How to test your stator output?

In your first video, the meter was on a DC Scale.

Second video, it's on an AC scale.

I didnt notice that but Voltmeter selects scale automatically.

You're measuring un-rectified AC Voltage.

Grab yourself a cheap sealed beam headlight. 55W is fine, just a bit dimmer than a 45W.

Headlight should light up and increase in brightness with RPM's. It's imperative that you
start logically eliminating components,(battery, rec/reg, stator, rotor, wiring, & assimulator).

How did you load test your battery? I'll say to you the same thing that was said to me …
"You need to do a proper load test, and please don't tell me you did it with the headlight" - Alan Osborne
http://www.aoservices.co.uk/

2Wheels said:

In your first video, the meter was on a DC Scale.

Second video, it's on an AC scale.

Click to expand...

The second video is of the stator wires and is ac current. The setting is correct and the readings are good.
However the DC side failed the test. Bad rec/reg.

Ok I'll pick up a sealed beam bulb at the Autoparts store on the way home and post results later. I have a battery load tester that I got from Harbor Freight same as this one.
http://www.harborfreight.com/100-am...-782A-E011-B31E-001B2163195C&mr:referralID=NA

pvisseriii said:

2Wheels said:

In your first video, the meter was on a DC Scale.

Second video, it's on an AC scale.

Click to expand...

The second video is of the stator wires and is ac current. The setting is correct and the readings are good.

Click to expand...

That's a good point. However, if he IS measuring AC across his alternator pairs, then he's in big trouble.

I show 17VAC @ idle, increasing to approximately 60VAC @ 3000 RPM's, across all pairs. That's WITHOUT using the power resistor.
But we'll get into that later.

The good news is that one of the battery's has been eliminated as a problem. This is your every day battery, right?

Im pretty sure thats the podronics unit output voltage showing AC as I dont recall taping the alternator wires.Eitherway I measured the alternator wires to ground and not to each other.I will do the phase to phase measurement first thing.
BTW I scored a 12V/50W sealed beam bulb at work so one saved trip to the store.

speirmoor said:

BTW I scored a 12V/50W sealed beam bulb at work so one saved trip to the store.

Click to expand...

Great, saved you some time, but more importantly, it also saved you some money!

speirmoor said:

I will do the phase to phase measurement first thing.

Click to expand...

No, not yet. First, take that single phase reg/rec and put it away, it's of no use to us.

The sealed beam should have three prongs on it, hook the red wire from the reg/rec to the oddball prong (ground), the black to one of the other two prongs.
One side is low beam, the other high beam, it doesn't matter which one you use. It's your choice.
Make sure your connections are good, start bike, check for light at idle, it will most likely be fairly dim, so check closely. Raise your RPM's to 3000 or so. Bulb should brighten.

If everything goes according to plan, then the reg/rec can be eliminated as a problem.

Next, we need to isolate the stator and rotor, this is done by disconnecting the stator leads from their connections near the starter, don't try to do this at the regulator.
We haven't yet eliminated the bullet connectors and wires going to the reg/rec, so leave them out of it at this point.

Now do your alternator pairs measurement, ab, ac, bc. For example, hook the meter to two of the leads, tape the third, make sure you have good connections
that are not touching anything else but your meter leads. You'll be measuring AC voltage @ idle and go for 3000RPM's. Record both these numbers.

Now do the same thing across the other two pairs. Don't re-connect them yet, we're still not finished down there.

Ok of course I'm reading the last post now after returning from my troubleshooting.Anyway here are my results.
My sealed beam had only two terminals so Black on one and Red on the other from the 3phase Sparx unit.
Bulb was bright at idle but went dim as revs increased.Here is the Vid.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=7HIvbSECIDU[/video]

Here is my phase to phase test .Starting at idle and then revving the engine.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeUwv3vTAkI&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

Bulb was bright at idle but went dim as revs increased.

Click to expand...

Obviously, that is not good. Make yourself some jumper wires, attach the yellow wires directly to the stator leads.
Do the headlight test once again. This way the assimulator will no longer be in the circuit.

Here is my phase to phase test. Starting at idle and then revving the engine.

Click to expand...

Your numbers at idle are pretty low, should be about 18VAC.

Are these measurements basically the same across all three pairs?

It appears that you took these measurements directly from the stator leads. Correct?

Hook the headlight across all three alternator leads, one pair at a time. Observations?

Hook the headlight to one lead at a time, use the other wire from the headlight and attach to a good ground. Observations?

Measure stator resistance, across all three pairs. Do not use your fingers to hold the connections. Use alligator clips, or tape if needed. Record your findings.

Have you downloaded and read this yet?
http://www.box.net/shared/dp8x1egas8c2qvxszck0

Obviously, that is not good. Make yourself some jumper wires, attach the yellow wires directly to the stator leads.
Do the headlight test once again. This way the assimulator will no longer be in the circuit.

Click to expand...

The yellow wires were attached directly to the Stator leads and the asimulator was not connected during the test.

Your numbers at idle are pretty low, should be about 18VAC

Click to expand...

This cant be good

Are these measurements basically the same across all three pairs?

Click to expand...

Much the same. One volt difference across one pair but the other two are the same.

It appears that you took these measurements directly from the stator leads. Correct?

Click to expand...

Yes

Hook the headlight across all three alternator leads, one pair at a time. Observations?
Hook the headlight to one lead at a time, use the other wire from the headlight and attach to a good ground. Observations?
Measure stator resistance, across all three pairs. Do not use your fingers to hold the connections. Use alligator clips, or tape if needed. Record your findings.

Click to expand...

Still to do.

Before I drive people crazy let me state that this rotor,stator and reg/ref were not a brand new out of the box but a used set that I traded.The PO said it came from a bike that was totaled.The price was right (free) but maybe now maybe not so much.

I thought I'd tag onto this old thread.

How did this resolve? Bad regulator/rectifier?? I am having the same problem. The headlight bulb from the podtronic to the battery
gets brighter then dims out at higher rpms. I am thinking the podtronic is bad.

I don't have a resistor to test the alternator correctly, or an oscilloscope to test the pod.

Easiest way is to check battery voltage with RPM. If your battery is around 12.5V with no input, running the bike should result in even less voltage on the battery until you get around 3K rpm, and then the voltage should start increasing to maybe about 14-15V at 4K or more. This all depends on your charging circuit, a new stator may work better than described. If you're getting lower voltage with increasing rpm, either the stator or pod is defective. You can measure the AC volts coming out of the stator, but without a load on it, it may be deceiving.

Dave
69S

One ohm resistors are easy to find on the internet at a reasonable price. I bought one a few years ago for about 25 bucks. Be sure to get one that will handle at least 150 watts or it will generate a lot of heat. Then just follow the test procedure in the service manual for both the alternator and the rectifier. IMHO this gives the most accurate picture as you are testing right at the source at a standard load. I was ready to buy a new alternator for my Triumph until I bought the resistor and did the test. Found out it was the rectifier. Twenty five bucks versus 200 not a bad investment.

htown16 said:

One ohm resistors are easy to find on the internet at a reasonable price.

Click to expand...

If you happen to have a link for one I'd appreciate it..... all google comes up with are 150 ohm 1 watt resistors... :x

I think I am just going to go ahead and buy another podtronic for 60 bucks or so and hope that it isn't the stator.

I searched eBay for 1 ohm power resistor and came up with a few that would serve the purpose. Here's one -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100W-Power-...884?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a78159e5c

Solder wires to it, screw it to a metal heatsink or dunk it in ice water while doing the test.

Hong Kong huh......... well maybe I'll order one to have around and hope they don't put it on a slow boat :lol:

Thanks for the help.

Here's where I bought mine from, Surplus Sales of Nebraska
http://www.surplussales.com/Resistors/W ... W05-1.html
I believe the part number I bought was RWF 18-104-1R, 22 bucks
that one is rated to 240 watts, as long as it is over 150 it really doesn't matter.
I made a small wooden stand to mount it on.
Here's a post on how to do the tests
http://www.triumphrat.net/vintage-techn ... ost2270460
I connect a set of jumper cables to two eyebolts to power my timing light.

Really nice way to do it right by the book. Surplus Sales is a great place and I get a lot of old boatanchor ham radio parts from them.

I have some lighter duty (25W) - 2 x 2 Ohms in parallel - and it works fine hanging them in a bucket of water. The test doesn't take that long anyway. I think the headlight on method works just as well unless you need exact numbers.

The headlight on method is a great way to troubleshoot if the entire charging system is doing its job. If it is no worries. But if it isn't and you are trying to decide which components to replace, a little more specific info helps. If you are running EI having the charging system optimized is going to head off a lot of problems.