Topic: Not Charging CB550K [Problem Solved!] [Problem Broken Again!]

[campbmic]

Ya I bolted everything nicely back together. I jumped the alternator twice.

First time-
Ran a direct line from the battery + terminal to the white wire going into the alternator

Second time-
Ran the direct line into the white wire and also ran a direct line from the - terminal to the green wire going to the alternator

After each jump I was losing about .01 volts every 15 seconds or so. Man, I really wish I could figure this out! I just got my pods and fender and have a bunch of other stuff to do as well =/

[scottly]

First time, proper test.
Second time, depends where you connected the green. Disconnect the grn bullet connector down by the sprocket cover and jump to the green wire going into the alt.   

[scottly]

whoa, jump the green wire at the alt bullet to engine ground!!

[campbmic]

so your saying disconnect the green wire from the alternator and jump it directly to the ground?

[scottly]

actually, it may be best to jump the green wire from the alt to the negative post of the battery, and the white bullet from the alt (down near the sprocket) directly to the positive post of the battery.

[campbmic]

Thats what I did previously, that was the second jump test that I did. It didn't seem to help any.

[scottly]

you jumped both the green and wht wires from the disconnected bullets by the sprocket cover to the + & 1- batt posts?

[scottly]

(Biting fingernails waiting for answer to last question.....)

[scottly]

Ok, assuming the answer was yes, follow the harness the alt bullets plug into. About a foot and 1/2 from the end, there should be a plug, about 1/2 inch by 2 inches. Unplug it and inspect the connections inside.
PS, please have the courtesy to let me know when you are going to bail in the middle of a trouble-shooting session, so I don't waste my time waiting for an answer to a yes or no question.

[campbmic]

Sorry, intense game of super smash brother, it is friday night after all.   

Yes I jumped both the ground and power for the alternator directly from the battery. The charging is still about the same. The wiring harness seems fine to me. I wish someone could tell me how many AC volts I should have running to my rectifier.

[scottly]

Ha!
I'm thinking the problem is in that plug. The reason I can't tell you the AC volts is because I don't know unless I measure it myself, and can tell you exactly how I did it, and, frankly, I never had to. You are complicating things, like when you asked why you had volts on the grn wire. Please, from now on, do what I ask you to do, period. Once again, you are my hands, eyes, and ears.
Getting back to the plug: I read once where something like 99% of wiring problems were in the connectors. If I were you, I would plug, unplug that 1/2 by 2 inch plug a few times, so as to "wipe" the corrosion off where the inner male connectors meet the female connectors, restore all wiring to normal, and test for charging.
And I'm bailing for the night.
PS This problem has been a total #$%*: it's had me scratching my head, and I've been doing this stuff for years...
Scott

[campbmic]

When you say plug do you mean the large white wiring block that plugs the alternator wires into the electrical area on the left of the bike? If I pull these wires out and just directly wire them how can I get them back into their white block?

[NickC]

On the male side of the plug there is a small tab you press down, and remove the wire from the backside.

[scottly]

No! The white block is TWO parts of a plug:,one end is attached to the harness from the alt, and the other side is attached to the main harness. This type of plug usually has some type of locking tabs that have to be depressed before they can be unplugged. If need be, I will try to post a pic. Those locks can really be a bear to release while trying to separate the plug at the same time!!!!

[scottly]

(sent the last before reading your post, nick  )

[campbmic]

Yea, I've disconnected those several times and reattached them. I thought you meant actually taking the wires out of the two plugs.

[NickC]

Yea, I've disconnected those several times and reattached them. I thought you meant actually taking the wires out of the two plugs.

I am talking about that. If you look on the inside of the male plug, you'll see each wire/terminal has a small tang on one side of it. Use something small and thing to press that down, then pull the wire out of the connector. I used a dremel with a cleaning attachment that buzzed them clean with the quickness

[scottly]

Your stator is bad 

[campbmic]

How do you know that the stator is bad?

[scottly]

I went back over previous test results. Also, the noise you reported.

[scottly]

Hey, I have to bail for now.
Scott

[campbmic]

Ok, and by stator do you mean the stator coil? The one with the criss-crossing brass wires? I tested it and it was within honda spec?

[campbmic]

By the way I just directly connected my stator coil with my rectifier (not using any of the block connectors. And directly connected my rectifier to the battery and still nothing =/

[scottly]

Waaay back, when you were trying to test the stator with your new digital meter, you got some discrepancies in your readings, which I attributed to your inexperience measuring very low resistances. You got a variance of .3 ohms just shorting the meter leads together, so add that error to try to measure .3 ohms, and you get a 100% variance, not 10%. Also, coils generally fail 3 different ways: they go open (infinite resistance), short to ground, or have internal coils short to each other, reducing the already low resistance, which is hard enough to measure.
As far as the noise: the assembly is dipped in varnish. This varnish glues the windings in place, so they can't vibrate when exposed to the varying magnetic field. I suspect this varnish has failed, allowing the coils to vibrate causing the noise.     

[scottly]

Hey, just had a thought: take your stator to an electric motor repair shop and have them check your stator with a Wheatstone bridge, the PROPER tool for measuring such low resistances!!!!