Weak stator output?

[shadow]

Went to start my 93 Venture Royale to ride home from work the other day and weak battery. Didn't start and had to boost. Noticed comming home gauge showed right on 12 and seems to me it use to be a little higher. Had to get gas after about 10 mi. and it started right back up. Got home went to testing. Battery showed 12.07v, stator output showed 7.04-7.25ac to ground on all 3 connections @ 3 wire plug. I charged the battery and now shows 12.30 not running and 12.50 running idle @ 700rpm. If I rev to 2500rpm I,m getting close to 13v. I have a pair of driving lights I added a couple of years ago and noticed when I shut them off I pick up about .25- .40v. They are 50 watts each. I had not had any problem at all, before this so I think the lights are ok, and I just got back from a 500mi trip 2 days earlier. I had the battery tested and it showed good-low charge before I charged it. From what I'm seeing on here the stator should be putting out more. And if I understood correctly I'm suppose to test the stator between the connections not to ground??? I'm wondering if the stator is weak, the lights are to much, idle too low (should be 1000rpm?), or something else altogether. Sorry so long here I tried to tell all I know and if anyone can shed more light here I'd appreciate it.

[Venturous Randy]

I am not sure you have a bad stator. 1st of all, most probably don't get 10 volts idleing at 700rpm's, so over 12 at that rpm is pretty good. Most will say the 700 rpm's is too low, but that is about what mine idles at. I feel the bike spends very little time at idle, so I don't worry about it.

If you have not done so, I would check the condition of the connection coming from the stator. If you still have the plug, I would cut the wires and solder them and shrink tube them. While I had them naked, I would check resistance to ground on each wire to see if you are having any insulation breakdown. You might get a little reading on a good digital ohm meter, but it should be very little.

My first thought would be the condition of your battery. Did you have it "load" tested or just check the volt reading after it was charged? It may not be as strong under load.

RandyA

[MiCarl]

According to the book you should check voltage at 2000rpm (with a good, charged battery of course). If you get 14-15 volts you're ok (I'd check with the driving lights off).

 

The only test the book has for the stator is for shorts or opens. The resistance between any 2 leads should be .36-.48 ohms at 68F. While the book doesn't have a short to ground test, I'd measure each white lead to ground and make sure there was no continuity.

 

The book does not list a stator AC voltage spec. AC voltage though should be measured lead-lead, not lead to ground.

[barend]

Not that I know much about electrical, but I had a similar problem when driving to and from work (5 miles) at the end of the week the battery was, shall we say, weak. I stopped running my driving and running lights as much and haven't had a problem with that particular issue since. Figured with everything on I'm not recovering enough on the short hops.

[shadow]

Thanks guys I'll follow through on this in the a.m. George S got back to me. I had sent him a message about this. He helped me another time on an electrical problem. He's a well of information and he thinks the stator is good too. By the way my work drive is 24mi mostly 60 mph. Thanks again.

[6m459]

The only test the book has for the stator is for shorts or opens. The resistance between any 2 leads should be .36-.48 ohms at 68F. While the book doesn't have a short to ground test, I'd measure each white lead to ground and make sure there was no continuity.

 

My stator passed all these tests but needed to be changed anyways.

 

Initially I bought an aftermarket one from RMstator who resell ones made by Electrosport. This worked for exactly a month and failed. Electrosport honoured their warranty and replaced the faulty unit but that took a month. Riding seasons are short enough up here in Canada so I put in a used OEM one I bought on ebay for $15 in the meanwhile. The used OEM one is still in use and the replacement Electrosport one is still in my parts bin.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Brian H.

[raceman62race]

I use to ride a Suzuki VL1500 and I went through a time when the lights would dim considerably at idle. Ended up being a loose connection at the battery. It had enough power to crank every time I wanted to crank it with no problem. I searched and searched for the problem as it didn't always do that. Ended up not finding the problem so I actually gave up on it. About 2 months later, I cleaned the battery connections and made sure thy were tight because of another problem and it fixed the light problem. Being an electrician, I would think if the battery connection was bad, I would have cranking problems because that is where that is where the most demand on the battery is...cranking. Just something I thought I would share that happened to me

[shadow]

I just sent George a message and thought I'd put this out there. Charged Batt.( 2yr old gel) Watched it for a day and held charge good. When I go to install I notice an arc and find that the red cable off the pos. side with the fuse link is causing it. I check and find it reads 5ohms to battery grd. I haven't yet started to trace it futher I'll need to start removing fairing. Any past experiences or thoughts??

[shadow]

Well, just wanted to say WE DID IT!!! George mentioned added acc. maybe causing it and well that got me thinking in another line and turned out to be the trunk switch screw had come out and the light was staying on. Thanks for aw ya'll's input and ideas. What never said "all of you allls" like that?? I'm country.

Dan