Alternator troubles (again!!!)

[Rocketman]

Well, I posted here several months ago about some alternator troubles.  I had my local alt. shop rebuild the alternator after a rotor opened up on me.  They rebuilt it 4 or 5 times, and each time, I had the rotor open again after a few days or a few weeks of riding (not much long distance stuff, mainly commuting, so call it 50-200 miles between failures).  I went to MARS, and got one from him.  I put it in, and when I got back to riding after some knee surgery, it worked great.  I put ~3k miles on it.  But, it failed again.  The test result is finally in, and it's another open rotor.  I can't do a whole lot more testing for a little while, but will do more troubleshooting soon.  Here's the relevant info:
The bike is new to me, and made it 1k miles home after I bought it, then started the frequent failures.  It has a radio amp on it that the previous owner put in, along with a few other unknown electricals.
I have hit the redline on the tach every once in a while, since she seems to like to pop into nuetral when I'm getting on it (that's a topic for another day).  I can't tell you how often, but it's always very brief.  I'm not even SURE I've hit it, I just know I run it up fast, then let 'er rev down again.

So, I'm looking for opinions.  What would cause the rotor to open up continually?    Would an intermittent short or overload blow a diode, or the rotor?  Is it the revs?  I would expect it to be able to handle a few redline runs.  I'll be putting an ampmeter on the bike as soon as I can get back to troubleshooting (~another week and a half from now) to look for how the amp affects alt. load, and what the normal load is compared to another Valkyrie (got a buddy planning to test his for a baseline).

[cutter]

Sorry to hear you are having problems..... AGAIN. Bummer. 

[sandy]

Before you rebuild again, I'd remove all the "unknown electricals" from the circuits. Start from a stock electrical system.

[Patrick]

1. Alternator. Are they fixing/soldering the old rotor or replacing it/them?? You really shouldn't be getting that many defective rotors if they are being replaced.. There is a particular spot on these rotors that go open at times and it can be soldered,,but,, its been so long that I can't tell you where that spot is.. It seems that a good alternator/starter shop should know how to solder correctly and not have cold joints..
2. Shifting.. There usually aren't shifting issues with these bikes as long as you're fairly forceful with the shifts.. Don't baby it,but, don't abuse it either.. Shift with authority !!

[Udo]

I don´t believe, that the rev´s are the problem. I´ve had mine to the limiter a few times by incident, nothing went south, and, i guess, a lot of others did the same.

I would also start without the electrical options, and try to measure the current and the voltage.

[R J]

Get Rattlebars Kick shifter and use it the way it was designed.  You will not miss or have it slip out of gear again.......

Alternator, I'd take every damn added electrical item he put on and disconnect all of them.

Add them back on the bike after you have verified they are wired correctly.

Sounds to me like one hell of an overload, no relays, in the added equipment.

That will pop alternators like candy bars, and that is what it sounds like from this end.   Overload on the alternator.

[Rocketman]

As for the shifting issues:  The shifter peg was loose when I bought the bike.  I think that that combined with the kickshifter may have caused the PO (and me too) to put too much torque on the shifter and may have bent some things a little bit.  Anyway, as I stated, the shifter problem is a lot less vexing than the alternator.  I'll deal with the shifter later.

As for the alternator:  Yes, the first step is to unplug extras.  I'm not sure how many extras are in there.  I can't identify some of the aftermarket relays under the seat as belonging to any particular system.
Next, I'm going to try to figure out how much load it would take to kill the rotor.  That's where opinions from ya'll come in.
Next, well, I'll have to pick that course when I get there.

As for the rev limiter:  I didn't figure that was the issue, but thought I'd bring it up.   That's a major design flaw if it can't take an occasional rev limiter hit.  We as a community should have noticed by now.

As for replacing vs. resoldering:  I've had four separate alternator units (all rebuilds, but separate units) in there.  All of them were rebuilds, but if there was a unit specific failure, it wouldn't show up on all four units.  If it was a Valkyrie wide failure, we would have noticed by now.  So, what am I left with?  It's a bike-specific issue.  Or, I'm the unluckiest person I know.
I'm voting for the latter.  Dissenting opinions?
(:

Mark

[Willow]

Mark, to set your mind at ease, I have tested the rev limiter situation many, many times.    That's not your issue.  ???

[3W-lonerider]

rocketman..i go on the gwrra site quite often. and there was a guy with a 1500 goldwing having the same problem you are..it seems that his altenator rubber dampners were bad and allowing his altenator to freeplay..kinda like your rear wheel when those dampners go bad. that kicking back and forth would deffently have an affect on a rotor. i'd check those dampners and replace them.

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

If it's the same alt. being rebuilt every time then I'd get a new one. Rev's shouldn't be a problem unless there is a problem with the alt. to begin with. Check you starter relay fuse and wiring connector. If it's corroded (which frequently happens) it can cause a lot of resistance and there for load. Do a search to find out more about this problem.

Also make sure the previous owner didn’t put in too large a fuse anywhere. If the bike has been painted check and make sure the wiring harness under the rear fender isn’t hanging down and rubbing on the tire. That’s one of the problems we found on my son’s valk.

[Rocketman]

I peeked at the dampeners one of the times I've had it out (after the first three times, they all start to blur together), and they looked good.  I didn't take them out and inspect them.  I'll have plenty of opportunity to do so, since the alternator is out right now.  I don't think they're a problem though.

As for whether it's the same unit:  No.  They've all been rebuilds, but there have been several separate units rebuilt, and they've all failed.

I'll be checking fuses and extras when I can get onto troubleshooting tasks, which won't start until ~9 days from now.