Poll - How are your Stator rewinds holding up?

[hp1000s]

Sparkss
Thanks much for the reply, but I guess I wasn't really accurate in asking my question. On some of our GS', the lighting stator phase/coil(whichever: one of the three yellow wires from the stator) runs all the way to the light-switch on the left handlebar, so that it could be potentially be switched on/off when the 12V side of the headlight switch was turned on/off (my understanding was to eliminate some of these stator stress problems). However, my bike, like alot of them, have the headlight switch rigged "permanently on(along with that yellow stator wire circuit)", by Suzuki....so, since my headlight will be permanently on, I'm assuming that I don't need to run that yellow stator wire circuit all the way to the left-side control(with all of it's associated xtra wire), since the headlight switch is never going to switch off either the 12V to the bulb or disconnect the yellow AC wire. I'm not wanting to eliminate that (stator) circuit, I just want to eliminate all that xtra wire that's not serving a practical function. Hope I've done a better job of explaining myself.

 

[Matchless]

My stator was rewound by an old hand in the trade who told me that he used the specs from a newer model as the OEM stator was very prone to failing on the 1980 GS bikes. He used heavier gauge wire and definitely fewer turns, which gives out about 40 volts AC per phase instead of the 70 - 90 volts quoted by some people. /QUOTE]

Hi there Matchless.......Your "old hand" understands the problem exactly.

SPARKSS,
Interesting topic you have here as there are opinions, thoughts and views that differ quite a lot if you start googling this and some are given for fact and can be very confusing so anyone who does not have an in-depth insight into electrical/electronic theory and functions.
Just for interest my GS had the switch part bypassed in the headlamp and the two wires were just plugged into one another. This is also shown to be so on the wiring diagram and was one of the first mistakes, as this wire caused problems as the connector sheath shows some overheating. I just bypassed it by plugging 3rd phase directly into the wire from the regulator.

My personal view is also this, the electronic components used 28 years ago were not always "over engineered" as using very high voltage SCR's, zeners and diodes in those days were very expensive and in some cases not as readily available as today. Components nowadays are most probably more robust and it is easier to find a component that may even have double the current and voltage handling and I think not much more expensive, so that may also have been a contributing factor. The fact that the 3rd phase was not regulated may also have contributed and then the thinner wire on the stator. So there were quite a few things that were not too robust.
These things only started giving problems if something went wrong or if an owner started fiddeling with the electricals or if a bad battery was not quickly replaced, corroded connections, jump starting from another running vehicle etc.
I still have the original regulator fitted in 1980 and it is still working fine after 28 years, so the design was not really much flawed for the time, it just did not have many safeguarding features and these were only picked up over a period of ownership. More robust components with a bigger safety margin and Suzuki would not have become known for electrical/charging problems in that era.
My view and thoughts only.

 

[fgh]

Any idea why it fried?

The black stuff on the metal core was chipped off in a few places. Since it was grounded I think the edge wore/burnt through the insulation on the magnet wire.

 

[hp1000s]

Thanks, Matchless!

 

[srsupertrap]

RE: tfb remark "Suzuki wiring arrangement"

Agreed, I have read the same statement. I filied down the headlight switch long ago so I could turn the lights On & Off in the belief I would extend the life of the entire charging system. After my first stator failure back in 1983, I installed a VDO voltmeter between the speedo & tach with the leads hooked up directly to the battery.

My observation is the VDO voltmeter actually reads higher with the lights off than with the lights on which is somewhat counter intuitive considering the third phase is engaged.

 

[posplayr]

I'm now convinced to change out my Stator

I'm now convinced to change out my Stator

as well as the Regulator. I'm hoping the ElectroSport is redesigned to reduce the output power for a given RPM.

Thanks for the discussion in this thread. I posted earlier the same fact that the motorcycle power generation is markedy different to most cars. The power output of the stator(with permanent magnets) is essentially proportional to engine speed. At zero RPM the battery kicks in to provide power where there is none from the stator. At high RPM theover the top at high RPM .

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=118210

Pos 8)