what' s your choice :Lucas ,Sparx or Wassel

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Competition between manufacturers to produce parts such as the Sparks stators does keep the prices down but unfortunately the fact that the part may be made in one factory this week but another factory next week often means the quality may vary. Jim
 
comnoz said:
I installed a couple sparks EI units when they first came out on two different bikes. Both failed- the second unit before I even got out of the shop. I never tried them again although I got the first one covered under warranty and I didn't hear of any more problems with it.

I have installed several Sparks alternators with no problems. [other than the poor fitting rotor] The sparks alternator that was on my bike for several years worked fine except for a regulator failure. It suddenly started overcharging and I replaced the regulator with a Podtronics unit. I eventually had to cut into the potting and solder new wires into the stator after the insulation on the old wires fell apart. Teflon wires cured that.

I was asking about the regulator because there was some talk about a regulator problem causing the stator to overheat and fail. I don't see how that could be the case. Jim[/quote

Glad I read this thread. I was reinstalling the Sparx unit on my bike last night and noticed the wire insulation at the unit is cracked. Jim, how did you cut into the potting to expose enough wire to solder more on? Souinds like a tedious PITA job.
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It is a PITA especially when a few cents extra would have put Teflon wires in it to begin with. I used a die grinder and burr and a small pick to dig down along the wires, I followed them all the way through the laminations to the other side where I could get a clear spot to solder new wire to the old. Then I used some masking tape to make a form and pored clear epoxie to re-pot the repair.

what' s your choice :Lucas ,Sparx or Wassel


what' s your choice :Lucas ,Sparx or Wassel


what' s your choice :Lucas ,Sparx or Wassel
 
Hi,

Well as of today CNW will be recalling some of the Sparx units we have sold over the last 8 months

There is no question that there is an issue and over a relatively short amount of time the charging system will fail.

This is, as mentioned previously, apparently only affecting the last batch of Sparx systems. In other words, just becuse you have a Sparx alternator system doesnt mean that you have one that may fail.

Several different reasons for causing the failures have been brought up but I tend to trust Jims theory that its related to a short in the Stator ultimately over heating that unit, actually melting the potting compound and even loosening the coils as they arent held in place any longer.

So the best way to see if you have one of the bad stators, is to remove your outer primary cover and see if you have something that looks somewhat like the previous pictures shown in this post. Several cracks and potting material melting. Depending on miles the unit has on it this will be more or less obvious.

CNW is only one of the distributors of this system but I have decided to replace the entire kit. Voltage regulator, Stator, and Rotor. This just to ensure that any and all bad parts are being replaced.

I will be contacting all of those that bought the system in question from me. This will happen within the next couple of weeks.

If you have bought your system from another vendor I would suggest you contact them directly to see what they can do for you. Again, these issues are only related to the last batch of kits, most likely sold within the last year.

Sorry for the trouble and we'll try to get through it as smoothly as possible.

Thanks

Matt / Colorado Norton Works

www.coloradonortonworks.com
 
WOW :shock: Almost looks like it's not worth the effort, but it's not much good the way it is so.....
Thanks Jim
 
MikeG said:
WOW :shock: Almost looks like it's not worth the effort, but it's not much good the way it is so.....
Thanks Jim
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I bought the pictured stator when they first came out -a long time ago. The wires were losing their insulation within a couple years. It has many years of service since I put good wires in it so I guess it was worth it in the long run. I would have had to buy several of them by now if I replaced them every time the insulation failed. Jim
 
Thanks Jim, but judging by what CNW has posted mine may not be worth the effort. The potting on the coils has several cracks, but no signs of overheating. Not sure if I want to trust it as I have a New Hampshire to North Carolina and back trip planned for next month. Probably put the original stator back in with a podtronics unit.
Note to self....never buy Sparx anything again!
 
An old thread but I just made it back from a 200 mile run yesterday on battery mostly. I happened to glance at the ign light (hidden under the fairing) and saw it glowing 50 miles from home. I switched off the side lights and made it back. Above 3500 rpm it was charging enough to extinguish the light which I know is much less than 12.5v. Battery was at 11.6v stopped. This Sparx has done a good mileage but has always shown signs of running hot (unvented belt drive). I can't find the records but it has done at least 20k. The insulation finally gave up and melted closing the gap to the rotor with potting compound (normally it has 010" minimum). Going to try the Lucas brand (former employee for 22yrs) from Feked who want £50 for a stator. The competition wants near £100 for same part.....it'll be interesting to see what I get. http://www.feked.com/alternator-stator- ... e-12v.html Added to that the head is leaking from the pushrod area (post ring job), something I've always been successful in preventing. Thats probably down to minimising RTV usage this time. I usually run a small bead, this time only a smear!! Serves me right since I've never had issues with silicon lumps blocking oilways.
what' s your choice :Lucas ,Sparx or Wassel
 
worntorn said:
My apologies, but this is not how I understand this to work.

The stator produces its output based on the speed and magnetism of the rotor, it knows nothing of the regulator or the battery. Having too large a battery will not burn out this type of stator.
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This is my understanding as well. This type of alternator puts out a continuous amount of power for a given rpm, up to its max output. Some or all of this power gets used by the system to charge the battery or run the electrical load. If the output is greater than the total electrical load, the excess power is dumped into the frame by the Zener. This turns the excess electrical power into heat, hence the cooling fins on the reg.

Glen
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I agree!

Perhaps this will help to clarify things:

The amp hour rating of the battery is the amps times hours the battery can discharge. This bears no relationship to the rate of charging. A low wattage stator will simply take more time to charge a run down battery of higher AH than a battery of low AH. Once either AH battery reaches full charge, the wattage of the stator output in excess of the lighting and ignition load is converted to heat.

Slick
 
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