pre 96 alternator - to worry or not?

[ThreeWheels]

Does anybody know of any other fixes that might be easier ?
For instance, has Honda made any upgrades to the stator on the pre-96 alternators to be able to take more heat?
It would seem easier to replace the 28 amp stator with one that's more durable, rather than replacing the whole alternator unit.

Maybe an aftermarket replacement part ?

Any thought from anyone would be appreciated.

 

[Fred D]

No upgrades are available. My opinion, since I haven't replaced the alternator, is you would have to do as much work to get to the 28 amp alternator to do an upgrade as you would to replace it...Once your there and have it out~apart, might as well put in the 40 amp'er.

 

[BrianB]

Exactly
Brian

 

[wjbertrand]

The 28A unit on my '93 failed virtually days after Alan Barbic made his historic posting with 51K on the bike. Talk about a timely post! I'd been running heated grips and some 55/100W headlamps, though these were rarely used on high. Looking at the amount of work required, I decided to try Alan's upgrade. Furthermore when I compared the price of the upgrade parts to the price of just replacing the 28A stator with another one, the cost was only about $25 more to upgrade. Seemed like a no-brainer to me.:nuts1: I think I may have been among the first 3 or 4 folks to perform this operation.

Doing the upgrade provides the bike with a completely new charging system as the new alternator comes with an integral regulator/rectifier. Since it's difficult to analyze/diagnose the RR that goes with the 28A unit, there was still a chance in my case that it might be bad too. If that were the case, it would be far more expensive to replace the 28A unit and it's regulator than to do the upgrade.

After the upgrade I proceeded to accumulate another 100K with no further issues. In addition to the higher maximum output (40A), the Upgraded unit provides much higher charging voltage at idle and under in-town slow traffic conditions. The 28A is challenged to keep the battery charged in this situation, even with no additional accessories installed. The radiator fan, brake lights and turn signals combined with extended low-speed riding is enough to tax it.

Unless you only ride at cruising speeds, do not operate any high draw accessories (particularly when riding slow) and keep all of the connectors scrupulously clean, 28A failure is not a question of "if". Tick, tick, tick......

 

[Fred D]

Has anyone heard what the failure rate is of the pre 96 European STs? Their's is a larger population to sample. Perhaps some of our Continental riders could give us some insight?

I absolutely concur with the drifting regulation. When monitoring the voltage with my GPS, it's all over the place, from 13.2 to 14.5. It was so annoying I ended up installing an analog voltmeter, which dampens out the fluctuations.

But, Ima thinkin' that an 06 is gonna find it's way into my garage in a few more months. We're into the iffy riding season here, and I'm down for routine maintenance, so the next owner can worry about upgrading the alternator

 

[wjbertrand]

Has anyone heard what the failure rate is of the pre 96 European STs? Their's is a larger population to sample. Perhaps some of our Continental riders could give us some insight?

I absolutely concur with the drifting regulation. When monitoring the voltage with my GPS, it's all over the place, from 13.2 to 14.5. It was so annoying I ended up installing an analog voltmeter, which dampens out the fluctuations.

But, Ima thinkin' that an 06 is gonna find it's way into my garage in a few more months. We're into the iffy riding season here, and I'm down for routine maintenance, so the next owner can worry about upgrading the alternator

Martin Brunner in Austria? had a 28A failure on what I think was a '93 model. But Martin being a "by the book" sort of fellow, refused to consider the upgrade and instead installed another 28 unit. Dunno if he's suffered any repeat failures. I've got to believe there are plenty of failures over there as well. The Europeans seem to be less apt to overload their electrical systems with out of control farkeling than us so the rate may be less. I gotta think Honda was reacting to more than just the US market when they introduced this upgrade.

 

[saaz]

My experince with my 78 GS1000 (which I still have) is that oil cooled stators like on the early ST will fail at some time, regardless of how well you look after them. The heat of the oil and the construction of the stator, as well as the possibilities of things going wronf in connections, R/R etc lead to this. Not to say they are not reliable within these considerations.

 

[ThreeWheels]

OK, so how long will the 40 amp unit last ?
I have an opportunity to pick up a 40 amp unit very reasonably, but it has 250,000 km on it.
Sounds like the previous owner got yoeman service out of it. I'm just wondering if it's worth it for me to go through the whole operation and put in a unit with that much service, if it's bound to fail.
Any thoughts from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wjbertrand]

OK, so how long will the 40 amp unit last ?
I have an opportunity to pick up a 40 amp unit very reasonably, but it has 250,000 km on it.
Sounds like the previous owner got yoeman service out of it. I'm just wondering if it's worth it for me to go through the whole operation and put in a unit with that much service, if it's bound to fail.
Any thoughts from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

Interesting question, as I've never heard of one failing actually. If I were fitting that unit to my bike I think I'd replace the brushes. That's the only wear item in there as long as the bearings all seem to be OK. I think you can get the brushes from Honda and some auto parts places sell alternator rebuild kits. The ND air cooled alternator is ubiquitous among many bikes and autos so there should be a source of these brushes without getting too creative.

 

[videolester]

I just acquired my cousin's 1990 (1st year) ST1100, 50,000 miles on her. Stock alternator ... He's used a heated vest with it for the last few years and has had zero problems.

 

[BrianB]

One vest may be OK, I ran that way for a long time. Now that I say that, it looks like I am on the way to doing an upgrade on my 95. In doing my spring check over I have found that the stator connector has been quite hot. It was Ok just before leaving for WeSTOC Last fall, but as our ride took us to California, we both had to use our vests and I had the heated grips on most of the way. That, plus the H4 Silverstars and the Autocom seems to have made her work more than she liked. I will solder the stator wires and try to get through this summer as the charge rate is still normal, but I am prepared for the inevitable. My bike has 83000 kilos or about 50000 miles, just when most failures seem to start.
Brian
STOC#4151

 

[ThreeWheels]

All right, All right, you win..........................

I went ahead and replaced the alternator with the 40amp unit. Replaced brushes and regulator also. The bearing were in excellent shape.
My normal commute, at 5 mph or less through Bridgeport, in the summer at 100 ?F seems to be the specific failure mode.
Bike idling, brake lights on, hot ambient temperature, fan running.............
So now I'm good to go for, I hope at least 10 years.
Electric clothing is next. along with higher wattage headlight bulbs.