Another toasted stator

[crashresq]

Hello all,

I'm a TigerTriple newb, but have been lurking for quite a while.  I purchased an '06 Tiger about a month ago and LOVE it... but last Thursday, I was on it all day (about 400 miles total).  I got home and killed the engine to open the shop door.  When I went to start it to pull it in, battery was dead.  I noticed on the way home that the lights seemed to be weak, but hadn't ridden in the dark enough to know how bright they "should" be.

Long story short, I searched the forums here and saw several post concerning stator issues.  I called a local shop to ask them about a "do at home test" and they told me how to unplug the connection from the stator after the bike is running and test all three poles, ensuring that the A/C output was nearly the same (amount wasn't a big issue).  I did that test and output on one leg was 22v, 2nd leg was 17v and 3rd was 9v... that was a problem.

I've got a stator ordered and should be here Tuesday so I pulled the bad one last night.  Only one coil is toasted (but it's toasted bad), I'm assuming that that is all it takes to kill the stator?

All of this is to ask the following questions:

1)  Should I have found a small amount of oil under the cover when I removed it?

2)  Does the paper filter need to be replaced, or can it be replaced with RTV (Form-a-Gasket)?

3)  Can anyone with a shop manual tell me what to torque should be on the cover bolts when I replace them (not sure if the three bolts holding the stator in have to be to a specific torque also, but if so, can you tell me that?)

I appreciate all the help I can get - - - and I already love this forum... it's got a ton of good information... helped this newb already :)

[Stretch]

1)  Should I have found a small amount of oil under the cover when I removed it?

It's normal.  The alternator itself is not sealed from the rest of the engine.  Only the cover is sealed.

2)  Does the paper filter need to be replaced, or can it be replaced with RTV (Form-a-Gasket)?

Filter?

3)  Can anyone with a shop manual tell me what to torque should be on the cover bolts when I replace them (not sure if the three bolts holding the stator in have to be to a specific torque also, but if so, can you tell me that?)

The Triumph ™ manual calls for 12 Newton-Meters (8.85 lbs-ft) of torque to secure the Alternator Windings (stator) to the cover, and 9 NM (6.63 lbs-ft) to secure the cover to the engine case.  The manual does specify to use a new gasket.

[crashresq]

LOL... I'm an idiot...

Thanx Stretch  :D

I meant gasket... the paper gasket... don't know why I typed filter... and I even reviewed it before I posted...

[Stretch]

Gotcha.  I was pretty sure I had never heard of an Alternator Filter, but you never know sometimes.  

[2aRover]

Your timing was fortunate.  Mine toasted over a month ago.  The Triumph warehouse was out of stock, all of the stators on the inbound ship were presold, and Triumph had to make an extra "express" shipment to handle the demand.  This is for a "low-use" part that the dealers insist nobody ever has trouble with  :roll:  .  Even with expedited shipping, it took three weeks for mine to come in.  I'll be flying back to Portland to pick it up this weekend.  :D

FYI, the dealer had to order a rotary oil seal for mine; you may want to look into what that is to ensure you don't need to replace it as well.

[Stretch]

If new Triumph stators are unavailable, this outfit enjoys a good reputation among some members here...  http://www.customrewind.com/

[cbxtc6]

Or these guys:
http://www.electrosport.com/

[2aRover]

If new Triumph stators are unavailable, this outfit enjoys a good reputation among some members here...  http://www.customrewind.com/

I saw that, thanks.  I'll be sending the old part to them as insurance.  Of course, once I have a spare, I'll never need it.   :D

[sanjoh]

Perhaps you could post the details of the test method you used?

Do these things just stop working or is it a gradual decline in charging/ electrical performance?

I've replaced the battery and still sounds week, dim lights.

[crashresq]

sanjoh, I read around here on the board about how to do a quick and dirty test of the stator.  I also called the only shop in Tulsa I know of that works on Triumphs and they told me about the same test.

Track the wires coming from your stator to the plug the connects it to the Regulator.  Start the engine, unplug the plug you found and test each of the three connectors (on the stator side) with a voltmeter set for A/C voltage.  I was told the amount was not critically important, what you are looking for is that they are all nearly the same.  I put the ground to the frame and tested each pole on mine and had the results in my original post.

My new stator is in and I got the gasket I needed... but I'm working a project in OKC thru Monday and will not get to fix the Tiger until Tuesday!!!  gggrrrrrr :x

[2aRover]

Perhaps you could post the details of the test method you used?

Do these things just stop working or is it a gradual decline in charging/ electrical performance?

I've replaced the battery and still sounds week, dim lights.

It's a three-phase stator, so you should be testing between the stator leads, rather than ground: three measurements total.  Just like testing 220 VAC in your house, if you go from one hot leg to ground, you'll only see 110 VAC.  Measuring across the hot legs, you'll see 220 VAC.

You are indeed looking for consistency, but you're also looking for output.  You'll see something like 25 VAC at idle, and it can go as high as 90VAC with the engine at high revs.  Very low output is a bad sign; so is significant deviation across any of the three leads.