Beating my head agains the "stator wall"

[Motor Hack]

I have an '83 GS850GL When I bought it it had a bad stator. I replaced the stator, R/R, and battery, but it still doesn't charge the battery.

I have followed the the Stator papers and I get stopped at the Stator Lead readings. I get 20 VAC across all 3 leads on a brand new stator. Could the magnet have lost it's charge? Is it possible that the magnet doesn't cover enough of the stator to create the entire current? Can the magnet position be adjusted?

I would GRRRRRREATLY appreciate any help that you might be able to offer.

Thanks!

[duaneage]

Did you get the right stator? IIRC there were two different models of stators for the 850, the older ones were smaller.

[BassCliff]

Cooking with electrons

Hi Mr. Motor Hack,

Mr. duaneage is correct. The '79 GS850 uses a 12-pole stator. Later years ('80-'83) use an 18-pole part.

A similar situation occurred to me recently. My new stator had 3000 miles on it when it stopped charging, less than 20VAC output. It had a one year warranty. I got an RMA, sent it back. It was tested and found to have some type of resistance issue and so was replaced under warranty. I just got it today. Thank you RMStator. I guess it must've been manufactured on a Monday or a Friday. :-D

Are the other stator tests in spec? Have you called your supplier's tech support and asked about a warranty replacement? Electrical parts are sometimes DOA. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[TheCafeKid]

I have an '83 GS850GL When I bought it it had a bad stator. I replaced the stator, R/R, and battery, but it still doesn't charge the battery.

I have followed the the Stator papers and I get stopped at the Stator Lead readings. I get 20 VAC across all 3 leads on a brand new stator. Could the magnet have lost it's charge? Is it possible that the magnet doesn't cover enough of the stator to create the entire current? Can the magnet position be adjusted?

I would GRRRRRREATLY appreciate any help that you might be able to offer.

Thanks!

Interestingly enough, a fellow GSR and I ran into a similar question regarding the charging system on HIS bike. He has a 79 750L. His bike wasnt charging at full capacity. Very far from it actually. Well, after testing his stator vs the stator papers, and finding it to be ok, he tried a new R/R. Still not charging. Soo he borrowed an R/R i bought from the very handy Duaneage. Still not charging. We tried 3 different stators. One of which i KNEW for a FACT to be good. Not charging. Two different batteries. Not charging. We even SWAPPED MOTORS because we too thought maybe the rotor was at fault, and figured it would be easier to swap motors than pull rotors. Not charging. And the second motor was mine, which i knew had a good rotor, and a good stator in. We were baffled. Finally we figured, even tho we'd tested it umteen times, it had to be something in the wiring harness. So he ran a line straight from the R/R to the battery. Charging. Sooo somewhere, even tho it tested out ok, in the wiring harness there was a bad spot. Its odd, but it apparently happens.

[J_C]

TCK, not familiar with that wiring diagram, but assuming it's somewhat similar to mine, the issue must have been with the fusebox, right? On mine, R/R runs to fuse box, then to battery.

Of course, it splits off prior to fuse box to run through the ignition switch, but unless I understand electricity even more poorly than I thought, it shouldn't have an impact.

Interested nonetheless, I just cleaned up my fuse box in the hopes it will put my charging a little bit more into spec.



Edit: this has nothing to do with the original question, sorry to hijack.

[doctorgonzo]

I shiver just thinking of all the problems I avoided (believe me I've had enough) by coughing up the 150 bucks for an entire new wiring harness almost as soon as I got the bike. New ATC/ATO fusebox is next.

[J_C]

I would buy a new wiring harness for that price in a heartbeat. I'm pretty sure it would be impossible for me to find

[jbs80106]

Can't say 1 way or the other on wiring harness....

if your stator is only putting out 20VAC on each leg its completely independent of the wiring harness. You're problem starts with the stator. Once its putting out sufficient voltage, then you can move on up the wiring to track the next problem.

I'd say the stator doesn't have enough copper wiring turns to generated the necessary current. Magnet is stock. The number of turns and how the stator is wrapped will dictate how much voltage you're going to get out of it. It could be too small (wrong one for you bike as it seems there's a choice of 2), or wrapped with smaller than necessary gauge wire, or maybe wrapped in correctly.

I don't think you said where you got the new one from?

[doctorgonzo]

That's about the number of volts (25) I was putting out before I replaced my stator. I think new generation ones (like my electrosport) only put out about 65 or 70. My manual says the stock one is bad if it's putting out less than 80.

[jbs80106]

Well....

the trouble-shooting flow diagram available from the Electrosport website indicates that when checking the voltages off the 3 stator leads "are not equal, or they are below 50 VAC --> Stator at fault. Replace stator and return to start".

I don't know how to rectify the Suzi manual saying it should be much higher that that, the extra probably justs burned off by the Reg/Rec anyway. Electrosport is basically telling you that if you get 50 VAC or more out of each leg of the stator will result in your reg/rect generating the 13.5-14.7V to charge the battery.

[doctorgonzo]

the trouble-shooting flow diagram available from the Electrosport website indicates that when checking the voltages off the 3 stator leads "are not equal, or they are below 50 VAC --> Stator at fault. Replace stator and return to start".

I don't know how to rectify the Suzi manual saying it should be much higher that that, the extra probably justs burned off by the Reg/Rec anyway. Electrosport is basically telling you that if you get 50 VAC or more out of each leg of the stator will result in your reg/rect generating the 13.5-14.7V to charge the battery.

I know. I even had an old school suzuki mechanic tell me that 45 was ok. My new electrosport and Honda R/R unit is giving me 13.9 at the battery. That's with a really crappy old fuse box that needs replacing. It might go up to low 14 range after that. The test of the stator legs showed al three at about 70 at 5000 RPM. However, my manual says they should read 80V on the stator test, don't know why they thought it needed all that back in 1981.

[Motor Hack]

Here We go again

[-o< Thanks for all the information.

I pull the Stator and start there...again.... I'll let you know what happens.


Thanks Again

[duaneage]

Did you measure the resistance of the legs to see what they are? Touch the meter leads together to get an idea of what absolute 0 reads then measure from one yellow to another and see what you get. Subtract the amount you saw when touching the leads together and it should be around 0.8 ohms. between any two. If it is over 1 ohm something is wrong. If you touch one lead to the engine and one to each yellow it should read open, lots of resistance. A shorted wire touching the metal of the engine can cause problems too.

Do all this with the engine not running of course.

[Motor Hack]

No Dice....ARRRRGH!

I pulled the cover checked the stator and it is an 18 pole stator. I thought perhaps I should go with an OEM stator, so I bought a new one. (Yes, a second new stator). I put it on the bike tonight, fired it up and now I am getting 23 VAC across all stator leads.

I'm at my wits end, any ideas what could be happening here?

[duaneage]

Set the meter for high AC range, like up to 200 Volts, and measure the voltage from one of your wall outlets. If you don't see 120 volts buy a new battery for it or else get another meter.