altenators

[3W-lonerider]

i tell ya i have about had it with the frikken altenators in these bikes..mine went out again today. the guts blew apart..all kinds of crunching going on till i got it home..was 30 miles from the house. this will be the 4th altenator in less than a year. just ranting..don't even bother telling me about ken hemming..i had one.. it went out twice in less than a month. i'm going to install another one..( one ) more time and the bike goes up for sale. or over a cliff which ever is closer.. 

[Thunderbolt]

I have had 3 Valks, 2 of which I still have and have had no alternator problems.  Probably will tomorrow now that I said this.  Are your rubber cush drive's that turn the alternator still good?  We had a tractor once that kept breaking the center out of the clutch plate.  After several clutches, finally figured out that the bearing was sloppy that the clutch shaft rode on and it was causing misalignment to break the center out.  Point here is that maybe something is out of alignment and causing you grief.

[Bad On 3]

Hi brother , I FEEL YOUR PAIN !!!! im on my second alt. the one i put in lasted 7 months with 5 months no ridin because of the snow --mine overcharged and fryed a 10 month old gel battery --blew my low beams on headlights before blowing fuse --blew my turn blubs --rear blubs -- trunk blubs --so I FEEL YOUR PAIN---i think if the alt. goes out again i will buy a stock --i know ken is a good rebuilder but i wonder if a rebuilt lasts --time will tell -- the stock one lasted 11 years why cant a rebuilt one last -- GOOD LUCK !!!!

[3W-lonerider]

cush drive rubbers are brand new..and the altenator that just crunched itself to oblivion today was a brand new altenator..less that 300 miles on it.. i'm going to put another brand new one that iv'e had on my shelf since a month ago in tomarrow..and send this one back where i bought it..should still be under warrentee..if not i'll beat a knot on someones head..original altenator last me 138,000 miles..with 2 times being out..once for brushes and second time for bearings and brushes..

[MP]

cush drive rubbers are brand new..and the altenator that just crunched itself to oblivion today was a brand new altenator..less that 300 miles on it.. i'm going to put another brand new one that iv'e had on my shelf since a month ago in tomarrow..and send this one back where i bought it..should still be under warrentee..if not i'll beat a knot on someones head..original altenator last me 138,000 miles..with 2 times being out..once for brushes and second time for bearings and brushes..

In my wrenching experience, whenever the original lasted a Loonngggg time, but replacements last a VERY short time, something is wrong with the install.  ONE failing right away could be a freak occurence, but multiple?  As mentioned above, something is wrong with the install.  Or, you have changed/added something to the bike that is overloading/shorting it.

MP

[3W-lonerider]

yep..and i've been wrenching a long time to..so if anybody can find anything wrong with my install they are more than welcome to try..i'd even pay a month salary if they found anything wrong.
1st altenator after 138,000 miles the windings broke.
2nd altenator, a Ken hemming H.O. the armiture fried after 500 miles sent back and had it repaired. less than 500 miles the stator fried.
3rd altenator, voltage regulator quit
4th altenator windings or voltage regulator broke because there were plastic peices falling out when i removed it. after 300 miles.
i could see something being wrong if it was the same problem with every unit, i'm going to install another one..if it goes bad..there will be a for sale sign on my valk..i'm not putting up with this crap..bottom line.. told the wife yesterday..don't be surprised you come home one of these days and the valk is gone and theres a new trike in the shed.

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

I had the orginal go out at 94 thousand, rebuilt it, lasted a very short time and volt reg. died. I bought the goldwing replacement from HDL and 40 thousand miles later still going strong. I did replace the rubber drive cushions also when I installed the goldwing alt.

[John U.]

An intermitent ground can cause voltage spikes, maybe more than the alternator can deal with. A bad ground could do that, a battery with an internal short might raise hell with an alternator as well. Something wrong is happening, if the install is correct, I'd look for an intermitent ground or short problem.

[Grumpy]

One problem may be where the alternator was made, I have bought several for Gold wings recently, and they were made in China. They are junk, ended up replacing both within a couple months. Do a little research, and make sure they are Japanese  built, or American.