Not charging

Well I rode to town today and the bike would barely start to get me home. When I did get home and shut it off, it wouldn't start at all. It's been running so well lately I can hardly believe that this just showed up overnight.

I've checked the 3 black stator wires while running and there are 0 volts at all three, nothing, nada, zilch etc... I assume that this can only mean that the stator is shot? is this correct or is there anything else that could cause this? I hooked up the old R/R which was still working when removed and nothing. I actually disconnected the stator from the R/R and no volts. Can anyone tell me if there is a better brand than another to buy and what parts may be required for replacement besides a crankcase gasket. I found RMSTATOR has them for $99. Any input would be appreciated.


Matt

http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=19108
Check for the obvious first, Matt. Loose or broken connections or battery cables, including the ground wire connection at the frame. If all appears well.......

Suspect your battery to begin with. Take it to an auto parts store, and have it load-tested. The Electrosport fault-finding chart, found in the above link, is dependant on a good battery being part of the charging system.
The stator produces alternating current voltage. Did you have your meter on A.C. when checking?
The easiest way to determine if your bike is charging -even a bit - would be to check the voltage across the battery terminals (it's probably less than 12, if the bike won't start), then jump-start the bike from another battery , then once again check the voltage across the terminals. Even at idle, it should show more voltage. Revving the engine should produce an increase.
If the battery has checked out and is good, at this point you begin following the directions in the above link.
Cheers, and good luck!

I am know where near as intelligent as I sometimes think I am, A.C. not D.C. of course. I have checked the output from the R/R though and at the battery and there is no charge coming through at all. It's night here now so I'll go up and check the A.C. voltage of the stator first thing in the A.M.
The only thing that has changed in the last few days is mounting my new seat which does not have the cut out notch underneath and is putting pressure on the electrical wires from the battery to the round relay thingymujig. Otherwise the bike still runs perfectly once I start it. Thanks!

Matt

If you are reading AC voltage at the stator plug & assuming your leads are intact, and you have nothing, then yes your stator is bad. Be aware the crimps at the plug are known for corrosion & breakage & is where many choose to solder their wires to eliminate the plug.

Electrosport is one vendor of stators which are carried by Parts Unlimited and other catalogs.

Fire-medic said:

If you are reading AC voltage at the stator plug & assuming your leads are intact, and you have nothing, then yes your stator is bad. Be aware the crimps at the plug are known for corrosion & breakage & is where many choose to solder their wires to eliminate the plug.

Electrosport is one vendor of stators which are carried by Parts Unlimited and other catalogs.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that, I did bypass the plug last year when I changed the R/R thanks to this forum again. It will be interesting in the A.M. to see what the voltage is when I do it correctly.

Matt

Hellboy said:

I am know where near as intelligent as I sometimes think I am, A.C. not D.C. of course. I have checked the output from the R/R though and at the battery and there is no charge coming through at all. It's night here now so I'll go up and check the A.C. voltage of the stator first thing in the A.M.
The only thing that has changed in the last few days is mounting my new seat which does not have the cut out notch underneath and is putting pressure on the electrical wires from the battery to the round relay thingymujig. Otherwise the bike still runs perfectly once I start it. Thanks!

Matt

Click to expand...

thingymujig=starter relay.
You will not hurt the seat buy cutting a notch out of it and no one will see it.

Dragmaxster said:

thingymujig=starter relay.
You will not hurt the seat buy cutting a notch out of it and no one will see it.

Click to expand...

Hmmmm....Hellboy wasn't having any charging problems at all, before he replaced the seat. Just a coincidence, or could something have got pinced or broken around the battery?
What do you think, Dragmaxster :ummm:

Miles Long said:

Hmmmm....Hellboy wasn't having any charging problems at all, before he replaced the seat. Just a coincidence, or could something have got pinced or broken around the battery?
What do you think, Dragmaxster :ummm:

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That is exactly what I originally thought. I asked Sean about the seat because it is one of his, and he said he'd never heard of it being a problem. It's 8:30 A.M. here and I'm just going up now to check the A.C. voltage.

Matt

O.K., I just checked the A.C. volts from the Stator and all is good. I assume, I know I shouldn't, that it must be my original replacement R/R that I put in a year ago. I guess I should find a better newer one with fins.

Now, another really stupid thing I've done. This is really a bad week for me and stupid. I've disconnected the Stator from the R/R at the solder joints without marking which one goes where. I would imagine this is critical but don't know how to figure it out since the Stator has 3 black wires and the R/R has 3 white??? Any ideas, or does it actually matter?
I took a stab at it with the old R/R and it got very hot very quickly.
Matt

From what I've read it shouldn't matter. I did the same thing on mine & it works just fine.

Thanks Dorney, I kind of thought that due to the wires not being color coded. The fact that they had a plug though put doubts in my mind.

Matt

Yes, no issue, all 3 legs are essentially interchangeable, though you will have a black & white disparity in the wiring loom. If your old R&R is getting rapidly heated, I would discontinue use of it immediately. It probably is because of an internal problem and possibly a bad ground, especially if you just left it dangling off the side of the bike to see if hooking it up would get the bike to charge. The OEM needs the ground to the chassis by metal-to-metal contact to cool itself. The MOSFET replacements w/5 wires (3 to the 3 legs off the stator, one to the battery, one to ground) are supposed to be less-prone to heating excessively. Bill Seward had one for sale I think.

There will always be heat from the OEM R/R. Enough to not want to hold it long after a ride. That's why Yamaha mounted it where it could grab some cooling air. I've had great luck from the later version of the Gen 1 R/R.
Steve-o

Fire-medic said:

Yes, no issue, all 3 legs are essentially interchangeable, though you will have a black & white disparity in the wiring loom. If your old R&R is getting rapidly heated, I would discontinue use of it immediately. It probably is because of an internal problem and possibly a bad ground, especially if you just left it dangling off the side of the bike to see if hooking it up would get the bike to charge. The OEM needs the ground to the chassis by metal-to-metal contact to cool itself. The MOSFET replacements w/5 wires (3 to the 3 legs off the stator, one to the battery, one to ground) are supposed to be less-prone to heating excessively. Bill Seward had one for sale I think.

Click to expand...

Of course the 2nd one that is exactly what I did, left it dangling.:wacko: I think I must be in too much of a hurry to get the bike going, I can't stop making very stupid mistakes. I'm not normally so stupid, if I do say so myself. My dad always said, "the hurry'rd I go, the behinder I get". I think this is exactly what he was talking about. We had 1 1/2" of rain today and more forcast for the week. I don't know what my hurry is. Now I'm waiting on another R/R anyway.

Matt

Matt

Well I replaced the R/R and all is well. Thank goodness it wasn't the Stator, I really didn't want to get into that.

Matt

Good on ya, as the Antipodeans say.

Just sold the regulator..