Battery Dying - Suspect Stator

[suzuki-newfie]

All,

I'm a past member and I'm glad to be back on the forum. I have been working at getting my '81 GS550L ready for the summer and have run into some problems with the charging system. After a full charge the battery only gets me through one ride before it dies. At idle, I get about 11.5V, at 5000rpm I get about 12.7V. The voltage does not get to 13V for any higher RPM.

To start, I have worked through the stator papers diagnostics chart in full and have found the following.

All three stator leads give a 24VAC output when connected to each other. I would have suspected a stator to fail with a low reading on one set of windings - has anyone ever seen a low and consistent reading on all three measurements before?

Thanks,
Suzuki Newfie

[relic-rider]

How did you measure the ac voltage on the stator wires? should be around 70 - 80 Volts at 5000 rpm. Measure the voltage between each of the leads with them disconnected from the R/R. Say wire A, B, and C. Put the probes on A & B, B & C , and A & C and get the voltages. If not up to the spec, your stator is toast.

[suzuki-newfie]

Thanks Dan. I did the test exactly as you suggested (as per the stator papers). I am just really surprised to see a low voltage (24V) on all three measurements - makes me suspicious that there's something else I could be missing. I think the wires are continuous from the stator to where it plugs into the RR, so there can't be a connection issue.

[earlfor]

It is not particularly uncommon to have low AC voltage levels on all three phases when the stator is on its last hurrah. You're correct that the yellow stator wires are continuous from the stator to the plug and there isnt any connection you are missing. I think you need a new stator. The good news is when the stator output declines, there is no excess to burn out the R/R, so I would expect your R/R to still be good. (or if it isnt, it wasnt the stator that did it in :-) )

Earl

Thanks Dan. I did the test exactly as you suggested (as per the stator papers). I am just really surprised to see a low voltage (24V) on all three measurements - makes me suspicious that there's something else I could be missing. I think the wires are continuous from the stator to where it plugs into the RR, so there can't be a connection issue.