Charging test?

[R7]

1998 Yamaha R1, just stopped charging on a ride last summer. I guessed it's a stator, as it is 16 years old. Before I spend the coin on the stator, is there a way to test and be sure? Could it also be the regulator? The bike started up and ran once the battery was recharged.
I have limited electrical tools ( a test light) so nothing fancy.

Thanks

[RandyO]

Buy yourself a $10 cheapo multi-meter unplug the stator from the RR while it's running , you should see about 70 volts AC from each leg if the stator is good

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Innova-330...ingMethod=p13n

if stator tests good, problem is probably RR

[rg500]

You can borrow my multimeter anytime.

[R7]

One of those tools I forgot I had, found a multimeter on the shelf in the basement. Thanks for the reply's and thanks for the offer for use of the tool Mike. I'll check it out before I start ordering parts

[duganc1717]

1998 Yamaha R1, just stopped charging on a ride last summer. I guessed it's a stator, as it is 16 years old. Before I spend the coin on the stator, is there a way to test and be sure? Could it also be the regulator? The bike started up and ran once the battery was recharged.
I have limited electrical tools ( a test light) so nothing fancy.

Thanks

Reliving the glory years?

[nhbubba]

If it does end up being the stator.. depending on the cost of sourcing a replacement, you could send it off to http://ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/. They are located in Hampstead, NH. I dropped my DL650 stator off with them last summer and they had it re-wound in about a week or two. It fixed me.

[stoinkythepig]

I bet it's the connector for the three phase input at the regulator. Probably cooked like mine was.

[Jim]

i just did this last night on my race bike and 2 weeks ago on my street bike.
unplug your stator from the wire harness & put a multimeter in the plugs from the stator. turn the bike on and rev it to 4k RPM. you should be around 65v. if not, then the stator isnt giving off a charge.
it's always safe to replace the stator and rectifier together, since the rectifier is usually the culprit for killing your stator.

[ZX-12R]

Don't forget that most of the electrical measurements for the charging system are done at about 4K RPMs.

Check the shop manual for specific numbers:
-First verify that your battery is ok.
-Measure the DC volts across the battery terminals while the engine is at 4K RPM. You would expect to see a number around 14.2V which can vary a bit depending on the temperature.
-Unplug the stator harness and measure AC volts between each phase combination at 4K RPM. You should see 50-80VAC.
-With the bike off, measure the resistance between each phase combination of the stator. You should see a number less than 1-Ohm.
-With the bike off, measure the resistance from each leg of the stator harness to chassis Ground. You should see infinite resistance (open circuit).
-With the bike off, use the diode check mode of your multimeter and verify the functionality of the rectifier diodes as per the manual.

[THE STUFF 187]

Also check each leg to ground

[R7]

Thanks again for the reply's, I'll check everything mentioned here before ordering any parts. I just picked the bike up this afternoon, and it came with a Yamaha service manual, I'll read through it this evening and get to work this weekend.
It'll probably need a carb cleaning as well, it has been sitting for 9 months.

[R7]

It's the faster red one

[duganc1717]

I recognize that pipe/bike, Todd's (aka dingleberry) bike?.....

[R7]

I recognize that pipe/bike, Todd's (aka dingleberry) bike?.....

Good memory. That was a long time ago Mr Zedx9

[R7]

Couple questions for you NESR pro's, as I don't deal with this stuff very often.

I did some testing today, and it's charging, but just shy of spec.
The service manual gives a step by step process to problem solve, so those are the steps I took.
it first said test the battery, it should be at 12.08+ sitting there with no key on. Mine was 12.06, so a little low.
Next was check the battery with the engine running at 5,000rpms, and it says it should be at 14, but there's no plus or minus..just says 14. Mine was at 13.85 on average..it did go up and down a few..13.83-13.88
It seems very close to normal to me, but I don't know enough about this stuff to know if something out of spec just a small amount like that will cause a problem?
I did not investigate any further into the charging system at that point.

Then the question is, if it's charging now, why did it stop last year?

[ZX-12R]

Try going for a ride to heat everything up and do the check again.

[R7]

Try going for a ride to heat everything up and do the check again.

I would do that, but at the same time, it has been sitting for almost 10 months and the carbs also need some attention. After testing the charging today, I pulled off the carbs in an attempt to clean them.

[nhbubba]

Your voltages are close enough. 0.02V off of spec with the engine stopped is nothing.
Same with your measurement at 5k RPM. Close 'nuf.
Your charging circuit sounds fine to me.

Did you replace the battery?

[R7]

Your voltages are close enough. 0.02V off of spec with the engine stopped is nothing.
Same with your measurement at 5k RPM. Close 'nuf.
Your charging circuit sounds fine to me.

Did you replace the battery?

That's what i'm thinking, but wasn't sure.
I did not replace the battery, but was on the tender for about 4 hours the night before. It didn't sit dead the whole time, the prior owner always kept the charge up on it.

[nhbubba]

Corosion on the battery terminals? Intermittant loose connection somewhere? I dunno.

[timmyho414]

why do you think it stopped charging last year?

[RandyO]

a few hundredths of a volt here and there is lost in resistance in the wires and not perfectly calibrated volt meter

your numbers are within reason

fwiw, my first RR failure on my SV was hard to diagnose, it wasn't till I tested it after riding for over an hour that it was in failure, after it cooled, it would test good again

unlike field strength regulated alternators found in automobiles that only produce the electricity demanded from the system, most motorcycle alternators are permanent magnet type (magneto) that produce more electricity the faster they spin and are usually regulated by shunting the excess back to ground and dissipating the energy as heat (heat is enemy of semi conductors in the RR) a design that is destine to failure sooner or later depending on how efficient the heat sinks are, some bikes have a more expensive series mosfet regulator that momentarily disconnects one or more of the legs of the stator with semiconductor switches that sense the power demand to reduce the output, but very few

[stoinkythepig]

Battery with no load should read 12.8 not 12.08. Yours is very low. If it was on a charger overnight, and you know the charger is good, I'd change the battery. At 5000 RPM, I'd expect 14 volts at a minimum (more like 14.4 would be normal), so your charging system is not working as it should with that battery. Do you have a known good battery you can swap in for a test?

Find all the connectors (may just be one) between the stator and the regulator/rectifier and exercise them. I think the wires are all white coming out of the stator on your bike. While exercising the connector(s), you can check the stator resistance. Should be around .2 ohms between any white wire and any other white wire and an open circuit to ground on all three, if memory serves.

[nhbubba]

I agree that your R/R could be suspect and testing again once warm seems worthwhile.

- - - Updated - - -

Adding one of these may help diagnose while underway as well: http://www.amazon.com/Signal-Dynamics-Heads-Voltage-Monitor/dp/B00AC5J84M

[R7]

Battery with no load should read 12.8 not 12.08

I miss typed that, mine was 12.6, the manual says it should be 12.8

I'm going to mess with the carbs now, then ride it and see if anything changes