Been gone long time, stator question

yeah some places are saying 13.1 at idle or greater at the battery terminals... mine stays a steady 12.6 and its got a brand new VR on it.. doesn't matter what RPM its pulling it stays the same.... gotta be a bab stator.

It can be a relay, it could be the stator, it could be a wire, it could be a fuse.

I had 2 bad relays, too.

fuse coming off.the battery in that little box in the tail looks good to me.. it's 30 amp.. every fuse in the fuse box is good. I guess I can check that battery relay

I'll read on testing that relay then I'll go in and get a reading right off that stator and see..

Tom: Sounds like you failed to actually test the alternator(stator) assembly as I recommended to do, prior to replacing the VR.

Extremely simple multi-meter tests for everything imaginable as follows---with a HEALTHY FULLY CHARGED BATTERY and these are APPROXIMATES:

STATIC BATTERY VOLTAGE with everything off: approx 13.2 volts DC
BATTERY VOLTAGE with 1 headlight on and idle of 1000RPM: approx 13.1-13.5 volts DC
BATTERY VOLTAGE """""""""""""""""""""""""" 3000RPM: approx 13.7-14.5 volts DC
THREE PHASE STATOR CONTINUITY: Continuity between wires 1&2...2&3...1&3
THREE PHASE STATOR AC OUTPUT: @ approx 2500RPM 15-20 volts AC between each set of wires
THREE PHASE STATOR AC TOTAL OUTPUT: @ 2500RPM approx 48-51 volts AC total output

All of these values and simple multi-meter tests are NOT specifically spelled out in SM so follow them precisely.
If any of this is still confusing to you seek help from someone locally who's familiar with testing Sportster and Big Twin systems. The tests are identical.

yeah I just threw a VR in there bc it's cheap and easy and the one that was in there was from 2003 anyway.. time for a change.

I was watching the sportster videos I'll.do the stator tests next..

its a brand new battery but it wasn't fully charged at the time I last tested it so that may be a factor, I got it trickle charged and I'll get a reading off it after the holidays... no real hurry for me I got the other buell I'm riding the 9sx... I'll figure it out EVENTUALLY, I hate Electrics.. mechanics I love, electrics I HATE.. I can't stand not being able to see whats going on.. subatomic particle bull****

ok Stator AC output was 25.5 to 26V .. my understanding of the checklist is that if total output passes the test that all.the other rotor and continuty checks are unneeded .. am I correct?

the problem doesn't seem to be stator Or regulator...

this is a brand new battery... and a brand new VR with a reading of 12.5V at the terminals.. I can't find any problems with the fuses.. battery terminals are clean.. ground at the tail is clean. .. maybe it's that battery relay or a bad wire somewhere?

Gloomshadow said:

ok Stator AC output was 25.5 to 26V .. my understanding of the checklist is that if total output passes the test that all.the other rotor and continuty checks are unneeded .. am I correct?

the problem doesn't seem to be stator Or regulator...

this is a brand new battery... and a brand new VR with a reading of 12.5V at the terminals.. I can't find any problems with the fuses.. battery terminals are clean.. ground at the tail is clean. .. maybe it's that battery relay or a bad wire somewhere?

Click to expand...

You can test the relays by swapping them out and looking for voltage changes. You really have to watch those cheap VR's. I didn't heed the warning on the forum(s), and went with an Amazon VR, it was about $60.

It was wired in REVERSE!

When I connected it, and turned everything on, I heard a pop. I didn't know what that was. It turned out to be one of the relays and I had similar symptoms that you're describing.

Swapping out the relays will very quickly tell you if one is bad, as you'll see the dash become inoperable, etc. Those relays are easy to come by - they're at all the parts stores. Don't just go replacing them, because if your VR is reversed like mine was, it's just going to pop it again.

P.S. By reversed, I mean that the factory had used the wrong wire colors to indicate positive/negative, meaning that a visual inspection wouldn't tell you anything.

ok thanks man .. I swap out relays once holidays are over.. I was getting ready to check connectors and start looking for damaged wires , I think my stator is ok actually.. I didn't hear any pops or anything when I started the bike.. swapping the VR changed nothing that wasn't my problem but it was a ancient VR from 2003 that was on there so I swapped it anyway

ok I swap all relays around and no change..so they are all good relays. I put my volt meter on AC and take a reading right at stator output, it's just two contacts in the connector.. I get 26V at idle, I gjve it throttle and the voltage GOES DOWN NOT UP.. goes down to 13V at like 2500rpm. that cant be right. Then if I switch my volt meter contacts around backwards I get no reading off the stator at all... that seems wrong also.

wait a min, connectors on a sportser and a XB are different I was checking off the 2 pin connector.. the manual says check output and resistance off a 3 - pin connector so I guess I was getting that 26v off the wrong wire... I gotta check that 3 pin connector instead and see what it says.. I'm thinking this is a bad stator

ok I was on the wrong connector.. I'm on the 3 pin connector and all combos of 1 , 2 and 3 give 20V at idle then jumps up to 30-something at 2000 rpm and around 50V at 3000 rpm.. I don't see why that isn't enough power to charge ...

so Stator is coming back as good, its a new VR and my relays are good.... why only 12.5V across the battery terminals???? what could it be? a ground somewhere? a dirty connector??

cleaned my ground in the tail, no change. I got a bad brake light switch I got the switch and everything but haven't swapped it out yet..i can't imagine it would be that..

I'm getting confused.. at rest , reading across my battery terminals is 13.1V.. at idle its 12.6V if you rev it up to 4000rpm it doesnt go up much maybe 12.7V... some guys are saying the battery is being charged at 12.4V other guys are saying it's around 13.5 volts... is 12.6V at the battery while at idle enough to charge this battery?

Gloomshadow said:

I'm getting confused.. at rest , reading across my battery terminals is 13.1V.. at idle its 12.6V if you rev it up to 4000rpm it doesnt go up much maybe 12.7V... some guys are saying the battery is being charged at 12.4V other guys are saying it's around 13.5 volts... is 12.6V at the battery while at idle enough to charge this battery?

Click to expand...

is 12.6V at the battery while at idle enough to charge this battery?

NO


Your initial "stator check" was incorrect....then you figured it out. You are looking for COMPLETE CONTINUITY in all 3 fields...then total alternator/stator output in AC volts. Your stator is fine.

Seek local Sportster tech help. Probably a faulty out-of-box Ebay VR. Simply plug in a known good 03-07 VR and solve this.

I didn't do continuity, just saw that the output was good , I figured the continuity was just to isolate if the stator or rotor was bad.. and if total output was good then it was all good. No?

I just got some contact cleaner, to clean things up.. I went back to old posts and saw that some guys had symptoms like this and it was dirty connectors. I'll try that first.. I got a good VR on my 07, I could plug that one in and check if the connectors are the same

Gloomshadow said:

I didn't do continuity, just saw that the output was good , I figured the continuity was just to isolate if the stator or rotor was bad.. and if total output was good then it was all good. No?

I just got some contact cleaner, to clean things up.. I went back to old posts and saw that some guys had symptoms like this and it was dirty connectors. I'll try that first.. I got a good VR on my 07, I could plug that one in and check if the connectors are the same

Click to expand...

Yeah I need to apologize for not having you circle back to ensure you're following all the troubleshooting steps. Barrett is correct - ANYTIME you are troubleshooting ANYTHING, especially electrical, you MUST follow a systematic, step-by-step procedure, to ensure that you are eliminating each component.

Think if it like a series of gates you have to pass thru before getting to the next. You cannot skip. Again, I'm sorry for adding complexity to the thread.

Now, back to your testing!

but continuity shows why the stator isn't putting out power.. mine IS putting out the power it needs so continuity is ok, or that was my understanding of the test..

,I'm gonna try and plug in my VR that's on my 07 and if it fixes it we will know..

sonofabitch ... I plug in my old VR before pulling the one off my 07 and the old one is charging at 14.4 V.... plug in my new eBay copy and it's 12.5l... plug in my old buell VR and 14.4!! must have been a dirty connector????

yeah it's back together with my old VR .. no problem. 14.3 volts at the terminal while running. Can a VR be "intermittent"???

I haven't been on for while but looking through your saga here I would be inclined to suspect the dear old 77 connector that is the DC output of the earlier VR.
They definitely can get a carbon buildup from arcing in spread female sockets that effectively insulates one of the pis from connecting to the battery.
The action of reseating the connector can clean this up partially resulting in an intermittent operation.
I had this exact failure on my '06 Uly and after much screwing around with the dealer at the time (still under warranty in the good old days), I eventually found the issue and documented it at the time.
There are all sorts of ways to resolve this but assuming the connector hasn't heated to the point of wrecking the plug I would simply clean the sockets (properly) and reform them as required.
I did that on my Uly and the original connector was still functioning 40,000 miles later when I parked it.

An old version the document I put together at the time is still there in Google docs (page formatting is a bit off but the required info is there):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eGkF1pN1dftycPcTD-6Mb4p19gcxWvXEJcIIjEVFycw

The VR has quite a few electronic components so an intermittent internal failure is definitely possible but this check of the connector sockets is relatively easy so can't hurt to try.


Just remember:
1.The 77 connector is connected to the battery via the 30A fuse so is effectively 'hot' with the ignition off so definitely disconnect the battery before attempting this.
2.Take carful note of which of the two black wires from the VR is connected to the red positive lead in the bike loom before removing any sockets (I would suggest doing one at a time to prevent any SNAFUs).
3.The small release tangs do not need to be pushed too far - just enough to release them. If you bend these too far then there is a good chance they will break off when bending them back - not what you want.

Ray