HarleyTechTalk

Technical Forums => General => Topic started by: fleetmechanic on November 19, 2019, 01:44:28 PM

Title: Alternator Again?
Post by: fleetmechanic on November 19, 2019, 01:44:28 PM
2011 Police Road King with about 46,000 mi.  I replaced the regulator and then the stator about 8K miles ago last year.  Once again there is no charge to the battery.  When I check the stator leads to ground they are all 3 OK and there is continuity between the 3 leads.  Once the bike is started, two of the leads will read 26-40 VAC but when another two leads are tested the output is about 3 volts.  I haven't opened it up yet but it seems odd that there would be continuity but then loss of connection once the bike is running.
Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: Buglet on November 19, 2019, 02:19:52 PM
    No its not that odd, had it happen more then once once there a load on it the connection is lost.
Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: Coyote on November 19, 2019, 02:53:57 PM
The stator is bad.
Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: Phu Cat on November 20, 2019, 07:57:52 AM
I'd say Coyote is correct.  Open the derby cover and sniff the atmosphere.  If it smells like burnt varnish you have verified the problem.  Installing a Cycle Lectric stator will likely keep this from happening again.

PC
Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: Ratfade on November 20, 2019, 08:24:00 AM
My personal experience with Cycle Electric and its products was excellent.
Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: nibroc on November 20, 2019, 01:26:38 PM
Quote from: Ratfade on November 20, 2019, 08:24:00 AM
My personal experience with Cycle Electric and its products was excellent.

mine too!!!!!!
Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: fleetmechanic on November 20, 2019, 02:33:48 PM
Well, the stator smelled fine, looked fine and was bad after 8K miles.  Sad.
I bought an OEM one because it was handy but I'll look into CE for the future.
Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: Coyote on November 20, 2019, 02:51:12 PM
Quote from: fleetmechanic on November 20, 2019, 02:33:48 PM
Well, the stator smelled fine, looked fine and was bad after 8K miles.  Sad.
I bought an OEM one because it was handy but I'll look into CE for the future.

The deal is the stator can go bad due to shorts created across a winding due to vibration. The generic continuity test will still pass even though the stator is bad. You won't smell anything if it never got hot.  If you did a low ohms test across each winding you can see the bad ones.

That's why the SM has the voltage test across each winding. This tells the rest of the story and how I knew it was bad.

Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: fleetmechanic on November 21, 2019, 09:42:29 AM
Each of the 3 leads showed .3 ohms to the other ones but each one also showed 147 ohms to the frame of the stator.  That tells us it was grounded? Seems like the windings should have 0 ohms to the frame which is grounded.
Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: Coyote on November 21, 2019, 09:59:06 AM
I doubt your meter can accurately read resistance below an ohm or two.

The windings should ohm infinite (not 0) to the frame ground or the stator frame.
Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: fleetmechanic on November 21, 2019, 10:12:56 AM
I was just getting ready to correct that post from 0 to infinite.  Thanks.  When I tested the leads to grounds on the bike it showed infinite so I must have not been touching points that are actually well grounded.
Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: Coyote on November 21, 2019, 10:20:27 AM
I suspect you did the test correctly. Just because a stator winding is shorted to itself, does not mean it is shorted to ground.
Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: Norton Commando on November 21, 2019, 02:12:53 PM
Quote from: nibroc on November 20, 2019, 01:26:38 PM
Quote from: Ratfade on November 20, 2019, 08:24:00 AM
My personal experience with Cycle Electric and its products was excellent.

mine too!!!!!!

Me three!!!

Jason
Title: Re: Alternator Again?
Post by: harley#1 on November 22, 2019, 06:27:27 AM
the oil in the primary does a lot of work for the amount in there.it lubs and cools all internal parts including charging system. some says use 28 oz some 32oz. I use 42 oz of rotella 15-40 and change every 5k with oil and filter. 115k on everything inside(i did change the chain at 80k just because of the mileage but looked fine) changed comp to newest S/E at 65k and as the last check at 95k everything looks new.