Late model r/r unit

[Redman]

Sorry Redman if this sounds contrary but the charging voltage spec from Suzuki is roughly 14 - 15.5 volts at 5000 rpm. The charging system is supposed to put out this much. .

Thanks.

"optimum" charging voltage ranges as I have found.

AGM 14.2-14.9v

Lead Acid 14.2-14.5v

Thanks.

Thanks Guys. That was some time ago I looked into this.
Thanks for reminding me of the specifics.

...............

On the 7-wire units there is no sense wire, just two grounds and two hots along with the three stator inputs. It must do internal voltage regulation.
.............
BassCliff

Intersting that Honda has some with sense wire and some without.

Oh, and my complements on your use of heat shrink tubeing.

And nice of you to invite your wife out to the garage to spend some time together. You could have shown her the difference between these 3 regulators you have, and discussed stators and other such important isssues.

.

[bwringer]

I wonder if maybe they use a heavier guage thicker wire to allow more current.
If the physical space where the wire can go is the same, they would likely have to use less turns, so less voltage.

I don't know, just speculating.

This is exactly what they did. 45-50VAC from an aftermarket stator is normal.

Thicker wire = fewer turns, BUT = more current.

More current =

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Thanks to Mr. posplayer and his charging system lesson today, I found out that there is a .5v difference between what my r/r is putting out and what my (+)battery is seeing. When I rev up the motor, that difference becomes greater, as much as 1v for a split second at one point during testing. That means I need to replace my fusebox as that is about the only thing between the r/r output and the (+)battery input. And this could be why my bike has eaten a stator every 8 or 10 months since I've owned it. Bad connections = too much resistance = too much heat = Trouble, Trouble with a capital "T" and that rhymes with "C" and that stands for Corrosion.

Clean connections, ladies and gentlemen. That makes your electrical system very happy. Clean connections everywhere.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

Don't end this thread here, BassCliff.

Let us know what happens after you change it.

.

[Nessism]

Hi,

Thanks to Mr. posplayer and his charging system lesson today, I found out that there is a .5v difference between what my r/r is putting out and what my (+)battery is seeing. When I rev up the motor, that difference becomes greater, as much as 1v for a split second at one point during testing. That means I need to replace my fusebox as that is about the only thing between the r/r output and the (+)battery input. And this could be why my bike has eaten a stator every 8 or 10 months since I've owned it. Bad connections = too much resistance = too much heat = Trouble, Trouble with a capital "T" and that rhymes with "C" and that stands for Corrosion.

Clean connections, ladies and gentlemen. That makes your electrical system very happy. Clean connections everywhere.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Swapping out the fuse box seems extreme. Are you sure that's necessary?

If the stator wires are attached directly to the R/R wires, there won't be any resistance build up. Negative wire out of the R/R can go direct to the battery, or split the wires and run one of those green wires to the frame and the other to the battery. Again, no resistance build up there. The only place where resistance can build up is on the positive side of the circuit. On the Honda CBR wiring diagram, they run the + (red) wire direct to the battery with an in-line fuse. That's what I did when installing a CBR R/R in my 850. I ran the other red wire and fed it into the harness where the old Suzuki R/R fed the system. Not sure if feeding the harness is necessary but I didn't think it would hurt. At any rate, I don't see how there will be any resistance in the circuit since almost all the wires are feeding direct. Changing the fuse box would do no good unless you are running the power though it. Bypass and the problem goes away.

[BassCliff]

Swapping out the fuse box seems extreme. Are you sure that's necessary?

Hi Mr. Nessism,

No, Ed, I'm not sure it's necessary. I'm going to perform a visual inspection and cleaning then take more measurements. I thought about splitting the hot wire (red output) from the r/r, sending one to the harness and the other directly (through an inline fuse) to the battery. Instead I opted to combine the two output wires. We'll see what I find when I fiddle with the fuse box. That's the only thing between the r/r output and the battery. I'll check the wiring diagram to be sure. I did split the green ground wires, sending one directly to the (-)battery terminal and the other to the frame.

I found out that I also lost the high beam on my headlight bulb on the way home yesterday. In addition to stators, my bike has been in the habit of burning a bulb every 10 months or so.

In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures of the Electrosport stator I just took out. You can see some bare wires. The insulation has melted off and the wires started to short together.



Here is a closeup of the affected area. I've got no way of knowing how much of the windings underneath the epoxy covering are shorted (hence my 10v per leg output).



Sure, Steve, after I clean up my fusebox and take a few more measurements I'll post it here. I must say that I'm slightly embarrassed at the situation. I thought I had my charging system in good order.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[rustybronco]

BassCliff,
I don't think even the king of all GS tech tutorial storage, can be held responsible for "possible" mfg defects.

[GQROD]

BassCliff

How long did you have that stator in your bike before you started having problems with it?

[BassCliff]

BassCliff

How long did you have that stator in your bike before you started having problems with it?

Hi Mr. GQROD,

I installed that Electrosport stator on April 26,2008. That was a little over 10,000 miles ago. I'll bet the warranty expired last week.

I haven't had a chance to look at my fusebox yet.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[GQROD]

Hi Mr. GQROD,

I installed that Electrosport stator on April 26,2008. That was a little over 10,000 miles ago. I'll bet the warranty expired last week.

I haven't had a chance to look at my fusebox yet.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

I installed my electrosport in September 2008. With a Duanege R/R, hooked the sense wire to the brake light and it overcharged up to 17 volts. Battery acid overflowed.

Hooked up the sense wire to the battery directly and haven't had a problem since.

My fuse box is old also, i don't ride as much as others but mine is still working well.

I did replace the terminals with heavy duty copper ones and ground the r/r to the frame.

But it is curious why electrosport stators burn out so quickly.

[850 Combat]

So...

Can I hear more about mounting the R/R under the battery? What's that about?

[rustybronco]

With a Duanege R/R, hooked the sense wire to the brake light and it overcharged up to 17 volts. Battery acid overflowed.

Hooked up the sense wire to the battery directly and haven't had a problem since.

Your hook up the sense wire to the wire that goes to the brake light switch (constant voltage with key in the on position). not to the brake light.

So...

Can I hear more about mounting the R/R under the battery? What's that about?

from the factory, the R/R is mounted to the bottom of the battery tray on my '80 and '82 gs850g. what year is yours?

[bonanzadave]

Your hook up the sense wire to the wire that goes to the brake light switch (constant voltage with key in the on position). not to the brake light.

Correct, thank you Rusty.

My brake light supply wire was down around 10.5 vdc which was causing the RR to over charge up to 15.5 vdc. I cleaned every connector I could find trying to get that brake light wire up closer to 12vdc. I finally went for a relay mod and now my RR is solid at 14.5 vdc.

[Billy Ricks]

After doing some more work on my charging system it appears my Westco AGM battery is toast. I went through all my wiring and was still having problems. I would charge the battery and it would show 100% charge. Then while leaving it connected I switched the charger to show voltage. As soon as the charger would cut out the voltage would start dropping and the charger would start charging again. It's a shame because the battery isn't all that old. I need to check my Paypal account and see just how old it is.

It appears my RM stator is charging just fine and the CBR1000RR R/R holds steady at about 14.45 volts.

[BassCliff]

I installed my electrosport in September 2008. With a Duanege R/R, hooked the sense wire to the brake light and it overcharged up to 17 volts. Battery acid overflowed.

Hooked up the sense wire to the battery directly and haven't had a problem since.

My fuse box is old also, i don't ride as much as others but mine is still working well.

I did replace the terminals with heavy duty copper ones and ground the r/r to the frame.

But it is curious why electrosport stators burn out so quickly.

Hi Mr. GQROD,

My theory is that there are still a few critical connections that I have yet to clean on my wiring harness. Oxidation and corrosion cause extra resistance. This leads to heat which dissipates from the wires behind (upstream) where the resistance occurs. Melted insulation, brittle wires, and short circuits are the result. Sometimes, as Mr. bonanzadave mentions, plugging your sense wire into an electrical path with too much resistance (and voltage drop) can cause the sense wire to send misinformation back to the r/r unit and cause overcharging.

Some models have the r/r unit on the bottom of the battery box, some under the side cover.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff