if it is still functioning properly. Make sure the sense wire from the r/r unit is connected to a switched 12v source that is accurate. If the source is reading low then it forces the r/r to try to compensate by putting out higher voltage.

What is the voltage loss measurement between the r/r output and the battery positive?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[gearhead13]

Hi,

Corrosion causes resistance. Resistance causes heat. Clean all the connections and grounds in the charging system and all over the bike; battery terminals, fusebox, ignition switch, etc. It sounds like your stator may just be giving up the ghost. Do the active and passive stator test to see if it is still functioning properly. Make sure the sense wire from the r/r unit is connected to a switched 12v source that is accurate. If the source is reading low then it forces the r/r to try to compensate by putting out higher voltage.

What is the voltage loss measurement between the r/r output and the battery positive?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

The r/r output goes direct to the battery, so no loss there. The sense wire goes to actual battery voltage, not drooped voltage. I had a problem with overcharging and had to change the sense wire location. The ground from the r/r goes direct to battery neg, large wire to engine and smaller one to the frame. I tested the stator last spring and it passed all tests. I remembered I had the sprocket cover off as well and maybe the wires got pinched or something Its too cold to ride here now, and the engine is coming out for the winter so I will get it figured out before spring somehow.

[koolaid_kid]

The only other culprit could be the R/R. The Regulator side is apparently not regulating. All the Rectifier side does is convert AC to DC.

[Mercaholic]

What would cause one of the three stator wires to run so hot to melt the spade connector? I have had the stator cover off recently. Its possible that i could have a pinched wire, but why would that cause it to run hot
I checked that it is charging properly and its running ~14 volts higher rpms. I installed a new Duaneage R&R last spring and did my best to get it wired properly.

I had that occur when two of the three stator wires somehow crossed onto eachother.

Sure made the bike run weird on the short ride home.

[Nessism]

Are the stator wires routed directly into the R/R, bypassing the vehicle harness? If not, they should be. Suzuki's wiring routing scheme for the charging system is poor, and is the main cause of problems with the charging system.

[Steve]

What would cause one of the three stator wires to run so hot to melt the spade connector?

It's not the wire that's running hot.

It's the CONNECTOR.

Cut it off, strip and clean the wire, securely crimp on a new connector. Even better, solder the connector, too.

The heat is caused by tiny little sparks that are trying to jump across the gaps caused by improper crimping. Don't think they can get that warm? Why do you think that arc welding works? It's the arc that is hot, not the wires. Same thing is happening on a much smaller scale inside your poorly-crimped connectors.

NOTE: this can also happen if the tension on the connectors is weak. Yet another reason to clean your connections and/or upgrade to better connectors.

.

[DanTheMan]

If you're going to cook your stator wire, serve it with spam and a little BBQ sauce. It'll make it much more tasty.

[tom203]

I agree with Steve- crimp on connectors are deceiving; make sure you use the right size for those little stator output wires. When I replaced my R/R, one of my stator spade connectors just slipped off wire as I unplugged things- I had used a connector designed for 14/16 gauge wire and it didn't crimp tight enough.

[gearhead13]

I am going to try replacing the spade with a butt connector to see if that fixes it.

[Nessism]

I am going to try replacing the spade with a butt connector to see if that fixes it.

It most likely won't fix the problem unless the stator is wired directly into the R/R bypassing the factory harness.

[gearhead13]

It most likely won't fix the problem unless the stator is wired directly into the R/R bypassing the factory harness.

The stator is wired directly to the r/r. Has been since I bought it. I used a butt connector and ran it and the connection never heated up. Before, it heated up enough to burn my fingers within seconds when it fired up.

[koolaid_kid]

With all due respect to the esteemed members participating in this thread, I strongly suggest that unless the connection is grossly faulty (it can happen, surely) there is more going on here than just a faulty spade connector. To test, one could check the voltage pre and post connector. Unless I have massively misjudged the statements here by the OP, the loss through any replaced connector should not be so huge that it melts connectors. JMHO.

[Nessism]

Those connectors get darn hot, even with solid contact. That's the reason I bought a Compufire R/R.

Another thing to review is the R/R grounding. Other than that, it is what it is.

Good luck and hope you get it sorted.

[Normk]

Heat indicates that work is being done, work which is not desireable. Heat is almost always due to voltage drop due to high resistance but, in this case, may be due to excessive current flow. What is the charging voltage?

Have you a means of loading and measuring maximum VRR charging/output current?

A failed/shorted rectifier diode can allow high DC current flow through the stator and burn it out. I recommend that you solve this ASAP in the hope of saving part of the system.