Charging system question.

[Paniolo]

2006 CVO Ultra
98K miles
Previous owner said he replaced the stator at 25K.

I went out for a ride today and made it as far as the gas station. Suddenly the engine and battery indicators came on. I rode home and the volt meter was reading 11 volts. It threw code P0562 - low votage to the ECM. I took the seat off and checked the battery terminals. Then using my multi-meter I checked the battery. Sitting the battery read 12.23. With the engine running it read 11.5. I'm thinking it's stator time again.

My question is:

The shop I use is 39 miles away at about 45 mins ride time. With the battery fully charged (2 year old Drag Specialties battery), can I make it there before the bike dies out?

Would I be doing anymore damage by riding it there?

Thanks

[Rusticwater]

Have you checked the stator output?

[Slider1950]

I don't think you can make it to your dealer before the battery goes dead. As far as doing additional damage I don't think that's a problem as long as you don't have an overflow situation. Which you don't.

[Paniolo]

Have you checked the stator output?

Forgive my rudimentary knowledge here, but I thought that's what I was doing at the battery terminals with the multimeter.

[Rusticwater]

Forgive my rudimentary knowledge here, but I thought that's what I was doing at the battery terminals with the multimeter.

Stator>Regulator>Battery
Regulator could be bad...

[kd]

Check your manual and follow the stator output test.  It takes the regulator out of the system and allows it too put out full charge controlled  by the RPM.  The manual gives suitable parameters and further tests for grounded, shorted or open windings.  The tests are easy and give you good information to make decisions.  The manual is pretty good in this area.

[Tynker]

2006 CVO Ultra
98K miles
Previous owner said he replaced the stator at 25K.

I went out for a ride today and made it as far as the gas station. Suddenly the engine and battery indicators came on. I rode home and the volt meter was reading 11 volts. It threw code P0562 - low votage to the ECM. I took the seat off and checked the battery terminals. Then using my multi-meter I checked the battery. Sitting the battery read 12.23. With the engine running it read 11.5. I'm thinking it's stator time again.

My question is:

The shop I use is 39 miles away at about 45 mins ride time. With the battery fully charged (2 year old Drag Specialties battery), can I make it there before the bike dies out?

Would I be doing anymore damage by riding it there?

Thanks

If you pull the headlight fuse, you can ride just about all day on the fully charged battery.

[smoserx1]

If you pull the headlight fuse, you can ride just about all day on the fully charged battery.

It will certainly give you a better chance of getting there.  Once I was in a car whee the alternator failed about 90 miles from home.  On the way back the fan motor quit then the radio got soft and distorted then quit.  The horn quit.  Finally the power got so low that if I tried to activate a turn signal I could feel the engine falter but even after that I went another 20 miles or so and decided I better stop and get the battery charged.  This was before ECMs in vehicles, but that headlight (especially a halogen one) will draw far more power than the ignition.  Pop off your inspection or derby cover and smell inside the primary for a burnt odor.

[kd]

I smoked a stator in Creston BC one year.  There was a dealer in Cranbrook just over 100 KM away. I charged the battery with a loaner charger and pulled the headlamp and tail lamp circuits.  I rode back the 100 km's, got a room across from the dealer and the next morning started the bike and rode it over. There was no sign of laboring the next day when started.

[Paniolo]

I smoked a stator in Creston BC one year.  There was a dealer in Cranbrook just over 100 KM away. I charged the battery with a loaner charger and pulled the headlamp and tail lamp circuits.  I rode back the 100 km's, got a room across from the dealer and the next morning started the bike and rode it over. There was no sign of laboring the next day when started.

Okay,

So the consensus is that I can ride there if I pull the headlight fuse. However, will doing so cause more damage? In other words if it's just the regulator, would I not burn up the stator too by riding it? If the stator is bad, then it needs to be replaced. But if ONLY the regulator is bad, will continuing to ride damage the stator?

The regulator is a simple plug in device. The stator requires pulling the primary cover, clutchpack and compensator.

Thanks

[kd]

Getting at it with a multi meter and doing the system checks will answer that for you.  The tests are simple and well explained if you are worried about not making it through them competently.  You may even find you can fix it easily.

If the stator is toast and not putting out with the regulator out of the system (one of the tests) you can run it without those concerns.  If it's the regulator, simply swap it out yourself.   

[chaos901]

Pop off your inspection or derby cover and smell inside the primary for a burnt odor.

The multi-meter and the tests are by far the best direction, but if the stator is bad it almost always has a strong burnt odor that you can smell if you take off the derby cover. 

[Rusticwater]

Assuming you've already checked all your connections...

You've asked is there a possibility that riding it will cause harm...the short answer is yes, that possibility exists...

If your alternator failed, what made it fail? Yes, it's possible that "something" let loose and took out the stator. If there is loose "stuff" flinging around the inside of the primary, what else might they damage?

Pull the derby cover and smell inside, when your stator fries itself it makes an unmistakable smell.

Before thinking about riding it anywhere the first thing I would do is perform a stator test (continuity to ground) then an AC output test. All you do is unplug the stator plug from the regulator for these tests.

If your manual doesn't cover how to do these 2 tests (I think my service manual does not, but my electrical diagnostic manual does) just mention it and someone will chime in. If you have a VOM, they're very simple and only take about 10 minutes total.

If both those things check out then you've ruled out the alternator (stator and rotor combined). Bad things have been known to happen to the rotor too, which could result in loose parts flinging around in the primary.

If the alternator checks out OK, it only takes about 5 minutes to swap out the regulator. Disconnect the input plug and the output plug, unbolt it, and install a new one.

[Paniolo]

Thanks guys, I also found this very helpful video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4gzfjFS3Jg

I'll run these checks when I git home.

[jamminhd2000]

http://cycleelectricinc.com
Lots of great info here....jimmy

[Paniolo]

Pop off your inspection or derby cover and smell inside the primary for a burnt odor.

The multi-meter and the tests are by far the best direction, but if the stator is bad it almost always has a strong burnt odor that you can smell if you take off the derby cover.

Help me out here guys, please.

I pulled the derby cover, and it did not smell like all the other stators I burned up on my '01. However, it could be that it's just not burned up completely. I set my multimeter to ohms, and checked it against itself to confirm a zero reading for continuity. Then I checked each of the plug wires for the three phase connector. They all read zero. Then I checked the three-phase connector against the ground. I put one end in the connector, and the other on a cam chest bolt It also read zero. Am I to believe now that the stator is good?

Am I doing this correctly?

[smoserx1]

Your meter is set on the 2000K range.  Don't you want the 200 ohm range?

[Paniolo]

Your meter is set on the 2000K range.  Don't you want the 200 ohm range?

Once again, pardon my lack of knowledge and unfamiliarity. I just thought Ohms was ohms. I will check it again set to 200.

Anything else?

[Coyote]

Your stator passed those tests. Now go to ACV and start the bike and measure the AC volts from each of the 3 windings.

[smoserx1]

Once again, pardon my lack of knowledge and unfamiliarity. I just thought Ohms was ohms. I will check it again set to 200.

You are fine.  That range is just sort of like trying to read 35 MPH on a speedometer with a 10000 MPH range.  OTOH the "1" (infinity) on that range guarantees you don't have leakage.  For your voltage test choose the 200 ACV range,

[Paniolo]

Your stator passed those tests. Now go to ACV and start the bike and measure the AC volts from each of the 3 windings.

Okay,

I set my meter to a ACV.  I put prongs in two of the three holes for the three phase connector.  Then I started the bike. At idle, the meter read 15. At 2500 rpm's it read 19 to 20.

What do you think?

[Rusticwater]

 [attach=0]

[Coyote]

Check all three combinations.
1-2
1-3
2-3

Your first test looks low.

[Paniolo]

Check all three combinations.
1-2
1-3
2-3

Your first test looks low.

Okay, second round of checking complete. I performed checks on all three combinations. The results were similar. At idle I got 15-17, and at 2000rpms 28-30.

What do you think?

[Coyote]

So which is it? It will make more voltage the higher the rpm

and at 2000rpms 28-30.

At 2500 rpm's it read 19 to 20.