Is it possible to have too much voltage from the stator?

[Anonymous]

All my manuals say that I should be getting about 80 volts AC @ 5000 rpms. I seem to be getting in the upper 90's. Could that be why my regulator burnt out or is that something that is within the tolerable range? I just don't want to put in my new 130 dollar reg/rect and have it go up in smoke. I've also got another stator that suposedly works but it would be a hassle to put it in if I don't have to.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah, the bike is an 84 1150es

 

[Hap Call]

Two things can effect stator voltage output - # of turns in each pole of the stator and the air gap between the stator windings and the rotating magnetic field - both of which should not vary that much. Are you sure you have the stock stator in there? Is it also possible that the voltage meter is off (which is more likely)? If you have voltage that is too high it could very easily damage any transistor circuits you have in your regulator.

Hap

 

[Anonymous]

How is the voltage specified--RMS or peak to peak?? Big difference!! If it's peak to peak you'll need an oscilloscope. If the spec is RMS you'll need a voltmeter capable of reading true RMS. Not all hand-held meters are accurate at true RMS.

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmmm, now that you mention it, my volt meter seems really crappy. I put in a used regulator and charged up my batterey a little and put it all back together. I've driven it a few minutes and nothing seemed to get too hot. I think the thing that caused my regulator to burn out in the 1st place was a poorly made grounding wire that was coming off the main negative terminal wire. I made a new connector and everything seems to be working now. The stator is the original (or maybe just one that's been in since the original owner) so i guess the voltage couldn't have changed very much while it's been in the bike, or could it? I would think that if anything, the voltage produced would go down. Hopefully I can just drive it around tomorrow and see if anything happens, then take that new regulator back to the store.

 

[Hap Call]

How is the voltage specified--RMS or peak to peak?? Big difference!! If it's peak to peak you'll need an oscilloscope. If the spec is RMS you'll need a voltmeter capable of reading true RMS. Not all hand-held meters are accurate at true RMS.

It is RMS in the factory manuel.

Hap

 

[Anonymous]

My Clymers says: "The AC voltmeter should indicate 80 volts AC, or more, for each test connection" It doesn't state how many more, but I would think 90 volts AC is not too much. 100 volts perhaps.

 

[Hap Call]

My Clymers says: "The AC voltmeter should indicate 80 volts AC, or more, for each test connection" It doesn't state how many more, but I would think 90 volts AC is not too much. 100 volts perhaps.

If you have older electronics, you need to stay within 10% of suggested voltage, newer electronics would probably handle 15% to 20% overvoltage but I would be cautious.

Hap

 

[Anonymous]

Today I took the bike out for a good 30 mile drive. I decided that if the bike could make it all the way out to Bent Bike, where I could return the new regulator I just bought , then it had to have been the bad ground. My battery is now totally recharged and all the electrics are working fine. Nothing was feeling too hot so I think that should do it. I still have the other stator that I had bought, so if it does eventually prove faulty I've got that covered at least, and now I know how to put one in too. Thanks for all your advice guys

 

[Don Lobacz]

You're able to return electrical parts in Seattle? Now that's progressive.

 

[Anonymous]

Hiya.
Nbr of turns on the stator is the key:
As I recall there are apx55 turns on each, and belive me it it is VERY difficult to add much more turns of that thin copperwire!
Been there, done that :lol:

I would think 90Volts is ok, but never seen that high number, and I have seen a few!

 

[Anonymous]

"progressive"---not without some serious bitching. This was my first electrical job, so I didn't know about the seemingly industry standard , NO RETURNS ON ELECTRICAL PARTS. Well, before I bought the R/R I asked if I would be able to return it if it turns out my other R/R was fine. She said it would be no problem. That is , until I tried to return it. Then it got a little ugly, (the last people in the world i want to piss off are the people that give me cheap parts) finally the boss man caved and gave me in-store credit. Well that sucks for me because I don't want anything from them, and that money was to be used for my saddlebags, which their selection sucks, unless you're into black with fringes. All I can say is the electrical system seems to be fine, it's been starting, charging and running just like it did before. Now if only I could figure out how to change the needles in my carbs...

 

[Anonymous]

WTF!!!--It censored me for saying PlSS???

 

[Anonymous]

WTF!!!--It censored me for saying PlSS???

You get used to it and find yourself using all sorts of strange expletives to avoid the "####"s. It's actually quite fun and amusing what some people will use to describe things when they can't say certain things.

 

[Anonymous]

i like to put spaces inbetween those 4 letter words. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

O.K. since it seems that the charging system of these old suzuki's is the most least understood system, I'll see if I can help! 90 volts on your stator is perfectly normal, when you connect the battery and other electrical load the voltage will drop to the normal 13-15 volts. First off,, the voltage comming off the stator wires will be A.C. or alternating current. the rectifier has the job of turning the A.C to D.C or direct current by the use of diodes. if you measure the voltage after each of the diodes, you should have a voltage of arrox, half what you had before the diode, (that's why there is 6 diods in the rectifier, 2 for each leg of the stator) the problem is that the DC voltage leaving the diode will be choppy, meaning there will be an on cycle where the voltage is present and a off cycle where the voltage is not present. Enough said on that, It would take a small book to explaine how that works. Getting back to the output of the diodes, when a load (charging battery, lights, ect) is applied to the output of the diode, the voltage drops to the 13-15 volts that the electrical system is designed to function at, Well as the battery charges and the load decreses on the bike electrical system, the voltage will climb, that's when the regulator kicks in, If the charging system was let to go with out a regulator, the voltage would keep climbing up to the 18 to 25 volt range,, makes your lights really really bright for a couple seconds. and your battery will start to boil. to combat this the regulator shorts itself to the battery ground and thereby drops the limits the voltage applied to the rest of the system,, it's actually a really simple system giving once it's understood! It's also quite wasteful compared to other systems found in automobiles and some motorcycles where the alternator only produces the needed electrical energy.

I hope that this helps,, too bad I never was that good of a writer, but if anybody needs a little frendly help in understanding the system,, look me up! I would relly like to help someone out if I can since you all have helped me out!

:wink:

 

[Anonymous]

well, here is my 2 cents worth. As said in the previous posting the electrical system is very simple. Since it uses perminent magnets in the alternator, the alternator output is fixed. The alternator produces three phase alternating current. Just like a car alternator. The number of windings on each pole determines the voltage. This type of power, alternating current, cannot be used by the motorcycles electronics until it is converted to direct current, or DC. This is also done in a car alternator. There are six diodes which convert or rectify the AC power into raw DC. This is called a three phase full wave rectifier. The DC voltage which comes out of the rectifier is still higher than what the bike can use. This voltage is put through a voltage regulator which uses a device called a zener diode. Basically this takes the voltage and allows only 13 to 14 volts out the other end. The excess voltage and current is dumped through a resistor which bleeds it off as heat, thus the cooling fins on the regulator. The regulator then uses the voltage, which does not change much, and the current, which changes all the time depending on the demand of the electronics of the motorcycle. You can see that if that resistor burns out, all the current is then fed through the regulator and the extra current goes to the battery which then boils. On older bikes, the regulator and the rectifier were seperate. On modern bikes they are all on one assembly, which means that if one part goes, they all go. If you were to put an o-scope or a really good multi-meter on the output of the rectifier, than you would see a straight line. If you have a wavy line, it indicates that one of the rectifying diodes are bad. Usually a wavy line, or ripple, of more than one volt is considered bad. Your voltage output from the voltage regulator, as measured at the battery, should be no more than 15v and no less than 13 volts. Because of the permanent magnet construction of the alternator, you need to have more than 2300 rpm to get full output from the alternator. I use a fluke 87 multimeter when I check on the electronics of my bike. I also use star washers on both sides of the grounds to get a good connection. There are connectors that you can find at electrical supply houses that are multi pin and made out of metal and waterproof. These are the same connectors that the military uses. I replaced all the multi pin connectors with these type of connectors and have had no more problems with voltage fluctuation or current fluctuation. Since they are gold plated they do not suffer from corrosion. They are not as expensive as they sound and if you are handy with a soldering iron they are worth it.
Al