- Joined
- Sep 26, 2007
- Messages
- 293
Some time back ( a year or so), I took off my primary cover to see why my Sparx 3-phase alternator was not putting out enough juice to charge the battery.
Here's what I found:
The outer insulator had gone hard and brittle, exposing the insulators for the 3 wires, which in turn had also hardened and cracked. The stator was part of the Sparx 3-phase kit, which was only a couple of years old, and the supplier provided a replacement stator at no cost (Kudos to Rocky Point Cycle!). I replaced the regulator/rectifier unit as well, but don't remember if that was before or after the stator wire issue.
The section of the stator wire inside the primary (I have a chain, so it gets oiled) was the only part that had hardened and cracked. The portion outside the primary case was still soft and supple, as new.
I just pulled the primary cover off again a couple of days ago to deal with something else, and the (newish) stator wire inside the primary is also hard and brittle. As a matter of fact, the outside insulator cracked as I moved the stator from its mountings.
I'm guessing the makeup of this insulator is the problem - in that it reacts to oil (20W50 motor oil, per spec).
Anybody else have this experience? Can't be just me - especially twice in a row???
And no, I didn't have the wire pulled tight from outside the primary, thereby putting pressure on it. The wire was plenty long to reach its destination, and I had cable tied it after exiting the inner primary, leaving some slack.
Anybody else with this problem - and suggestions at this point? (I thought about applying heat shrink insulator over the top to help prevent further damage, but haven't done it yet.
Here's what I found:
The outer insulator had gone hard and brittle, exposing the insulators for the 3 wires, which in turn had also hardened and cracked. The stator was part of the Sparx 3-phase kit, which was only a couple of years old, and the supplier provided a replacement stator at no cost (Kudos to Rocky Point Cycle!). I replaced the regulator/rectifier unit as well, but don't remember if that was before or after the stator wire issue.
The section of the stator wire inside the primary (I have a chain, so it gets oiled) was the only part that had hardened and cracked. The portion outside the primary case was still soft and supple, as new.
I just pulled the primary cover off again a couple of days ago to deal with something else, and the (newish) stator wire inside the primary is also hard and brittle. As a matter of fact, the outside insulator cracked as I moved the stator from its mountings.
I'm guessing the makeup of this insulator is the problem - in that it reacts to oil (20W50 motor oil, per spec).
Anybody else have this experience? Can't be just me - especially twice in a row???
And no, I didn't have the wire pulled tight from outside the primary, thereby putting pressure on it. The wire was plenty long to reach its destination, and I had cable tied it after exiting the inner primary, leaving some slack.
Anybody else with this problem - and suggestions at this point? (I thought about applying heat shrink insulator over the top to help prevent further damage, but haven't done it yet.
