Electircal issues - RR/Stator problem (long)

Ok ladies and gents. Just returned from my trip to FL (No I did not want to come home). On Dec 27th, my bike almost left me stranded. Got it back to dad's place, started checking wiring and voltage. I had to jump start the bike. While revving up to check the charging voltage, I see flames from the stator wires.

A little history - in September, I thought I had an R/R problem. Turned out the 3 yellow wires were burned at the connector by the engine. Cut out the burnt wiring and bad connector, charged the battery, bike started up fine and charged at aroun 14.5 - 15 volts. Problem solved, or so I thought until the 27th.

So, I fixed the wiring again, battery showed 12.4 volts I think. Started the bike up the next day, checked the voltage. Between 2k and 3k, battery is charging at 14.5 - 14.8 volts. from 3k to 5k, voltage drops to 13.5 volts, At idle, battery is charging at 13.5 volts. Ain't that funky? Rode to Orlando and back from Orange City on Sunday 31st. No problems, bike ran great and started up just fine. Ride to Daytona on the 5th. Get just past I-95, pull into a gas station and it acts like it wants to die. Bike dies, won't start. Call for a tow, go half a mile to Cycle World, and get a new battery. Install and the bike fires right up. Load bike up and don't ride anymore. Put old battery on charger. It took a full charge, according to the charger.

Put on a Kuryakin Voltmeter tonight. Start bike. It is charging at about 13.4 - 13.5 volts and no higher. Change out the R/R to the Electrosport unit I have, now it wont charge above 11.9 volts. Put old R/R back in.

Now I am thinking the stator is bad, and really am feeling that the vfr is not reliable :frown: What I really need to know is how do I determine if my bike is an RC36 or not. There is an RC36 in the frame serial number, both stamped into the frame and on the frame tag. Does that mean my frame is RC36? I can't afford to go with a Honda stator (over $200 even at Service Honda), so I was going to go with an Electrosport unit. ($139). I need some assistance. I know riding season is pretty much over, but you never know when a good day may turn up.

Thanks in advance,

 

Ahhhh....17-92 + Graves in Orange City...the site of my first traffic ticket. :doh:

Don't get down about your bike. Doo-doo occurs. It's fixable.

What you are describing does sound like a stator on its way out. Having melted the connector twice, the stator windings probably are a little cooked. If you are comfortable using a DVOM, they are relatively easy to test.

Test the stator for shorts to ground, open windings, too low resistance (melted windings), and AC voltage output. Even if you determine it is dead, be sure to look for a cause - like checking for excessive voltage drops between the stator, regulator, and battery. Don't want to cook new parts.

The one thing that has me boggling is why you got no output with the new regulator, but some with the old one. One the face of it, that makes no sense. Blown diode in the old reg? I wonder if what you were getting at the battery (with the old reg) was actually AC current?

I'm not that far away from middle KY. It would take me a couple of weeks to free up a day to do it, but if you can't get anywhere with it, I can help.

 

It could be that the old r/r has some bad diodes and the stator has enough juice to run it, whereas the new r/r is too much for it. I'd definitely test the stator (the service manual will tell you how) check your ground paths too.

 

Well, while at my dad's in Fl we checked the stator per the svc manual and it seemed ok. I wonder if I was getting false readings tho before it died altogether. I hate electrical troubleshooting. lol

 

December 30th 2006.
I got a fried stator coil on my RC46 '03Interceptor Vtec.
3000Km from home. At the northern most of Thailand, near to the Golden Triangle. Called Honda Parts dealer in Singapore for replacement part.
Got a " Not available, even in Japan" reply.
2 weeks later, after searching the Web for replacement, got news that Honda Japan has a new part number for this part.
However, I also found an improved replacement part (to be produced in 2 months time) by www.electrexworld.co.uk
Decided to go for it. Then, I was advised to remind them the order in March...Geeez...