SPARX STATOR REPAIR

The Buckeye Rider · Jan 18, 2016

SPARX STATOR REPAIR
During disassembly on the way to fixing something else I noticed the wires to my 3 phase sparx stator had the insulation cracked and peeled away at just the point they stick out of the stator. With the condition the wires were in I was surprised that there was any charging going on at all.

So the question is: How far into the epoxy(?) can I dig to get enough access to the wires to solder new wires onto the old?
Does any one have an idea in which direction the wires go and how deep before I start excavating.

I've got the transmission spread out on the table for another problem, and last year was the catastrophic engine failure so I'm trying to save $200US and repair the stator before it leaves me stranded.
Ride On
Dave

comnoz · Jan 18, 2016

The Buckeye Rider said:
SPARX STATOR REPAIR
During disassembly on the way to fixing something else I noticed the wires to my 3 phase sparx stator had the insulation cracked and peeled away at just the point they stick out of the stator. With the condition the wires were in I was surprised that there was any charging going on at all.

So the question is: How far into the epoxy(?) can I dig to get enough access to the wires to solder new wires onto the old?
Does any one have an idea in which direction the wires go and how deep before I start excavating.

I've got the transmission spread out on the table for another problem, and last year was the catastrophic engine failure so I'm trying to save $200US and repair the stator before it leaves me stranded.
Ride On
Dave

The wires go through a hole in the laminated core and are connected to the coils on the backside. I have dug them out all the way to the backside and coupled new teflon wires to the windings and re-potted them.
The last one I did was about 16 years ago and it is still in service, and the wires still look like new.

mschmitz57 · Jan 19, 2016

Just my $.02 but I wouldn't splice the cable near the front surface. You'd end up with a stiff soldered splice that would probably fail from vibration or become resistive over time.
If you want to repair it I agree with comnoz and run a new cable from the back side.
Seems like a lot of work to save 100 bucks though...

comnoz · Jan 19, 2016

mschmitz57 said:
Just my $.02 but I wouldn't splice the cable near the front surface. You'd end up with a stiff soldered splice that would probably fail from vibration or become resistive over time.
If you want to repair it I agree with comnoz and run a new cable from the back side.
Seems like a lot of work to save 100 bucks though...

With the cheesy factory wires that would be $100 every few years.
I could have been watching the boob-toob instead...

mschmitz57 · Jan 19, 2016

"Seems like a lot of work to save 100 bucks though..."

...said the guy who spent most of the weekend fixing an old Philco tube radio he bought at the hamfest for 5 bucks.
Yeah, that sounded ridiculous in my head as soon as I hit <cr>.
Point taken.

Nater_Potater · Jan 19, 2016

mschmitz57 said:
"Seems like a lot of work to save 100 bucks though..."

...said the guy who spent most of the weekend fixing an old Philco tube radio he bought at the hamfest for 5 bucks.

Why do we do that to ourselves? The sane person would buy a brand new bike that would be covered under warranty, and get on with life. But, then, we'd probably all be fat and lazy from sitting in from of the boob-tube, swilling beer. I'd much rather be in the shed with the old girl, twirling wrenches. 'Keeps me off the streets...

Reggie · Jan 19, 2016

Slightly off topic, I have two three phase stators that are less than four years old and on both the outer wire covering of the wires has split/cracked. They are made by "Lucas" whatever that doesn't mean. I find it very disappointing that they saved 0.03 pence (probably) on each of my stators and put the cheapest plastic sleeve on the wires that they could find, that doesn't stand up to heat cycles. I have just spent half an hour fixing this today. :x

mschmitz57 · Jan 19, 2016

I bet it's the hot oil that makes the insulation brittle.

MikeG · Jan 19, 2016

Best way I found to repair my Sparx stator after it let me down 500 miles from home, at night, in the rain, was to replace it with a single phase Lucas. Same scenario, wires broke right where they exited the unit. A total POS IMHO.

comnoz · Jan 19, 2016

mschmitz57 said:
I bet it's the hot oil that makes the insulation brittle.

I am sure your right.

And since the application involves hot oil I do not understand why they don't make them with hot-oil-proof wires.... Kinda like making a boat out of paper mache.

Danno · Jan 19, 2016

Nater_Potater said:
mschmitz57 said:

"Seems like a lot of work to save 100 bucks though..."

...said the guy who spent most of the weekend fixing an old Philco tube radio he bought at the hamfest for 5 bucks.

Click to expand...

Why do we do that to ourselves? The sane person would buy a brand new bike that would be covered under warranty, and get on with life. But, then, we'd probably all be fat and lazy from sitting in from of the boob-tube, swilling beer. I'd much rather be in the shed with the old girl, twirling wrenches. 'Keeps me off the streets...

In more ways than one..... :lol:

ashman · Jan 19, 2016

The wires on my Lucas stator broke where it goes into the stator, I just dug out the expoxy so I had enough wire to solder 2 new wires on it then mixed up some expoxy for where I dug out the old expoxy, I did this well over 15 years ago now and is still in use today, the wire coating goes brittle from heat over time but since doing this the wiring is still good, this is the second stator in 40 years of ownership, the orginal one burned right out and was unrepairable but that was over 25 years ago, but now having the Joe Hunt maggie having my charging system fail I still can ride my bike as I run no battery at all, just run my lights etc from my altenator with a battery eliminator direct to my wiring.

Ashley

The Buckeye Rider · Jan 25, 2016

[[/quote]

The wires go through a hole in the laminated core and are connected to the coils on the backside. I have dug them out all the way to the backside and coupled new teflon wires to the windings and re-potted them.
The last one I did was about 16 years ago and it is still in service, and the wires still look like new.[/quote]

So after you repaired the wires what did you use to "re-pot" them with?
I have a rather large excavated site that needs to be backfilled.

Ride On
Dave

dynodave · Jan 26, 2016

After washing thoroughly with a solvent to remove the oil and then air blow dry. I've done several after using very high quality "E'" rated teflon coated wire with crimped bullets and added a silicone/glass jacket. I have used "bondo" ie polyester body filler to close up the operation site. Never had a problem. much better than the original PVC wires and jacket. :mrgreen:

comnoz · Jan 26, 2016

The Buckeye Rider said:
[

The wires go through a hole in the laminated core and are connected to the coils on the backside. I have dug them out all the way to the backside and coupled new teflon wires to the windings and re-potted them.
The last one I did was about 16 years ago and it is still in service, and the wires still look like new.[/quote]

So after you repaired the wires what did you use to "re-pot" them with?
I have a rather large excavated site that needs to be backfilled.

Ride On
Dave[/quote]

I re-potted them with clear boat epoxy. Jim

Danno · Mar 1, 2017

I've had 2 electric shops tell me they couldn't do this, so it's time to learn a new trick, I guess. Mine is OE Lucas, but that shouldn't make any difference.

gripper · Mar 3, 2017

Spooky timing as I too can see the copper glint through cracked insulation on my 3 phase Lucas stator. Trying to track down teflon coated wire locally is like searching for the holy grail. Can anybody give me a clue as to no of strands and diameter of strands to make a satisfactory repair?

Deets55 · Mar 3, 2017

I always use marine grade wire. The covering is oil/gas resistant and it has finer tinned strands. I would guess 18 gauge should be fine to use.

Nater_Potater · Mar 3, 2017

I've never measured the wire diameter on a stock stator, but, when rated at 180W at 12 volts, you could potentially see 15 amps. That "should" require the use a #14 wire gauge. Looking at the specs for THWN (clear nylon/polyimide outer jacket), they read "... not to exceed 75°C/167°F when exposed to oil or coolant." I'm sure the primary gets a far piece hotter than that. Finding Teflon-jacketed fine-strand wire has proven to be a bit of a struggle for me, but that would seem to be the way to go.

gripper · Mar 3, 2017

The standard wire coming out of a Lucas 3 phase stator is 14 strands of 0.28mm (that's about 0.012"). I've dug down to level with the steel plates, can I go deeper?

SPARX STATOR REPAIR

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