| Author | Message | ||
     Larsgm |
So back in March I get the battery light on and then it dies on the side of a freeway here in Scottsdale. Harley will come a pick you up under warranty but only if you are not on a freeway. So if you know you are going to die (by reading the voltage, anything less than 11 volts and you are toast), get the hell off the freeway. So this is stator #1, about a week and just under 1K in warranty work later. You guys know the drill here $700 stator and $200 worth of shop time. Anyway things are ok until a month ago and I get another battery light. This time I buy a battery thinking it might just be the battery. No it is the charging system again. This time it is a new regulator and harness. OK so riding home in July Arizona heat at 5pm when I run into stop and go due to an accident on the 101. 15 minutes of this cooked the stator. I was seeing 14 volts in the car pool lane before this and when I get home, it is below 12 volts and the battery light is on again. So back to Harley again and another stator. The next day I am riding home again and go to downshift and my boot slips off the shifter. When I get off the freeway I can see my left boot is shiny. The local HD guys did not button the bike back up properly. The oil cool hard plumbed piece did not seat right. So this gets them fired for working on my bike every again. In their defense, they are happy to do the work but it is done on compressed times due to what HD factory says and I think that explains why I got the oil leak. So long story short, I ordered the campfire 55402 and had a competent local bike mechanic fit it under the back seat and above the fender. Pix included here. The other reference points are from the Aprilia forum (referenced by others here) and one that explains voltage regulators. My take on living this issue in a very hot place like Phoenix is that these bikes make a lot of heat and anything you can do to reduce that heat will help. My next step is to have the stator rewound by custom rewind but only if it fails again. The compufire runs cool enough to touch after riding since it is getting air cooling. That has to make the stator run cooler. If I can find someone with a heat gun will post that some time down the road. Cost was just under $200 for the part from Amazon, tried to deal with campfire directly but they do not seem to be motivated quoted me a price just over $200. Another just under $200 for the retrofit. So a couple of dollars out of pocket here but maybe no more trips to HD. http://www.posplayr.100megsfree3.com/FH012AA_Charging/RR_Tutorial.pdf/Users/lars/Desktop/IMG_2448.jpg http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229583&page     | ||
| Zac4mac |
Nice job but I would put it someplace besides the hottest part of the bike. All the heat from the engine/radiators goes right over your R/R now. A couple of other guys have put fans on their R/Rs in the OEM spot, that HAS to be a cooler spot... Keep pushing on the limits, no other route to improvement. <edit>Maybe it's close enough to the tail to catch cooler air. I've stuck my hand down/back there while riding and it's friggin hot. Zack (Message edited by zac4mac on August 13, 2011) | ||
| Larsgm |
Well time will tell here. The OEM one is attached directly to the frame which should act as a eat sink for it. My argument is that the frame is actually adding heat to the R/R not taking it away. The series R/R shuts down once it has charged the battery and does not send anymore charge back into the stator at that point. The stator using the OEM one will have to dissipate that in the form of heat. I can touch my R/R with my bare hand after 1/2 hour riding in over 100 degree heat. No way you can do that with the OEM POS, extra fan or not. In the summer here the frame gets so hot it always pees fuel out the expansion tube after any length of ride, other times of the year this is not an issue. So the theory is radiant heat not so bad, conductive heat bad. I am just done with HD warranty, they will replace any bad components but have no idea what the root cause is. | ||
| Finedaddy1 |
Larsgm Good to see you taking a different approach to mounting your R/R. F.Y.I. I have placed a radiant heat gun (its beam) on my Compufire R/R, which is mounted in the stock location, and it read 140° in the hottest conditions. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Very good. Like I said, keep pushing. I'm sure there's a place on your undertail that will catch "cooler" turbulent ambient air. Yours looks to close to the exhaust area but reality always trumps theory. I don't have to deal with your temperature extremes thankfully. I rode Loretta today for the first time in 2 weeks and it was awesome. Punched her up to 126mph on the exit ramp going in to work.  | ||
| Parrick |
Nice clean install! I would tend to agree with your ideas on frame mounting. As hot as the frame gets I can't see it working as a heat sink in any capacity. More likely the frame pumps heat IN to a frame-mounted R/R. Besides, the mounting location of the R/R is only important from a standpoint of the longevity of the R/R component itself. The heat dissipation capacity of the R/R has nothing to do with the heat dissipation capacity of the stator. I can agree with the theory that the series design has an advantage over the shunt design but mounting location is only a concern in terms of the life of the R/R itself. If it gets air flow and doesn't burn itself up, it's fine. (Message edited by Parrick on August 25, 2011) |
