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Melted wires??

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
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Anonymous

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The wires that connect the regulater/rectifer on my GS 1000 have all melted at there connections. I had a spare so I installed it. I've noticed that when its running the regulater/rectifer gets warm, is that normal. I hooked up a voltage meter and its charging around 15 volts at 3000 rpm. Does this sound right ? Any ideas on whats happening here would be most appreciated. Thanks, Ric. :? :? :?
 
Warm is normal, but 15.0 volts is too much. If it's 15V at just 3000 rpm it probably gets even higher later. According to what I've gathered, the charging system should never, at any speed, produce more than 14.8V. Replace the RR.
 
check the stator pages, follow the flow chart. investigate all aspects of the charging system, you do not want the replace the RR if the stator is at fault! i just went through a similar problem, except the opposite side of the spectrum (low Voltage) it
took some time but i fixed it, thanks to help i recieved here. you should get 80Vac @ 5K rpm from all three legs of the stator (yellow wires) and should get between 14.5 Vdc and 14.8 Vdc at the battery at 5k rpm...try running the red and black wires from the RR directly to the battery.

good luck

ps...electrex is the way to go.
 
According to the factory service manual, the acceptable voltage range at 5000 rpm is 14 to 15.5 volts.. :)
 
beat me to it

beat me to it

Shane is right.
With mine I normally get 14.5V-14.8V with a Honda R/R with a rare 15.2V which oddly enough, seems to occur when the ambient temp is above 20?C. And yes, the R/R does get warm, some people have even gone so far as put a small computer fan on the fins to help cool it, heat is the downfall of electronic parts..Mike
 
Well, 15.5 volts in the system will not result in component failure although it will shorten the life of everything. The worst thing that will do is constantly boil the battery dry. At that voltage, you will be putting water in the battery every time you fill up the gas tank, and if you miss a battery fill up, the battery will not handle the system voltage. Thigs are going to start melting. The maximum permissible sustained voltage for an Electrex R/R is 14.9 volts. That is not because of a limitation of the Electrex component. One of the new Electrex R/R's I received directly from the manufacturer charged at 15 volts at high rpm's. After checking my stator output, and finding it correct, I returned the R/R to Electrex as faulty. They replaced it. The new one charges at 14.8, as it should.

Earl

condensr said:
According to the factory service manual, the acceptable voltage range at 5000 rpm is 14 to 15.5 volts.. :)
Click to expand...
 
do you have the regulator ground mod??
if the regulator is not grounding good it won't regulate the charge correctly.
the charging system on these bikes regulate the voltage by shunting excess ower to ground, heat is the byproduct.
 
Thanks for all the help guys. I'm going to splice and heat shrink all the melted connections. What is the regulator ground mod, and whats involved doing it ? Its always fun messing with these old tanks, I almost sold it a few months ago but the wife would'nt let me do it. I'm thinking about a new Bandit or ZRX or a 929. Something a little more reliable for the 80 kilo commute everyday. I really like the honda. Thanks again. Ric :D :D
 
The RR ground mod is adding a grounding wire directly from the RR to the negative battery terminal.
 
Ok I have two seperate parts, one with 4 wires, colors are, yellow, red, white with red stripe, white with blue stripe. The other part has two wires, colors are, yellow, and, white with blue stripe, it also melted a green wire with a white stripe that went to the harness. Which one do I ground to the battery? :? :?
 
None of the below. :-) Run a ground wire between one of the bolts that hold the R/R to the frame and the battery negative terminal.

Earl

chockypudding said:
Ok I have two seperate parts, one with 4 wires, colors are, yellow, red, white with red stripe, white with blue stripe. The other part has two wires, colors are, yellow, and, white with blue stripe, it also melted a green wire with a white stripe that went to the harness. Which one do I ground to the battery? :? :?
Click to expand...
 
Wires Melt

Wires Melt

We went through the same thing on our 81 GS1100e. Electrex RR fried after a few weeks. If you haven't already done this move the RR to the front of the frame below the streering head and rewire it where it can get proper cooling. All of the new bikes have their RR out in the airflow somewhere. Ours has been working good so far even in the Georgia heat and humidity this summer. I found that the area beneath the left side cover is an oven during riding. Not a good place for a device that needs to shed heat. Our charging system has been solid for the last several months. Hope this helps.
 
Hrm, not sure if I should have started my own thread, but since I saw a charging problem thread on the first page I figured I'd just add on. Here goes...

1985 GS1150EF with 52k km (like that matters..) Garaged all the time (looks minty...smells kinda greasy) and my battery won't charge. I checked out the stator papers, and searched through lots of posts on the subject but never came across anyone saying that when they checked the voltage AC coming from their stator that they got nothing, zilch, zip. No voltage change at all at the battery, it passed the ohm test and doesn't ground to the casing, but all three phases register nothing at 5k rpm (or any other for that matter). My multimeter is old, but in good shape. I've just never tested AC with it before. I flipped the selector to AC 250V (next smaller is 50V) and made sure the plugs were in the right holes.... hrm. I expected to get something at least. Maybe the stator is just dead. Any ideas? I can get more info on the multimeter if asked. I looked all over for the manual, but it's gone.

I'd like to do the final set of tests on the R/R but have no 'diode test' function on my multimeter either. Is it called anything else? Maybe I just need a new one. :?
 
Paul, I've never heard of testing the stator and getting zero voltage on all three phases. To check the stator output, the bike should be running at 5000 rpm when you check voltage. The three yellow wires from the stator go to a plug, the mating half of the plug connects it to the R/R. For the test, the stator must be unplugged from the R/R. Or, in other words, the three yellow wires coming from the stator must not be connected to anything........just three wire ends. If the three wires were numbered 1,2 and 3, then you would check between wires 1 and 2. Then 2 and 3. Then 1 and 3. That is the three phases of the stator. Each phase should show 80 volts AC at an engine rpm of 5000. If you get a reading on each phase
close to 80 volts, then the stator is fine. Just checking here to be sure we are on the same page. :-) :-)

If the stator is fine, then reconnect it to the R/R. To check the R/R set the multimeter to volts DC and connect the test probes to the battery positive and negitive terminals. Run the engine up to 5000 rpm again. If the R/R is perfect, it will show a charge rate of 14.7 volts. Any DC voltage reading @ 5K rpm between 14.2 and 14.9 will result in the battery being charged sufficiently. If all is well at this point, the next thing to do is rev the engine beyond 5k.......about 6K. The voltage at the battery terminals will usually increase momentarily and then drop to the required 14.8 regardless of higher rpm. If the voltage does not drop with increased rpm and steadies above 14.9, then the R/R is faulty. Too high a sustained charge rate is worse than too low a charge rate.

Earl


Paul Letby said:
Hrm, not sure if I should have started my own thread, but since I saw a charging problem thread on the first page I figured I'd just add on. Here goes...

1985 GS1150EF with 52k km (like that matters..) Garaged all the time (looks minty...smells kinda greasy) and my battery won't charge. I checked out the stator papers, and searched through lots of posts on the subject but never came across anyone saying that when they checked the voltage AC coming from their stator that they got nothing, zilch, zip. No voltage change at all at the battery, it passed the ohm test and doesn't ground to the casing, but all three phases register nothing at 5k rpm (or any other for that matter). My multimeter is old, but in good shape. I've just never tested AC with it before. I flipped the selector to AC 250V (next smaller is 50V) and made sure the plugs were in the right holes.... hrm. I expected to get something at least. Maybe the stator is just dead. Any ideas? I can get more info on the multimeter if asked. I looked all over for the manual, but it's gone.

I'd like to do the final set of tests on the R/R but have no 'diode test' function on my multimeter either. Is it called anything else? Maybe I just need a new one. :?
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the reply Earl. Unfortunately you describe exactly what I did, sorry I wasn't more clear. I am of the opinion that my multimeter (or maybe me the operator!) may be over the hill. I will borrow my neighbor's newer multimeter (and my neighbor...) and do the same check again. I'll get back with the results.
 
Tried a different mode (but still 250 VAC) and got 15-20 VAC from 2 phases and nothing from the other. Um, guess it's nuked. I'll still try the neighbor's multi in an hour or two.
 
I hope its your multimeter that has given up the ghost and not your stator.
Unless of course, youre one of those electrical connoisseurs that HAS to have a $2500 Fluke meter. LOL

Earl

Paul Letby said:
Thanks for the reply Earl. Unfortunately you describe exactly what I did, sorry I wasn't more clear. I am of the opinion that my multimeter (or maybe me the operator!) may be over the hill. I will borrow my neighbor's newer multimeter (and my neighbor...) and do the same check again. I'll get back with the results.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Wires Melt

Re: Wires Melt

wilmas2cool said:
We went through the same thing on our 81 GS1100e. Electrex RR fried after a few weeks. If you haven't already done this move the RR to the front of the frame below the streering head and rewire it where it can get proper cooling. All of the new bikes have their RR out in the airflow somewhere. Ours has been working good so far even in the Georgia heat and humidity this summer. I found that the area beneath the left side cover is an oven during riding. Not a good place for a device that needs to shed heat. Our charging system has been solid for the last several months. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

A much easier fix is to go get a Computer case fan and mount it to the fins of the RR. it will cool it down and keep air constantly flowing over it even when you are stopped. I wired mine to a wire that is hot when the key comes on. voltage has been perfect.
 
Ran a ground from the R/R to the battery, seems to be working so far. Thanks for the tip Earl. :D :D
 
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