Melted stator connections

[Guest]

I was prepping my bike for a trip to Florida tomorrow, and I noticed the three bullet connectors connecting my three stator AC output wires to my 'duaneage' Honda R/R. What caused the melting? Do you think I'm good to go tomorrow, or will my trip be doomed by an electrical gremlin? I have the R/R grounded to the battery, and all connections were very solid when installed, and dielectric greased.

[JEEPRUSTY]

I have noticed that my bullets lost contact area over time and that my dielectric grease had actually caused a sort of green corrosion.

The three yellow wires were scorched slightly.

I soldered the wires to make a solid connection and no mor eproblems.


I would never go on a trip till I got this fixed.

[chef1366]

I have noticed that my bullets lost contact area over time and that my dielectric grease had actually caused a sort of green corrosion.

The three yellow wires were scorched slightly.

I soldered the wires to make a solid connection and no mor eproblems.


I would never go on a trip till I got this fixed.

Right
Solder them directly.

[lordcannon88]

Right
Solder them directly.

Aye...Looks like I'm in for a long night, guys...lol. What do you think caused the melt? I have a voltmeter, and everything is in spec there...

[Nessism]

The famous stator loop to handlebar switch caused your doom. Very common problem. Check the Newbie Mistakes thread linked in my signature, it may help you avoid similar problems.

[chef1366]

Resistance is the cause of this evil.

[lordcannon88]

The famous stator loop to handlebar switch caused your doom. Very common problem. Check the Newbie Mistakes thread linked in my signature, it may help you avoid similar problems.

Hmm, well doesn't a duaneage regulator bypass the switch loop? I looked at the wiring diagram and it just shows one of the stator AC leads going to a connector, but then straight to the RR... What am I missing?

[JEEPRUSTY]

picture please?
I have three leads on my bike all of which are hard wired to the regulator\rectifier.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

I replaced the bullet connectors with spade connectors, neatly crimped, soldered, and shrink wrapped. I haven't had any trouble with them heating up. I bounce the connections once in a while to be sure they are making a clean connection.



Yes, that's a 7 wire r/r unit. I wish I could remember the model number. It's very robust. It has two grounds, two hot outs, and the three stator connections. I now have one ground to the (-) battery, one to a good common frame ground. I have one output directly to the (+) battery through an inline fuse and the other into the harness. It's been rock-solid for years. It's a bit larger than stock, hence the cutout on the mounting hole.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

Merely installing a "Duaneage" regulator does not bypass any wiring, you have to arrange the bypass.

In stock configuration, one wire from the stator goes to the left handlebar switch, then comes back down. Starting in some of the '79 and '80 models, the Feds mandated that the headlight be ON whenever the bike was running, so the headlight switch was first rendered immovable, then eliminated. When this happened, the stator wire that was disconnected when the lights were OFF, was re-routed at a connector before it got to the now non-existant switch on the handlebar. If you simply wire your R/R to the original wires, you will include this loop. However, if you connect the stator wires DIRECTLY to the R/R, you will bypass that loop.

Back to your original question: "what caused the melted connectors?"
As the connectors age, they lose a bit of tension, possibly even releasing their contact on their mating connector. Electricity will jump that gap with a small arc. "No big deal" you say? Think about how much heat can be in that arc. Not much? Think ARC WELDING. Yep, hot enough to get thick plate steel RED HOT. Yep, that's plenty warm to melt the insulation around the connectors.

You don't really have to solder your connections. Flat spade connectors have a better track record than round bullets, and they work quite well.

.

[azr]

Cliff what do you mean by "bounce the connections", I haven't heard that term before.

[lordcannon88]

Merely installing a "Duaneage" regulator does not bypass any wiring, you have to arrange the bypass.

In stock configuration, one wire from the stator goes to the left handlebar switch, then comes back down. Starting in some of the '79 and '80 models, the Feds mandated that the headlight be ON whenever the bike was running, so the headlight switch was first rendered immovable, then eliminated. When this happened, the stator wire that was disconnected when the lights were OFF, was re-routed at a connector before it got to the now non-existant switch on the handlebar. If you simply wire your R/R to the original wires, you will include this loop. However, if you connect the stator wires DIRECTLY to the R/R, you will bypass that loop.

Back to your original question: "what caused the melted connectors?"
As the connectors age, they lose a bit of tension, possibly even releasing their contact on their mating connector. Electricity will jump that gap with a small arc. "No big deal" you say? Think about how much heat can be in that arc. Not much? Think ARC WELDING. Yep, hot enough to get thick plate steel RED HOT. Yep, that's plenty warm to melt the insulation around the connectors.

You don't really have to solder your connections. Flat spade connectors have a better track record than round bullets, and they work quite well.

.

Brilliant information, sir! I guess I was looking for a switch in the diagram or something... This makes perfect sense. I just packed up half of my tools and wiring paraphernalia just in case. I do have towing...lol. I guess if worse comes to worse this will just add to the adventure...

On a related note, where is a good source for high quality crimp connectors, heat shrink tubing, etc?

[bwringer]

You can get the connectors and heat shrink tubing almost anywhere -- any hardware or home store. You do want to make sure you get a good, known brand, and not a cheap kit full of no-name junk.

You either need to use a good ratcheting crimper or remove the plastic from the connectors and solder them to the wires. Harbor Freight has a pretty good ratcheting crimper for less than $10.

http://www.harborfreight.com/ratcheting-crimping-tool-97420.html

However, get the connectors elsewhere -- HF sells very questionable no-name connectors. The connectors I most commonly are marked "K S".

I have a more expensive Paladin crimper I got from an electronics supply store (not Radio Shack -- all they sell is phones nowadays) and the HF crimper, as far as I can tell, looks identical and makes identical crimps.


Do NOT attempt to crimp anything you care about with crappy sheet metal crimpers like these: http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-...ool-92410.html
If you have a pair of these, toss them in the trash. They have no safe use whatsoever.

There are some pliers-style crimpers that can make safe crimps, but until you develop the skill to use them with extreme consistency, most of your crimps will be defective. A ratchet crimper makes the exact same reliable crimp every time.


If you don't have $10 or time to get a good crimper and you have to solder, make sure you use the smallest possible amount of solder and good technique. The reason for this is that solder can easily wick its way up the wire before it solidifies. This makes the wire very brittle, and it can eventually break in a high-vibration environment like a motorcycle.

[850 Combat]

I have rarely seen a GS without visible heat damage on those connectors. In my experience, they are either freshly replaced, or heat damaged. I solder mine. Of course, a year ago I had to do a starter clutch on the GS1100G powered 1000G, and had to cut the soldered wires.

I would not blame heat damage on the white /red and white/green wire to the handlebar. That is only one of the three toasted connectors. It is my theory that using your stator to toast bad connections overworks it and kills the stator.

[BassCliff]

Hi Rob,

Cliff what do you mean by "bounce the connections", I haven't heard that term before.

Just disconnect and reconnect them a few times. The friction will scrub off any light oxidation that may be present and help ensure a good connection.


Take care,

Cliff