Is my Electrosport Stator Defective?

[Sam P]

11 minutes ago, docc said:

If I am reading this correctly, the odd charging light behavior started after the battery got cooked. And did not change with the new stator and regulator?

Makes me think something also got cooked in the harness/connectors - seemingly in the circuit involving the instrument panel . . .

My memory is unfortunately foggy one the chain of events, but I will try to reconstruct  them here.

After the first Odyssey showed signs of bubbling and bloating - with no alert from the charging lamp -  I  assumed to regulator was bad, and that the reg was overcharging the battery, hence the bloating. So I replaced the reg, along with my current "new" Odyssey battery.

Next, I took the bike for a ride and the battery light lit up again, so I suspected the stator - sending too many AC volts to the regulator - which I then replaced. Installed the new stator, rode for 100 miles and the charging light never lit up. Like an idiot, I thought all my problems were solved, lol. The  next ride, the lamp started to activate at 3-4K rpm, which is where we are now.

(This was the title of this post, remember? Is the stator defective?'

My memory is foggy on this, but I never recall the battery light OR the oil light EVER activating with key on, engine off.

[audiomick]

32 minutes ago, docc said:

...Rather than the "tender" approach, I have grown fond of charging ...then terminate charge and let the battery gradually discharge. Repeat when the static charge reaches...

 

27 minutes ago, docc said:

... the odd charging light behaviour...

Makes me think something also got cooked in the harness/connectors - seemingly in the circuit involving the instrument panel . . .

 

24 minutes ago, Sam P said:

Not to derail my own thread on my charging issue, but it sounds like going forward I should stop using the Battery Tender and use your protocol quoted here, amirite?

A few words on this...

Basically, I'm of the same opinion as @docc here.

Regarding batteries: modern Lithium-ion batteries are much better at not getting a "memory", living with lower charge states and what-have-you. As a sound engineer, I've spent the last 40-odd years dealing with things that run on batteries. Experience shows that it is better to regularly make sure they get charged properly, then let them cycle for a while as the manufacurer intended, then make sure they get a good charge, then let them cycle, and so on. The lead-acid variants that we find in our motorcycles belong to the category that this applies to. Cheap trickle chargers don't do the business. Docc has the right approach: proper charger, let it cycle, proper charger.

And now, back to the topic in question: why is your charging system doing weird bollocks?

[docc]

6 minutes ago, Sam P said:

My memory is unfortunately foggy one the chain of events, but I will try to reconstruct  them here.

After the first Odyssey showed signs of bubbling and bloating - with no alert from the charging lamp -  I  assumed to regulator was bad, and that the reg was overcharging the battery, hence the bloating. So I replaced the reg, along with my current "new" Odyssey battery.

Next, I took the bike for a ride and the battery light lit up again, so I suspected the stator - sending too many AC volts to the regulator - which I then replaced. Installed the new stator, rode for 100 miles and the charging light never lit up. Like an idiot, I thought all my problems were solved, lol. The  next ride, the lamp started to activate at 3-4K rpm, which is where we are now.

(This was the title of this post, remember? Is the stator defective?'

My memory is foggy on this, but I never recall the battery light OR the oil light EVER activating with key on, engine off.

 

2 minutes ago, audiomick said:

And now, back to the topic in question: why is your charging system doing weird bollocks?

"Weird bollocks ", indeed!

I have put mySport on the lift, removed the seat, pulled the regulator connector apart, probing with the DVOM, trying to fathom why @Sam P's Sport won't charge and how the strange warning light behavior might inform a solution . . .

[audiomick]

5 minutes ago, Sam P said:

... the first Odyssey showed signs of bubbling and bloating - with no alert from the charging lamp -  I  assumed the regulator was bad, and that the reg was overcharging the battery,...

Next, I took the bike for a ride and the battery light lit up again, so I suspected the stator - sending too many AC volts to the regulator - ...

...The  next ride, the lamp started to activate at 3-4K rpm, which is where we are now.

I reckon the first assumtion was good. Battery cooked = regulator is not doing it's stuff, too many Volts into the battery = dead battery. Been there, done that (more than once... ). In those cases, the battery light didn't come on. I don't know for sure that the battery light never shows overcharging, but I understand it to be that the light generally only comes on when the system is undercharging.

In that context, I would question the second assumption. Given that I don't expect the warning light to show overcharging, I wouldn't expect it to come on if the stator is delivering too many volts. Apart from the warning light, the regulator should take care of too many volts. That is, after all, what it is there for. The alternator delivers a voltage that increases with revs. The regulator is supposed to keep that under control and make sure that never more than about 14V gets through to the charging system.

Regarding the third point, I've already written that I suspect that there are two problems. From the information that you have provided, it seems that your charging system is currently not working, despite the new regulator and stator. Therefore the charge warning light should be lit up all the time. 

It isn't, so it is fair to assume that there is also a problem somewhere in the circuit that the warning lamp is in.

I'd still like to know what the resistance (Ohm) measurement is between the connector for the warning lamp to the regulator (where the blue wire is connected) to ground. If the regulator is behaving correctly, that should be close to zero with the key on, engine off, "infinite" with the engine running and the charging system working properly, and close to zero if the charging system is not working properly.

If that is not the case, the regulator might have a problem, or there might be bad connections somewhere else. If it is the case, the warning light circuit would seem to have a problem that is confusing the issue.

 

[docc]

 

@Sam P, let's try to take the oil pressure light out of the equation.

You reported the oil light illuminates when the connector to the switch is grounded.

Connect your Ohm meter and measure resistance from the switch post to ground, key off.

The switch should be closed/grounded with no oil pressure, resistance: near 0   [oil light on will come on KOEO].

If the switch is open with no oil pressure (engine off)/ resistance = > 1 <  [no oil light KOEO], then the oil pressure switch has failed and has nothing to do with the odd behavior of the "battery/charging" light . . .

[gstallons]

docc , off the top of my head , these switches : oil press. neut. , etc. are n.c. (normally closed) switches. Wiring diagrams should display n.c. or n.o. next to the switch for clarity and understanding of the circuit. MG does things "their way".