Inside generator cover..

I was doing some cleaning today and took my generator cover off. Not knowing what I was looking at, I put the cover back on, carefully, and sealed it back up.

Does anyone know where I can get some pics of what the inside of that cover is supposed to look like?

It appeared to be a mass of wires encased in something resembling reddish colored gelatin.

Thanks!

 

That's your lighting coil (stator)....it provides the electricity to recharge your battery... Like this....

 

Thanks!

Are the brushes in here too? If so, what do they look like? Is it safe to pull this stuff out and clean it up?

My fear is messing something up, or possibly upsetting the basic laws of physics by mis-manipulating the magnetic field...

 

the brushes are attached to the cover. and should measure a minimum of 10mm. I am sure you can carefully clean in there but I don't know what I would use maybe electrical contact cleaner? and let dry well before sealing back up.

 

Inside the stator is the rotating magnet. The face of the rotor has contact rings and as 85MaximXX said brushes are in the cover and contact the rings. Check you brushes - clean the rings - contact cleaner or alcohol (not the drinking kid ) you can use glass paper too.

 

If it will make you feel any better, the very last thing "mechanical" (after I'm done f*ing with the carbs/float levels) I need to do to my '83 is pull the alternator cover and clean it up in there. Nothing should be worn at 7400 miles, but I need to look; clean; and strip/polish the cover.

I'll take pictures if you'd like.

The book says the brushes need to be replaced every 10K. I looked in my '81 at 18K (I was panicking) and the brushes were not even 1/3 of the way worn down. Nowhere near being worn out, at 18K.

You should have turned the cover over and looked in it, you would have "inspected" your brushes right then and been done.

DISCONNECT the battery first; then you're safe flushing it out with contact cleaner. Just be sure it's all dried out before you put it back together.

 

That would be very helpful. I feel like a putz now that I had it off but didn't do anything while I was in there. How do I "measure" the brushes? Anddo they look like brushes?

It's easy enough to take off. I was just afraid to misalign something important. I really want to clean that cover up too but there is a plug on the side. Again, fear of messing something up I couldn't fix.

Pictures would be awesome Fitz. Thanks.

 

What's glass paper?

I'm going to pick up some contact cleaner tomorrow. Seems like now that I'm getting into more and more electrical stuff, I'm finding a need for it.

Thanks for the tips! I'm such a chicken.

 

That would be very helpful. I feel like a putz now that I had it off but didn't do anything while I was in there. How do I "measure" the brushes? Anddo they look like brushes?

It's easy enough to take off. I was just afraid to misalign something important. I really want to clean that cover up too but there is a plug on the side. Again, fear of messing something up I couldn't fix.

Pictures would be awesome Fitz. Thanks.[/quote]

Here ya GO madmax,

I was bored so I ran out and popped mine off and snapped two pics. These are from my 85 700x but hsould be similar.

Looks like mine could use a cleaning too hehe..

make sure when you put the stator back in that you have the grooves lined up for the olts to go thru. and that you have both wires in the grommet so you don't short anything out. There is a set from the rushes and one from the stator.

 

Very nice! SOOOO clean; I don't think I've ever looked in one that clean.

In the above pic, you can clearly see the "wear limit" lines on the brushes themselves. You can also see they have TONS of "meat" left. Yamaha was apparently being WAY over-cautious with the 10K replacement recommendation. Mine looked about like that at 18K.

 

fitz,

this one has over 25k but with 2 PO's before myself I do not know if they were ever changed.

Oh thx but clean? Must be the pics its pretty dirty in there enough to leave my finger tips soiled.

 

looks pretty clean to me too. Glass paper is a form of sand paper but the grit is glass - used to clean contacts etc. You can use a high grit ( 1500 or 2000) wet dry paper too.

 

Okay, here's what my brushes (nothing brushy about them...) look like. I cleaned them with contact cleaner. They wiggle around a bit.

Also, the placement of the plug on the side is only big enough for an Oompa Loompa's hand to fit in. Had to do some finagling to get it seated right.

The gasket probably needs to be replaced...

 

They are spring loaded so they should wiggle a bit. Looks form the pic like they have plenty of life but yu should measure them. I think 10mm was minimum length