Is this the final stator solution?

[George R. Young]

In the mid-'90s, I had a machine shop drill the rotor bolt to allow splash feed to the stator, ala Venture
http://web.ncf.ca/ag136/bolt.jpg
The results were inconclusive, the third stator still failed after the install.

For the record, the current flowing through the stator (always at max due to the swell regulator design) heats the wires. The heat flows out into the air/oil bath. Which means the temperature of the wires rises until they're hotter than the oil.

[zore]

I was gonna make a wise crack about Colorado and stators then it hit me that it ACTUALLY might be something with Colorado....the altitude!  At a higher altitude, wouldnt the oil tend to thin out and not bathe the stator as effectively as at sea level or just above?  Could it be that the oil is boiling in the stator compartment and not effectively cooling the stators?

Just a thought.

David

I can't see why?  As a side note, I've been using 5w40 in my bike for the last 2 years.  Diesel synthetic.  I believe stators croaking has everything to do with some electrical issue and not a hot or thin oil issue.  Bad ground, bad connection, who knows. 

[motoracer8]

As I have said in prior posts, I have a euro headlamp switch on my Vision, I don't run the headlamp during the day, California is not a headlamp on state except in certin areas. I have 38,000 miles on a new oe Yamaha stator, and regulator,I replaced them both at the same time, the original failed shortly after I got the bike running. I heard all the arguments about the generator making the same amount curent no matter what lights on or off. Let me say this, with the engine idleing at 1200 to 1300 rpm when the lights are turned on the idle will drop about 150 rpm, the lights do put more of a load on the generator. I know many think it's a safety issue no arguement there, but in other countrys where headlamp switches were common the probblem with generator stators were much less of a probblem. I have 48,000 miles on my Vision and 38,000 miles, and 21 years on the same stator and regulator, it may fail tomorow who knows. I brought it home in three boxes in 1985 other than the orignal stator failure when I first got it running it has always started and been stone reliable. I have had to deal with carburettor, and water pump issues as others on this site have, but it has never left me stranded.

  Ken G.

[YellowJacket!]

Next theory then....for those who frequently burn stators, what wattage bulb are you using in your headlight?

David

[h2olawyer]

I have a 60 / 55 watt SilverStar headlight - on all the time.  Also have 2 55w auxilliary lamps that I'm going to bet some 35w bulbs for as they are only for safety - not night riding, which I do very little of.

H₂O

[zore]

As I have said in prior posts, I have a euro headlamp switch on my Vision, I don't run the headlamp during the day, California is not a headlamp on state except in certin areas. I have 38,000 miles on a new oe Yamaha stator, and regulator,I replaced them both at the same time, the original failed shortly after I got the bike running. I heard all the arguments about the generator making the same amount curent no matter what lights on or off. Let me say this, with the engine idleing at 1200 to 1300 rpm when the lights are turned on the idle will drop about 150 rpm, the lights do put more of a load on the generator. I know many think it's a safety issue no arguement there, but in other countrys where headlamp switches were common the probblem with generator stators were much less of a probblem. I have 48,000 miles on my Vision and 38,000 miles, and 21 years on the same stator and regulator, it may fail tomorow who knows. I brought it home in three boxes in 1985 other than the orignal stator failure when I first got it running it has always started and been stone reliable. I have had to deal with carburettor, and water pump issues as others on this site have, but it has never left me stranded.

  Ken G.

I run the light on and heated grips and heated vest for a decent part of the year.   I did not install these things until after I installed the new stator.  That was 16000 miles ago.

[Rick G]

I put  new stator in, in 2003. I have been running a 100/130 watt headlight bulb (on all the time) since 2002.  I've covered about 20,000 miles . So far so good . The stator was dark brown the last time I looked.

[motoracer8]

I do believe the later replacement OE stators that Yamaha sells have a higher temp insulation on the wire, and a better epoxy covering the coils. I have replaced stators on two Viragos, and one Vision of the same vintage, same stator different pig tail, all are still in service.

  Ken G.

[Walt_M.]

Ken, I believe you are 100% correct about the better insulation on the new OE stator. Your experience and that of Paul Jungnich(sorry about the spelling) will bear this out. Paul put something like 80,000 Km on his replacement OEM stator when his engine blew. They aren't cheap but they are probably worth it. The headlight on/off is not an issue. 

[Night Vision]

Jason has over 25k miles on his original stator.... Kenny, even more than 80kkm..... why have their original stators lasted so well, while others have crapped out much earlier?

Just talked to my brother tonite and it sounds like he got around 9k out of his electrosport replacement.... twice as much as I got out of my electrosport and about the same as my used Virago stator.

maybe we'll try a Parrot in his this time.... definately going to check to see if Cometic still has the gasket available, because it looks like just a matter of time/mileage...

I don't think he wants to spend the (now) $450 for an OEM stator

[zore]

My electrosport has out lasted my oem.  Almost double the mileage so far.

[Rick G]

My 2003 eletrex stator is in storage awaiting a call to duty . the stator I'm using came from the Vision racer  and I believe it was a OEM , stator , probably installed in the late 90's.

[auto]

My original stator burned out pretty fast,under 10k miles.I'm just about ready to turn 40k on 2nd stator.I pulled out my thermostate and always ran my oil level on the high side.It does run on the cool side,but doesn't seem to effect the performance.

[Shop Rat]

you could also install my oil cooler, detailed instructions are on my DVD. Knock wood, i haven't experienced a stator failure since installing it... 

--Lucky

Geez, you guys are startin' to scare me with all this failure talk.  :o

I like the oil cooler idea. I had aftermarket coolers on my air-cooled 4's and the one I ride now had a cooler as OE. None of those bikes ever fried a stator.  So that settles it for me. The Vision gets an oil cooler.

Frank

[Rick G]

Like I said, give me a stator change out , instead of a crank shaft replacement any day!

[GT @ oh.]

I know engines are suppose to run at a certain temp. .......but I liked the idea of being able to turn the fan on/off switch...... I know some have done this ....any good? .....will this help draw heat from the stator by drawing power also?

[Superfly]

The stators I have observed  have the epoxy crumbled and bubbled .Its hard for me to believe that hot oil alone could do that.  There has to be an overload somewhere to cause it . so the question is do they short to ground and get hot or do they get hot and short to ground??

I 100% agree with this statement. 

I do not believe that the temp of the oil, plus the temp of the the current going thru the stator wires would not be enough to break down the epoxy and turn it into a charred mess.  When my stators fried, it looked alot more like it was an electrical failure than the stator being cooked by heat alone.  On my Vision(s) I always ran an addtional ground wire (heavy gage) from the RR ground directly to the battery, because we know that the RR uses a ground to dump the excess voltage from the system.  Before I parked the Vision (spun con-rod berring..) I was well over 10k on my stator, and it showed no signs of failure.  I would be curious to see if the Visions that burn up the most stators would add the additional ground wire and see if there is a difference in the life of the stators.

[joevacc]

The stators I have observed  have the epoxy crumbled and bubbled .Its hard for me to believe that hot oil alone could do that.  There has to be an overload somewhere to cause it . so the question is do they short to ground and get hot or do they get hot and short to ground??

I 100% agree with this statement. 

I do not believe that the temp of the oil, plus the temp of the the current going thru the stator wires would not be enough to break down the epoxy and turn it into a charred mess.  When my stators fried, it looked alot more like it was an electrical failure than the stator being cooked by heat alone.  On my Vision(s) I always ran an addtional ground wire (heavy gage) from the RR ground directly to the battery, because we know that the RR uses a ground to dump the excess voltage from the system.  Before I parked the Vision (spun con-rod berring..) I was well over 10k on my stator, and it showed no signs of failure.  I would be curious to see if the Visions that burn up the most stators would add the additional ground wire and see if there is a difference in the life of the stators.

I have to agree here as well.  I have always thought that the oil cooler thing would not fix the problem but I had an open mind about it.  Now as time is passing I am more convinced.
Hanging around some ROVers has given me the opportunity to see several of these burnt stators first hand and my observations are the same as Rick and Superfly.

Also, Ricks earlier point that adding an oil cooler could starve the bearings hit home with me long ago - and that is the reason I have not done it.  We have plenty of them working around that I am not as scared as I was when it was first suggested.

I like the ground idea best. (it can not hurt anything)  I have about 10,000 miles on my stator now and I think I am going to try it, although it may already be too late.

Other things:
  a) I let a battery go too long! (i was bragging 6 years) right after that I lost a stator
  b) Connectors have to be cleaned regularly!!!  Let this go for a few years once and lost a stator.
I have no idea if these things played any part in those stators demise but they coincided.

I have 42,000 miles on my bike now and am on my 3rd stator.  Would like to go another 42,000 and let's say only go through two more!  ;) 8)

[h2olawyer]

I added a ground wire direct from R/R to the battery ground on my second stator replacement.  Still got 1,000 miles out of each of the next several stators I changed.  Made absolutely no difference for me.  This new one, along with the new R/R are installed just as the factory intended (with the exception of better terminals for the stator / R/R connectors).  I also silver soldered an extension to the R/R / wiring harness ground (on the wiring harness end) to get it back to the stock length & ran it back through the OEM plugs.

After installing the new stator & R/R, my V is running cooler.  I am about 85 - 90% sure my old OEM type R/Rs had some sort of failure, creating more heat in the stator, shortening their life.  It could still be a vibration issue, but I think the vibration is only a contributing factor, coming into play only after the stator has experienced too many 'overheat' cycles.  We'll see if the Electrosport R/R manages to make my stator last longer.

The last Electrosport R/R made it through 1500 miles before the regulator in it died & I was charging @ 17+ volts.  I reinstalled one of my used OEM type R/Rs and got - you guessed it - 1,000 miles before the stator died again.  At least the last stator survived 2.5 times more miles before it fried!

H₂O

[treedragon]

For what it's worth my XZ guy here is of the opinion that the reason the stators don't last is generally related to the battery condition.

Now I am paraphrasing what he said and probably will miss out some vital info but his experience of these bikes over many years is that if the battery is anything less than in optimum state ie: doesn't hold the full charge of 13.something volts the regulator is continually trying to get it to the correct voltage and so the stator ends up working flat out and consequently burns out or something like that.......  damn should have listened closer I should have  :-\

First thing he said to me when I got the bike was "Check the battery regularly or lose a stator". He normally replaces them with XV 750 units but also thinks some of the Ducati ones can be made to fit without much effort, 500w and we will try it if I lose one.