Thanks for the link.  Sounds like I have some more resistance readings to check.

Quote from: The Buddha on May 21, 2013, 06:36:31 AM
Here is the history lesson (on goat's syndrome) -

<list of links>

Cool.
Buddha.

Sure ... leave out my post with the lovely photos.  Out of sight, out of mind, I guess.   

Still, I'm having a hard time picturing how goat's could be the issue here.  From Drastik's original post:

Quote from: Drastik on May 13, 2013, 07:20:18 AM
It doesn't happen every time, but sometimes the 20A fuse blows immediately after I shut off the engine.  [...] It does not blow while running.  It only blows after I intentionally shut off the engine using the switch. 

I [...] ran the bike in neutral, on the side stand for a couple of minutes.  As soon as I shut it off, the fuse blew.  Installed a new fuse, started the bike again.  After I shut it off this time, the fuse did not blow.

If this were truly goat's the bike couldn't even start, right?   

Hey Kerry - and I just posted random pics - anything you want to post - you always welcome. In fact you are required to do so. No one understands me anyway. They understand you and you got pics too. How can that be topped.

However on the goats - extreme goats - even so it should start, it wont charge the battery. And it will be filling up your motor with shredded metal - yea get to it now Drastik.

But, mild goats it will start and run just blow the fuse @ shut off. I dunno why, but se7nty7's bike did exactly that. Was a pain in the butt to diagnose and even harder to explain to people.

Cool.
Buddha.

Aw, I was just joshin' ya.  It's much more important to be present (like you) than to have an aging archive of stuff....

I guess I missed the rundown on se7enty7's scenario.  I'll give it a read ... thanks! 

Interesting that the fuse pops at the exact instance the power is cut. Sets me thinking about the ignition coils, the surge of Back EMF generated when the primary sides becomes isolated and the fields collapse and the effect this surge might have.

Normally its not a problem in a healthy system designed to accommodate it but.......(assuming all the wiring is sound) if there is a weakness or fault in the reg/rect or the ignition module either could momentarily break down as a result of the surge and cause a short internally which may in turn blow the fuse.

The fact you are seeing improvements by substituting the original reg/rect says a lot and suggests it is indeed faulty.

incidentally I recall from many years ago a late 70s XS400 with an identical problem that was cured (after many hours spent head scratching) with a replacement reg`...... despite the original having satisfactory static test figures.

GS regulators are very robust. They would die if you did one of em baja designs stators (where the stuff in 3 X the stator winding so you can run lights on a dirt bike) ... but otherwise you likely wont kill em.
The stator shorting to the rotor is more along the lines of AC spill over into the DC side of the electrical system bypassing the regulator and blowing it. Seriously - I work on electronics all winter and much of summer too. I cant explain it like anyone here would understand.

Crack that left cover open Drastik and put up pics. You are looking for some small spot of likely contact between stator and rotor. Maybe hard to locate especially it swimming in oil. Or not.

Cool.
Buddha.

Here are the pics. No carnage thankfully. No magnets cracked or loose to the touch. Thoughts?

[attachment deleted by admin]

Errr ... I know not about goats.... But .... In an attempt to. Learn something! By talking through what I think and waiting for someone to correct me eh!... The sections of outer round magnet where the brown stuff (epoxy?) is missing.. In other brief skims of goats threads... The epoxy being chipped and missing is always 'the start' ? Of the problem?  ... They are magnets yeah? ... So could seem quite stable while nothing moving ... Cos they have 'magneted' themselves onto the case? ... But when the ninja star looking bit spins ... The outer ring magnets could then be encouraged to move and tap/chip/scrape/earth ?? Onto the inner ones ? ... And causing short or at least fluctuation in voltage ... And cause it spins fairly quick ... It causes rapid fluctuation ...and so dies the fuse? ...

I think I think this?!

Drastik - Oooooo you're on awfully thin ice -

There is a few spots on the stator that look a little cooked.
There is also a few spots where the lacquer looks worn (or is that camera glare).

You certainly have more than your fair share of missing lacquer on the rotor. Are you making contact from stator to rotor - that was IMHO what made the fuse blow. Remember a few thousanths when filled with carbon dust and water and mildly acidic oil (remember these are natural combustion products) will conduct electricity without outright contact. That was why that lacquer was there.

I cant tell outright, but that also why you're blowing it once in 2-3-4 times. Not everytime.
Look around it, take off the stator and look, or wiggle the rotor or something and see if got any play.

Cool.
Buddha.

The dark spots on the magnets are camera glare. The dark spots on the top (yellow portion) of the stator are brown markings, not black burn marks.  I can't find evidence that any impact has been made with the stator but I didn't check to for play in the rotor housing or stator windings yet. I'll do that tomorrow.  I cannot find any play in the magnets of the rotor, or any chunks missing from the magnets themselves.  You can't tell in those pics but some of the windings have some marks on the top of the plates that are brown in color (same brown color mentioned earlier. Looks like a marker or something was used. They are not parallel to the rotation and so the fact that they aren't worn off seems like a good sign. 

How alarmed should I be about the missing laquer on the magnets?  Is this normal wear and tear, or a clear indicator that they'll likely become loose in the future?

You CAN run the bole with the stator disconnected.
Your battery won't charge, but it can rule out or rule in the stator. Then, since the stator connects to the regulator, it could be the regulator. Then again, you can run with the regulator disconnected, too.

Yea Adidas runs his "Bole" with out stator all the time.
So does his cats. 

Cool.
Buddha.

I put some epoxy on the rotor. Its setting up overnight. I'm hoping the regulator shows up tomorrow or Saturday. I'll put it all back together and see what happens.

What you should have done, and should do is with the bike running splice into the alternator lines and check for resistance to ground.
If any point in the cycle you had a 0, even as a flash (and it will have been a flash) it had a short to ground. OK well, you can do it if it blows fuses after you put it back together.

Cool.
Buddha.

Thanks for the advice.  I'll certainly do that if the problems persist, but since I had it all apart already, I figured I'd add the epoxy to the rotor before I button it all back up.

Well, so far so good. Its all back together with the new regulator and its not blowing any fuses while running on the center stand in the garage. Now I just need to take it for a spin and see how it does.

So?.......did the new reg/rect cure the issue?

I *believe* so.  I took the bike to a parking lot last weekend and rode it around for an hour or so (prepping for the msf course that i'm taking next weekend).  No fuse issues, but I may have a charging issue.  Not sure yet. 

The battery was low on charge from running the bike in the garage with some electrics disconnected while troubleshooting.  I have loaned my battery charger to a neighbor who hasn't brought it back yet, so I was jump starting the bike using a jump box.

The battery is now charged back up (used a battery tender), and at multiple rpm ranges, the battery is seeing 12vdc from the charging system.  I'm thinking the charging system is likely just fine, but I wasn't getting the rpms up enough while in the parking lot to recharge the battery.  Once I get some real riding done, I'll know for sure.

Sounds golden to me 

If you start out with a fully pumped up battery, you should get over 13v @ 1500 revs.
It should climb to ~15 @ 5k and plateau off there.
Cool.
Buddha.