Cleaning up underseat wiring. Stator Loop?

[Downs]

So I'm cleaning up the underseat wiring from a previous rectifier replacement done by my dad and brother when I was stationed in North Carolina. The wiring obviously overheated and they didn't really clean it up in the process. So since I'm doing a stator replacement and moving over to a SH775 R/R which I've covered in another thread in this section I want to remove the "stator loop" while I'm at it. My bike is an early (march build) 78 and has a functional headlight switch so I'm not sure if removing that loop will cause the headlights to become fully non functional. I kind of like having the functional switch there just so I can say that I have a bike that has that functionality.

Coming from my stator I have 2x yellow, 2x White/blue and 1x Green/White. 1 of the yellow goes to the Regulator the other goes to the rectifier, same for the white/blue. The green/white goes off into the bikes wiring harness but I don't see where it comes back.

I've got a new Electrosport stator on the shelf, I'm waiting for a gasket to come in to install the stator, and for parts to come in from ebay to do the 775 conversion.

I'm not sure of the best way to go from here. Some threads I read say that if you have the working switch just leave the loop in place but in that case I'm going to be short a wire to go into the 775 R/R.

 

[Brendan W]

Check out here for a wiring diagram http://zeus.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS1000.pdf
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/ has a later 81 1000G diagram showing the modification cutting the loop,out.
The loop is completed with a red/white return to the rectifier. It should be close to the green/white wire.
The loop is open with the headlights off and simply closed with them on so I can't see you losing headlight switch operation by shorting the loop.
I dn't know why you have two yellow and two white/blue from the stator.
Generally all three stator output phases are sent directly to the rectifier.

 

[Downs]

As far as I can tell this is all factory wiring down here other than to my 12v outlet on the bars.

 

[Downs]

Looking at the wiring diagram closer I can't see how that on/off switch affects the stator loop. Looks like all it does is complete the loop for one phase of the stator. Werid.

 

[hannibal]

Looking at the wiring diagram closer I can't see how that on/off switch affects the stator loop. Looks like all it does is complete the loop for one phase of the stator. Werid.

Exactly. From the factory, the bike runs on two legs of the stator when the lights are off and all three legs when you switch the lights on.

 

[Steve]

Correct. The "stator loop" is merely the third leg of the stator. The headlight switch actually has two sets of contacts that are completely independant of each other. One set of contacts will connect battery power to the headlight, the other set connects the third loop of the stator.

If you were keeping a shunt-style R/R, it would be recommended to keep the stator wire connected to the headlight switch, but since you are installing an SH775, run all three wires from the stator directly to the inputs of the R/R.

.

 

[Guest]

If you were keeping a shunt-style R/R, it would be recommended to keep the stator wire connected to the headlight switch, but since you are installing an SH775, run all three wires from the stator directly to the inputs of the R/R.

Hi Steve,

Why is this? I have the stock R/R and disconnected the headlight loop. Should I have left it alone?

 

[Downs]

Guess it makes sense if you're not going to have that 70 watt draw from the head and tail light to cut down on heat generation by "turning off" one leg of the stator especially with a shunt type system.

 

[Steve]

Correct. The original charging system was sized so that the output of one stator leg would power the bike, one leg would power the headlight and the third leg would charge the battery and handle any surges, like brake light and turn signals. When you turned the headlight OFF, the shunt-style R/R was forced to spend a lot more time in shunt mode, which would overheat the stator. By disconnecting one leg of the stator when the headlight was OFF, it minimized the overload through the stator.

Just as a side note: I think the 650L that my son owned may have been one of the very first '82s off the line, and still had an '81 switch assembly on it. The switch was there, but it was blocked off internally so it would not move. I removed the block, which restored proper function to the switch. Because the switch was there, the stator loop was routed through it. I found it interesting that voltage at idle was just a bit higher with the headlight ON than it was with it OFF. Evidently the one stator loop puts out just a little bit more than the headlight requires, so it raises the voltage and charges the battery just a bit better.

.

 

[Gorminrider]

If you replace the original R/R with another variety of R/R with three yellow wires, disable the headlamp loop- the three different coloured wires from the original stator plug to the three yellows of the new R/R in any order.
on my bike, The original R/R also has colour-coded wires. I think the reason for this is that the original R/R only "shunts" through a single SCR and thereby, mostly controls the stator output flowing through the headlamp loop....

 

[hannibal]

Hi Steve,

Why is this? I have the stock R/R and disconnected the headlight loop. Should I have left it alone?

If you always run with the headlight (usually required by law and simply a good idea), you'll still be better off without headlight loop.

 

[Downs]

New stator is kind of in. I'm waiting on a gasket for the stator cover to finish that up.

I also went ahead and dumped the shunt style charging system and went to a series style using a SH775 regulator/rectifier from a crashed Polaris side by side and some weatherproof connectors. Hopefully that will make the new stator live longer.

 

[Brendan W]

Here is the ocd bit.
One day that unit is going to start turning anticlock.
When it does, as the screw loosens further, it will probably find the positive terminal on the starter relay and have a go at grounding it.

 

[roeme]

Here is the ocd bit.
One day that unit is going to start turning anticlock.
When it does, as the screw loosens further, it will probably find the positive terminal on the starter relay and have a go at grounding it.

IIRC on the SH775 only the backing plate is on ground potential (if at all), the cast heat sink part is not.

 

[Brendan W]

IIRC on the SH775 only the backing plate is on ground potential (if at all), the cast heat sink part is not.

Perhaps, but maybe the fixing screw and battery box have a backdoor

 

[Downs]

It's tight up against the fuse box. The only way for it to rotate at all would be for the other screw on the fuseblock to fall out. Because of this threadlocker has been applied to both screws. And since this is a new install ill be keeping a close eye on it.

Any other mounting spot on the electrical panel would have required relocation of either the starter solenoid or fuse block. Moving the flasher relay around didnt give me enough space.

 

[Guest]

Correct. The original charging system was sized so that the output of one stataor leg would power the bike, one leg would power the headlight and the third leg would charge the battery and handle any surges, like brake light and turn signals. When you turned the headlight OFF, the shunt-style R/R was forced to spend a lot more time in shunt mode, which would overheat the stator. By disconnecting one leg of the stator when the headlight was OFF, it minimized the overload through the stator.

Just as a side note: I think the 650L that my son owned may have been one of the very first '82s off the line, and still had an '81 switch assembly on it. The switch was there, but it was blocked off internally so it would not move. I removed the block, which restored proper function to the switch. Because the switch was there, the stator loop was routed through it. I found it interesting that voltage at idle was just a bit higher with the headlight ON than it was with it OFF. Evidently the one stator loop puts out just a little bit more than the headlight requires, so it raises the voltage and charges the battery just a bit better.

.

Steve, just a quick question on the headlight switch loop. On my 1980 GS1100LT, I?ve got the headlight loop (no switch; my headlight is always on). If I simply plug the stator lead that goes to ?the loop? into the R/R, do I need to do anything else (like tape off the now un-used terminals, the G/W going out and the w/r coming back in to the R/R)? I?m pretty sure I have a bad R/R and will be ordering a compufire series. I have spent a lot of time reading threads, stator papers, quick tests, etc. I do need to do some more testing. Thanks for answering the question about what is needed when bypassing the headlight switch loop.

 

[Steve]

If I simply plug the stator lead that goes to “the loop” into the R/R, do I need to do anything else (like tape off the now un-used terminals, the G/W going out and the w/r coming back in to the R/R)?

No need to do anything with either of those wires.
They are simply a few ounces of dead weight that have no electricity running through them.

.