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R/R Question....

Discussion in 'Motorcycle Tech Talk' started by qdllc, May 18, 2016.

  1. qdllc

    qdllc Member

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    History...

    1999 Honda CBR1100xx. 90K miles. In 2012, the stator fried. Replaced stator and R/R with new units (MOSFET for R/R over OEM). Stator is hard-wired to R/R (soldered, not crimp connections). Plug to harness from R/R coated with dielectric grease and wrapped in that rubberized tape stuff to shield from water and dirt.

    Last week, with only 2,000 miles of use since install, I was on a group ride and on the way home, when I caught the voltmeter spiking upwards to 18v. I wasn't in a position to stop, so I coasted (at idle) for a bit then tried going back into top gear to keep RPMs low. The voltage went back to normal and remained rock-solid the rest of the trip home.

    Static testing of the charging system (revving in the garage) showed everything working as it should. On subsequent rides to town, I've yet to see the problem repeat. I contacted the manufacturer of the stator and R/R, and their tech says they've never seen an R/R fail and then go back to normal. If it fails, it fails consistently.

    ***

    This leads me to wonder if something else could have caused the high reading.

    There's a chance the onboard voltmeter glitched, but in static testing with a multimeter, both read the same throughout the test. The only way to eliminate this possibility is for the problem to return and quickly get a multimeter on the battery to see if they get the same reading. If a wire was loose or shorted, I'd expect a low reading, not a high one.

    If the battery was going bad, I would get low voltage at power-on, pre-start. I'd not expect anything in a failing battery to produce higher voltage.

    If the stator was defective, normally it provides inadequate power. If it was producing too much power and "cooking" the R/R, I'd expect the failure to be ongoing, not isolated and momentary.

    Anyone have any ideas or thoughts? The maker of the R/R offered to test it, but that means a teardown and removal, and I might as well just replace it at that point.

    Can something like this just "happen" without there being a proper system failure?

    On a side note....

    Before the stator fried, on a prior trip, my headlamps and lights went out. I turned on the bike, the speedometer went from zero to max and back to zero (it doesn't do that), and they were gone. After finding nothing wrong (no bad wires, no blown fuses), I wired one of my head lamps into the auxiliary fuse block, so I could finish the trip. The next day, I habitually hit my turn signal and it worked fine. Everything was back. No problems for the rest of the trip. Getting home, I tore it all down and found nothing wrong. To this day I don't know what caused the malfunction or why it disappeared as quickly as it came.
  2. Red Rider

    Red Rider Well-Known Member

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    Check your wiring THOROUGHLY. This sounds like a shorting problem, or maybe a grounding (or un-grounding) problem. Check your wiring harness, especially in places where it is tight against the frame or other metal. Check your wires to every light, horn or accessory. Be patient. Undo cable ties and inspect (be ready to replace them with quality new ones) - even bound cables can get coarse dirt in them that vibration can use to abrade the wires.

    To me, everything you've written screams wiring. Note that a wiring fault does not have to be directly relational to the effected component (in this case, stator -R/R) . Electrical shorts or opens on any circuit (lights, ignition, even radio if ya got one) can manifest some really wacked out symptoms at times, and in other functionalities that have very little to do with the failure.

    If you don't have one yet, ya might think about getting an anti-gremlin bell, too!
  3. qdllc

    qdllc Member

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    Well, from what I've determined, the R/R (new) is glitchy. I rewired the three R/R units I have (original, replacement, and then new ones) for easy switch out. Put the prior one on that was replaced when the stator failed as a precaution.

    Solid performance so far. Maker of newest R/R has been criticized for mixed quality by some people who have used their products.
  4. Red Rider

    Red Rider Well-Known Member

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    Dang, can't trust anyone anymore. Good job with the T/S - you just gonna go with the used R/R?
  5. qdllc

    qdllc Member

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    If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Bike has a digital voltmeter. If it acts up, I'll know right away.
  6. hotroadking

    hotroadking Super Moderator Staff Member

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    Sometimes aftermarket electronics are just crap,
    when it comes to coils, wires, solenoids, etc I prefer OEM
    or a quality performance company, buying the cheap knock
    off's generally you have a 50/50 chance of one being bad or
    not good quality.

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