How to fix common regulator/Stator failures

Thanks for the replies. Mess of burned plastic connectors cleaned up and after me R/R, battery and stator coming tomorrow I believe I should be good for my trip to Jasper via Calgary and Nelson Bc in a week. I'm not a numbers kinda guy. Just open it up and have a look already. The stator was a goop of black stinky burnt toast when I opened it up.
I absolutely love this bike. Great handling with the forks dropped 5mm and set up for my weight. I can use most of it and it doesn't scare as it is so refined to operate. Thanks again for this thread. it helped.

 

Update: 12 months/10K later and the hard-wired/soldered stator/rr connections are performing fine. I checked them closely about 3 weeks ago and no additional wire heat/browning was seen. Hopefully this is a semi-permanent fix.

 

Hello,

I'm new to the forum as well as a new 2000 owner. I'm trying to wrap my head around this common R/R issue and am wondering what I should do about it. So far my bike has not had this issue but I'd like to avoid it if at all possible.

So if I'm understanding the issue correctly, if the R/R fails it in turn will damage the stator and battery as well?

If I install a replacement kit like the FH020AA offered by Roadstercycle then it should prevent this chain reaction from occurring?

Thanks from a newbie.
MJ

 

It's possible that the previous owner (s) have addressed the problem by replacing the stock R/R. If your current R/R fails what will happen is if your are on the road ,you will be stranded. Whether or not a chain reaction will occur is best answered by one of the owners of a 2000.

Bottom line? Best IMO to fix it now rather than when it could fail. Big Pesos oot the window.

The Honda dealers are going to try to sell you a new R/R . Don't buy into that crap..

Best place for solid info is Walter at George Dean's. Or talk to some VFR owners at that bike night thing they have in Ballard..

 

MJ the answer is possibly.

As designed by Honda the charging system on your VFR is a balancing act with a series of compromises. Weight is a big enemy for vehicles - especially motorbikes - so they tend to pare down everything to the minimum they can get away with. Trouble often starts with hot weather. Thin wire and poor quality connectors can carry less current when its hot, so that's when things tend to go. What comes first is the unknown. There are examples where a melted connector has allowed the stator wires to fuse - killing the stator. So is it the loom or the stator? Some concluded the loom and started beefing up the wiring with add-ons like VFRness.

The windings in my stator fused during a 12 hour high speed run across Europe when temps were well into the 30's (centigrade). But was it a stator fault or linked to the coating of engine oil which got past the shaft oil seal? Do we need better quality stators or oil seals?

Other cases the RR has overheated trying to dump extra electrical energy as heat, thereby frying one or more internal diodes. So depending on what diode fails this could see volts drop through the floor or go through ceiling - the main wires, battery and most bike components are not up to handling 60+ volts let alone AC. But why is the RR trying to dispose of too much excess electrical energy/heat? Could be the owner has decided to "improve" their bike and swapped out standard bulbs for low energy LEDs. Remember that unlike an alternator - a stator can't adapt its output to compensate for the lower demand - so it just funnels the same amount of electrical power at the bike and if its not being used - that hammers the RR as it has to work even harder dumping all the "saved" electricity as heat.

That's why electrical systems on a bike are a balancing act - not enough power = no start problems, too much power = dead loom/Stator/RR/battery problems. You really want to stay in the sweet spot in between.

Where Mosfet RRs score, is their ability to handle the job well when things heat up - in effect they extend the sweet spot. OEM RRs will probably be fine if we all live in the artic. On some VFRs things are made worse by where the engineers decided to bolt the RR to the bike. If its tucked away at the back out of the air-flow that seems a surefire way to get the thing overheating. At least by the 6th gens they added big cooling fins and its been moved upfront but even then they stuffed the area with loom connectors which reduce airflow. Crazy or what.

So yes, if you are happy to spend in advance (its not if but when), then go fit a Mosfet (Roadstercycle/Yamaha) unit now. You can always sell on your OEM to part cover the cost. But realise you could still encounter problems if the loom or connectors melt in hot weather, and no battery lasts forever.

Hmm looking back at that, I am not sure it helps resolve your question or makes things easier to follow. I think I need a drink.





SkiMad

 

Wow thank you for explaining that so well. That's exactly the information I was looking for. Most of it I gathered in bits and pieces but this helps immensely in understanding the problem as a whole.

I think I'll be ordering a multimeter and one of the Mosfet units today.

 

This.


Plus 10 characters.

 

MJ
The THANKS button is on your bottom left
And the LIKE button is on your bottom right
Please use them wisely :wink:

 

Maybe got a little out if hand... Just want to show my appreciation... Trying hard not to hit Like on your last message... Somebody stop me!

 

I know nothing about multimeters, will this one work?
INNOVA 3300 Hands-free Digital Multimeter (10 MegOhm) : Amazon.com : Automotive

 

It not for me Bro. I thought I point out the unique features of the forum which not many got them. Carry on.....

 

The Landover Baptist Church Forum - Smilies


Less is more? More is less? Naaa.. More is always more, more or less.

 

Like the smile list BB!

FYI - Mosfit r/r start with FH and the other lousy ones start with SH...

Side Bar: I am looking at some stereo amps which use some Mosfit technology:wacko: Still totally baffled with the choices of hi-fi :rockband:

 

So I have a multimeter now. New question: What setting does it need to be on for these checks?

 

That is a difficult one as there are so many different types of multi-meter. So your first step should be to read the instructions!

If you have never used a multi-meter before and want to understand how to use them safely - this guy's videos are a pretty low level advertisement - but they will give you the basics. This is the first of 4 videos..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBbgiBU96mM

If you added a picture of your actual multi-meter it would be a lot easier to offer specific advice for the equipment you have.



Anyway the basic test you need to make is to check voltage across the battery terminals. Assuming you have a standard multi-meter - then step one is install the battery and then test it turns on - the screen should show something (normally 1 or 0) when it is on.

Plug black lead into COM
Plug red lead into V

Turn dial to DCVolts(DCV) - good practice is to start testing with the highest voltage range and step progressively down until the measured item is reasonably within the measurement range. As we are checking typical battery voltages of around 12 volts I suggest you use the scale just above that (so 20 volts or 50 volts should be fine). Do the voltage tests across the battery terminals.

First with bike turned off, then at idle and at 5,000 rpm with the bike cold, and then after a 30 minute + ride, so the bike and everything electrical is good and hot. Sometimes the stator will work fine when cold, but as it heats up the windings insulation can fail, and start to drain the battery, not charge it.

If the battery is healthy the first result should be between 12.7-13.2 volts. Normally a healthy stator and RR should be delivering 13 - 14 volts+ at idle and between 14 and 15 volts above 2,000 rpm. It should never exceed 15.5 volts or things like headlight bulbs will blow. (Lights on/lights off should make no more than about 0.5V difference to those numbers.)

Hope that helps




SkiMad



Simple as that.

 

Thanks for taking the time to explain this.

I read the instructions, they're crap. Here's a pic of the meter I bought

-MJ

 

to check stator output use ac(100v or more), ohm test use diode test. reg output use dc (24v or so range). leads direction only matter for ohm test of reg, all others if reversed you will see a neg except for ac

 

That'll work - turn dial to DCV 20 (between 10 and 11 o'clock), plug black lead in middle and red lead in right. Then test as above.
If you really have no idea about multi-meters then you can learn a lot and be more confident you won't wreck things by spending 40 minutes working through the 4 you tube videos ...

Post up if you need help interpreting the results -

Meantime this side of the pond The Macallan is calling




SkiMad