Hitchcocks Forum

I have a350 bullet 1989, with a two wire alternator, to charge the battery, & provide lighting via the battery….
I am asking if a four wire alternator, can be used to charge the battery, and if yes, to ware each of the four wires attaches to the existing wiring harness….
The current voltage regulator & rectifier, is the old Indian 2 part system. I have a power box that has been on the shelf for the last few years, waiting for the Indian units to fail…. This could be used if this makes the conversion any easier..
The reason for the possible conversion from 2 to 4 wire is that the windings an the stator have been in close contact, and the windings have over heated, or the encapsulation around the windings is showing major signs of over heating… It still charges…
The problem started with odd sounds coming from the area of the alternator or n/s main bearings.
On strip down the stator nut and the 3 nuts holding the windings were found to be secure, but the stator and windings were showing signs of being in contact, as if the main bearing had dropped a few thou…… I split the crankcase, and the Indian main bearings replaced with European. On start-up after the rebuild all seems ok, but after about 25 miles, the odd sounds a back…
Could it be that the stator is “expanding” ? I have not heard of this, has anyone any experience of this.

Any words of wisdom welcome Martin

Hi Martin, I would charge the battery, remove the rotor and go for a short ride to see if the noise has gone. Possible magnets are coming loose in the rotor. I have seen a couple explode and the damage can be severe. One bent the drive shaft requiring a full engine strip. As for the wire and Boyer no problems. From the stator join orange to purple, yellow to the other purple, these then conect to the 2 yellows on the powerbox. Run the motor, take a reading of input into the battery, swap the yellow and orange wires on the purples, take another reading on the battery and then use the higher reading combination of the wires

Norm, Thank you for your advise, I was thinking along the same lines... I will report back in a few days.

Ref the four wire, windings, it sounds a lot easier that I thought.. and will go that way once the other problem has been sorted.
Martin

If your paying out for a new 4 wire stator then i would certainly replace the rotor as well just to be on the safe side. excess heat and possible contact could well have weakened the adhesive and there may well be hairline cracks in the magnets....

No, for £50.00 i would want peace of mind and not have to witness the shrapnel effects an exploding rotor has on all that work you've put in..... gwilly