Visually inspecting a stator?
 

Hey guys. Just signed up today - found some great information on here to troubleshoot my first bike - 98 cbr f3. Been having some issues with the charging system, and I'm pretty sure its the stator. I found that the voltage coming from the stator was not what I think the recommended 25v AC - rather a high 11 or 12v. I got it out, but don't know what I'm looking at (if it 'looks' bad).

Thoughts?

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Hi and welcome to the CBRF!

The stator looks o.k. from what I can see in your pics. But if you aren't getting the voltage out of it that you should then either it's bad or the magnet got somewhat demagnetized ... not very likely. Usually when the stator goes you'll see where it burned out and it will have a really bad burned wire smell to it.

Honda's are usually bullet proof with the exception of the electrical charging system. I always recommend aftermarket stator and regulator/rectifier.

Thanks for the welcome! So you don't think its bad - or are you saying it could be bad and not look like it? (jesus, newb question). Its entirely possible that I teched it out wrong, but I didn't think I did.

Wished I'd taken a pic of my old burned up stator -- that one was painfully obvious that there'd been some fire in that bad boy. But the regulator was bad also and was what caused the stator to go bad.

I don't know the specs of your particular bike but if you have a manual it should tell you what the stator windings ohm out at. I'd also check the regulator to make sure it isn't shot.

Just because there isn't a big burned out spot doesn't mean the stator is 100% ... there could be a break somewhere in the middle that you'd need an x-ray to find :icon_shrug: If it doesn't look bad (and it really does look o.k.) then comparing your readings to the specs in the manual is the only way to verify if it's good or bad.

Good luck and never mind the newb questions. How else will you find out anything? Trial and error is very expensive. So if you're like me you'll keep asking those questions to save a buck and learn something new :D

I did the diode test for the regulator by:

"With your meter set to read resistance (use a diode test if the your multi-meter has one), test from each pin of the three pin plug, to both the red & black wired pins of the 4-pin plug; NONE of these should read short circuit (zero resistance); depending which way you bias the test leads, you may get some reading (from the forward bias of the component) but it must absolutely not be a short. If you see a short on any of these readings the R/R is defective"

and didn't get any short. The battery is new and fully charged, but after riding around the bike dies. After the stator test:

"Check the AC voltage output from the stator with engine running:
Leave stator disconnected from the R/R and start the engines.
With meter set to read AC Volts check
1-2
2-3
3-1
All three should be the same value – any significant difference of one reading will indicate a bad phase and the stator is probably defective.
At idle this should be ~ 25V and rise to ~ 70V at 5K rpm. I almost hesitate to use absolute numbers here as this can be different between models and test equipment."

I actually got "bad" results (all consistant, but under 25v). Hmm... maybe an insurance fire :icon_hyper:

Did you check voltage at 5K rpms also? If so, what kinda numbers did ya get?

I *think* it was around 40 - 50v....I had so many numbers in my head while looking at 30 pages of "how to" test the system, I remember it being not what the paper said

"At idle this should be ~ 25V and rise to ~ 70V at 5K rpm."

I almost am confident enough to shop around wherever you buy stators and see if it works, if it doesn't than just ebay/craigslist the damn thing :)

Hmmmm, the stator looks to be in usable condition from your photos and the only real way to test a stator is to throw it in a lake and buy a new one, just kidding.

Honda stators just don't die on their own!

I would bet money the reason the bike is not charging is due to a fried quick connector on your wiring harness at the recticfier / voltage regulator because you did not mention the quick connector from the stator being burnt or fried.

Or the Voltage R/R has bit the dust.

Old Honda's are known to fry charging systems due to corrosion at the wiring harness quick connectors, usually at the stators connection to the wiring harness.

With all due respect to the forums administrator, instead of purchasing a new stator at this time, re-install your old stator, clean up and inspect the wiring harness connections at the stator, battery and voltage R/R and use die electric grease on all electrical connections at assembly.

Charge the battery and start the bike, using a multi meter a properly functioning charging system should pump out in the area of 13-14 volts at idle across the battery terminals.

If the bike is not charging or low charging 5-7 v, check the Voltage R/R for signs of over heating, like being melted right in the middle of the unit, if so buy a new one on ebay for $70 bucks.

Good Luck!

SIRR1

These connecters over time repeatedly get wet and dry then wet, then rust, corrode over, and heat up then fail costing the owner pain and sadness...

Good advice regarding the connector. And no disrespect taken cause I never recommended buying anything new unless testing showed it to be defective. If the stator or r/r is bad then I do recommend changing both with aftermarket stuff. My old '04 1kRR's r/r shorted and caused the stator to actually burn inside the housing. Ugly and stinky mess. Have known a couple of peeps with VFRs (late model) that have also had charging issues so this is Honda's Achilles heel :icon_shrug:

I just went down and inspected both the wiring harness that connects the stator to the r/r, and the wiring harness that goes directly into the r/r. Both looked okay. The r/r doesn't look burned either. I also did a continutiy check between the wiring harness of the r/r and the wiring harness where the r/r meets the stator - everything okay. The only thing I didn't check was the continity between the stator and the wiring harness -- it's hardwired into the stator itself so I'm unsure how to do that. I DID check voltage before...but weather the low reading was a cause of faulty stator or leak somewhere is yet to be determined.

From stator:
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...into the r/r connection...


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into the r/r itself... the black smudge on the middle yellow wire is just that, not a fried wire, it scrapes off (saw it after I took picture)

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Anyone want to steal a bike? I'll leave the garage unlocked :)