Dead R/R Again!!

[Bixxer Bob]

Mine does the same.  Bearing in mind the constantly changing rpm, holding the output to within 0.3 volts is pretty good I'd say.

[HockleyBoy]

Mine does the same.  Bearing in mind the constantly changing rpm, holding the output to within 0.3 volts is pretty good I'd say.

Excellent, hopefully I can forget charging issues for a little while and just enjoy the riding  :D

[robxxxx]

Excellent, hopefully I can forget charging issues for a little while and just enjoy the riding  :D

Me too. Only problem is I am 5 months away from a Euro trip and to say that this has cast a nagging doubt on reliability is an understatement. Anyone got a dealer list for Romania and Yugoslavia :D

Thanks again for your input chaps

[HockleyBoy]

Mine does the same.  Bearing in mind the constantly changing rpm, holding the output to within 0.3 volts is pretty good I'd say.

Excellent, hopefully I can forget charging issues for a little while and just enjoy the riding  :D

So, I spoke too soon, on the way to work this morning I pulled up at a roundabout and thought I could smell burning. Must be a bonfire or somesuch nearby (not uncommon on my route) however at the next roundabout I could smell it again, not a bonfire then!

I pulled over and just then my voltmeter dropped from 14 to 0.

Bike off and a quick look showed me that the stator to regrec connector had again melted into a lump of goo.

In my topbox I had pliers and a reel of tape so i spent 20 minutes (in the rain)doing a temporary fix which got me to work and will I hope get me home tonight.

Looks like I will be doing some soldering tonight as I am not going to put another connector on!

[metalguru]

Sounds like a bad connection there.
Sometimes the connections look good but electrically can be bad.

[TigerTrax]

Guys...
there is a website easternbeaver.com ...

they have all kinds of harnesses and connection + rectifier wiring...
give them a look....

this guy has a bunnch of wiring and connectors and can build a harness.

[Guest]

Looks like my stator is toast again, replaced it last year from Ricks, drawing 0 ohms on all three connector pins, also the connector is melted. Any insight why these are so prone to failure ?

[metalguru]

Looks like a high resistance at the connecter block.
Sometimes the connection looks good but isn't electrically.
If not already done, do the wiring mod.

[Bixxer Bob]

+1

I've long been an advocate of the resistance theory both here and on the Honda site.  Resistance on one or more connectors heats it up and burns the plug whilst overloading the coils and reg rec.  One of these days I'll research some theory to back it up (or not)  :roll:

[HockleyBoy]

It was definitely the connector block that was causing my problems, melted three different ones before finally just soldering the wires together and covering with heatshrink (fortunately regrec and alternator are still working ok).

Voltage now looks pretty good on the meter and the wires are not heating up as they were before. Am hoping this works out to be my long term fix!

[Guest]

I did the mod so my r/r went direct to battery but my stator connection was melted. The folks at Ricks are great to work with, they said they would warranty my stator but I doubt they will cover the r/r with the connector cut off.

can anything be done with the stator connector ?

[Guest]

It was definitely the connector block that was causing my problems, melted three different ones before finally just soldering the wires together and covering with heatshrink (fortunately regrec and alternator are still working ok).

Voltage now looks pretty good on the meter and the wires are not heating up as they were before. Am hoping this works out to be my long term fix!

Did you hard wire the stator wires ?

[HockleyBoy]

[Did you hard wire the stator wires ?

Only the connection between the stator and the RR as this seems to be where my problems have arisen despite trying different connectors, soldering them on, dielectric grease etc. D
Did the Sasquatch Voltage Fix connecting the RR to the battery a year or two back and this has been good with no problems to date.

[metalguru]

+1

Hard wiring and sleeveing the connection will rid the problem.
The basic problem seems to be a high resistance building within the connector component parts. The connectors when connected only have a very small contact area, if for some reason this area becomes contaminated, could be just oxidation from temp changes when charging causing condensation for example, can lead to a high resistance at the connector. If one applies Ohms law to this senario, then as the resistance increases the volts will drop and the amps increase. (eg principle workings of an arc welder). Over time this condition will worsen, ie the contamination or arcing increases to a point where the contact area although very small will warm up. A good example of resistance is a normal incandescent lamp, apply a resistance to the cable used on motorcycles as standard, it will warm very easily creating more oxide, hence more resistance and the cycle goes on untill it gets to a point where due to voltage drops, the battery begins to discharge. Usually by this point the rider will notice but the alternator will still just charge the battery via 1 phase winding instead of 3. If however this theory is applied to the RR to Batt cables the principle is the same, trying to put a quart in a pint pot. The wiring loom is quite capable when new to a few years old, but time and airborne chemicals will soon deteriorate the conductivity hence the Sasquatch mod. A high resistance in this loom or any return/chassis earth connectors will eventually take out the whole charging circuit. Therefore if for example the main engine earth connection may look ok there could be oxidation between cable/connector, engine/connector, purely down to hostile environment and the materials of construction (aluminium).
AAHH but it still starts you say, if the bad connection is across the engine earth for example, as soon as the starter is energised a very high current (amps) is created, this can create a small arc between the connecting surfaces and complete the circuit (think arc welder) also heat and more oxidation.
The trick here as part of an annual service is to check all connections for contact area and condition, remembering that although the connector may look visually good, electrically it may be very poor. A good hint is discolouration of any cable (goes black) and any connector which goes green/black or warms up during operation. Stealers unless specifically asked will NOT do these checks nowadays, only if a fault develops and it is part of the diagnostics. Our Tigers are of the age where these kinds of faults will manifest themselves, particularly if ridden in/on all environments.

[tokalosh]

...I'm about to order my second set of R/R and stator from Rick's, which brings me into the 3rd time club (that's counting the OEM from the original back in 2006).

From all this wisdom, I deduce that I need to:

1) Sasquatch bypass wiring [ X ]

2)Install new mosfet R/R from Rick's in a cooler spot [  ]

3)Install new stator (Rick's) into the alternator, along with a new alternator cover gasket [  ]

4)Solder and shrink-wrap the connections between the alternator and the R/R because I don't trust the connectors [  ]

Which should cost me about $300, as I remember from last time.

Still cheaper than the dealer.

I truly hope this is the last time because I don't want to do this every season!