Hey Gang,

been a while since I have been around. Lots going on in my life. And I finally solved the issue of burnt out coils. Having gone thru 7 of the damned things and two rotors. the dealer and Honda were of no help...they just replaced parts until the warrenty expired. and still it was not fixed. after many hours reading everything I could on this problem which is apparently world wide, but not with all bikes. Everyone has tried using stock parts to fix the problem...several guys have even tried rewinding the stator coil itself. Seems in japan they issued a new rotor with fewer magnets. And none of these really solved the problem. What is happening is to much energy is being generated in to small a space with nowhere for the heat to go. If you look at the alternator on your car or truck.....the case is like swiss cheese with venting and even a large fan. This will keep the coil cool. but with our bike...its inside the engine case bathed in hot oil, not good. So what I did was moved the rotor and stator coil OUTSIDE the engine case. I did this by fabricating a short stub shaft for the crank and an intermediate seal plate. not alot of room to work as I did not want to extend the thing much wider than the stock set up. Found a double lip seal for a 1.125" shaft that is rated at 3800 surface feet per minute. Which is good for 12,867 rpm sustained. Modified Woodcrafts stator cover by simply boring 12 1/2" inch holes around the perimeter and JB welding small stainless steel screen on the inside. and with all this...I gained only .480" in width, still inside the range of my frame sliders. Parts are out to the anodizers right now. will have a full photo spread when all is back and installed.

 

finished all ther machine work....did not bother sending it out for anodizing. assembled it...and viola. It works. bike runs amazingly cooler....after a decent ride , using an infared thermometer thru the cooling vents..the temp was never higher than 200. At work the other day an engineer from one of our venders came by. he designs Electric motors, told him my situation and what I did. he said that definately solve the issue. he said the 2 causes of failure for any coil be it motor...magnetic coil...stator chargin coil...etc, is vibration and heat....period. I am mocking up a cooling scoop out of modeling clay to make a mold so I can make a carbon scoop. would have photos already but not being able to ride her for over 3 months...I kinda wanna ride...and my relatively new GF loves being back on a bike after 20 years. So we have been enjoying the cool Socal autumn and riding everywhere. stay tuned Batfans...I witth pull it apart and take some photos of it.

 

Congrads on creating a fix for your stator issue. Its too bad you had to go so far to get a fix. I thought Honda and all their great minds should have been able to figure that one out for you instead of just throwing parts at it. Good to hear you are riding again.
Maybe put a small drain hole at the bottom so you can pick up on a leaky seal early...

 

no need...the seal is a high speed double lip seal rated at 3800 surface feet per minute.....with a 1.125" shaft thats good for almost 14,000 rpm sustained.

and the overall appearance looks great......only gained .480" in width. will get around to anodizing it and adding the carbon air duct. guys at the deallership were blown away. so I am quite happy. been told I should produce them. looking into creating programs to mass produce them. the extention shaft would take 2 minutes on one of our production lathes in one operation...and the seal plate in less than 5 minutes in 2 operations on a vertical mill.

the stator cover is a woodcraft modified

 

Pics please.
You will have to forgive me for asking a couple of questions... With a dozen 1/2 inch holes in the cover what prevents moisture from entering, and if it does enter what have you done to prevent the components from rusting?
In the stock configuration those components are bathed in oil...including the shaft.

 

that sucks when you get ranked around and nothing gets fixed. What bike do you have? Im assuming 04-05 1000RR?

I have an 05 1000RR and still on the original stator at 18,000 miles. of course, the summer days here are probably the same as your winter days there.

I am curious though, how do you know the problem is fixed if you just completed the install?

I was under the impression that failure was due to heat was within the winding itself, as in there wasn't a sufficient amount of wire and the wire itself was overheating causing the failure. Since it is bathed in oil by design, the oil acts as a cooling agent, not as a heating agent, so Im also curious how removing that aspect will affect its operation at a cruising rpm.

I give you props though. not too many proactive people out there that will tackle something like this. But it is nice having access to the proper equipment too... I hope you post pics soon.

 

moisture is of really little concern I am in So cal...and seldom ride in the rain...but look at automotive alternators..they are all open caged cases....and ducati has had open clutches for decades.

correct the heat is generated in the coil itself...and being inside the engine bathed in scaulding oil..that heat has nowhere to go. I gave it some where to go..."OUT". as I stated using an infared thermometer it does not exceed 200 degrees thru the vent holes. also stated in talking with an electrical engineer that specializes in DC motors.....the coating used is good for 240 degrees C. if it is melting....the oil...and everything inside that case is approaching 400 degrees......my oil was always burnt carmel. being able to see the coil thru the vent holkes it is easy to see any discoloration that might start( am using a coil from regulators/recifiers.com which is blue....that would turn brown should it over heat. plus a carbon scoop is being fabricated for extra forced cooling whilke in motion. I rigged up a make shift scoop and used a shop vac as a blower to test it...the temp dropped rapidly right after a decent length ride. with all this sdaid..I am very confident I solved it....

in thoery the oil was supposed to cool it...but in practice a huge percentage world wide ...as I researched. have this issue. think about it..the oil is suppoosed the lube the engine...partially cool the engine....lube and cool the wet clutch..AND cool the stator???....a rather large task......even using royal purple M/C oil did not suffice.

also..I ride it everyday to work...and very lengthy rides on weekends.

BTW...it is an 07 and went thru 7 coils and 2 rotors...all replaced by honda except one coil that I got after market to see if their coils were just garbage

 

My father and I ran an alternator shop. We used an insulating spray where corrosion was a concern. Let us know how your fix holds up.

 

with this set up..pulling the stator to check thing is easy. no more oil pouring out if you pull the stator.....and a light coat of corfilm or even high temp paint on the rotor and coil would solve that if it would become a problem. will keep all posted on how it goes.

was going to pull it apart and photograph it today...but layed around and watched football all day.....and my GF colored my hair....ya know...priorities.

 

I hope you post pics soon. Im very interested in seeing exactly what was done. your description is great, but actually seeing it would be better.

This kind of thing always intersted me as I worked in Research and Development for many years, and before that, I was a Test Engineer, all for an automotive supplier. Although, I was always on the mechanical side of things, so the electrical aspect is foreign to me. But very interesting.

All in all, it sounds like you went to great extents and I hope it fixes your issue.