Increasing power output to handle accessory overload

[burkbuilds]

Thought I'd throw this into the ring and see what information you all may have about potential increases in power output from the alternator by installation of an aftermarket Stator that professes to increase power output by 20%. Following is my "story".

I'm trying to find a way to increase my alternator output to run accessories on my bike. Found out that my Vulcan 500 only puts out around 34 Amps @ 12 V which is about 408 watts of total power and only about 10Amps of that is available for accessories, which means I only have about 120 Watts total to run my accessories on. Now that is plenty for most of the year, but in the Winter I planned to run a heated vest and gloves and heated grips. If everything was on high, that would put me somewhere around 160 Watts for accessories which is about 40 Watts or 3 ½ Amps over capacity. Started searching for options to see what I could do about that and finally stumbled on this.

I found out that Denniskirk.com has a replacement Stator for my bike that is supposed to increase the power output significantly both at idle and at cruising speed, they also have a better Regulator/Rectifier that fits my bike. Anybody have any hard numbers on this, the Denniskirk site just lists this as a significant increase over OEM and better quality all around over the OEM, which does seem to have some maintenance issues from what I've read for the Stator and the Regulator. Together both items and shipping is gonna be in the $225 range. Even if it's just a 10% increase in total alternator output (OEM about 33-35 amps= about 400 watts) that would amount to about 40+Watts of available additional power which is significant to me, plus, it's a pretty easy swap to do.

I sent e-mails to two companies that supply replacement Stator's for my Vulcan 500. RicksMotorsportElectrics.com said they make a stator for my bike but it is OEM spec, not additional output. Electrosport.com said they make a replacement for my Stator and it gives an overall increase of 20% compared to the OEM stator. That would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 80-90 watts (roughly 7 amps) of additional power output at 4000 rpms. That is pretty impressive and will help tremendously with my winter accessory loads. I hope this will actually work, I’ve ordered it now and I’ll probably have it installed on my bike before the end of October. I plan to meter the existing system @ 4000 rpms before I remove it to see what the actual output is, and then install the new Stator and regulator and see what it reads at 4000rpms. I’ll post my results when I get done and have some figures.

Anybody out there ever done anything like this to their bike and if so, what results did you get?

[Water Warrior 2]

Some members on the Vstrom forum have tried aftermarket stators with varying results. Some acceptable but mostly a disappointment due to early failure. You would be best with upgraded stator, rectifier and voltage regulator for best results. Also I wonder if just running OEM equipment and not having your heated gear at maximum might be a better solution. What kind and make of heated gear are you looking at and what do you expect for temps come winter ??

[burkbuilds]

My vest and gloves are Venture brand and they draw about 120 watts together on high. The heated grips are Oxford brand and I don't remember the exact specs on those but they were a lot less than the vest and gloves. I also have a tach that I've installed but the only draw there is the light on the dial and I have some LED "accent" lighting, but again it's extremely small draw on those. It's very possible that I won't need to run any of this on high, the temps around North Georgia get down into the teens (Farenheit) early in the mornings for maybe 7-14 days at the most and usually back into the above freezing range by afternoon. The coldest I've ever seen it here was about 5 below zero (F) and I'm 45 and I've only seen that one winter. Every couple of Winters' we will get into single digits above zero (F) for a couple of mornings and every once in a while it stays so mild that it never even gets below 20 degrees F.
I did order the Stator and the rectifier/regulator that "matches" it from the same company. I've read a couple of statements about the stock Stator and rectifier going bad on the Vulcan 500's in the first couple of years and if I'm pushing them to their limits that might be a factor in early "death" anyway. Hopefully the items I ordered from electrosport will do what they say and hold up well in the long run.

[Water Warrior 2]

Not familiar with the Venture brand but I well imagine it is a quality product. How soon do you hope to be up and running with the new electrical system and everything plugged in ?

[mrlmd1]

Do they give you a refund if they're not up to the performance specs they claim? If you get no increased output over OEM?

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

You would be best with upgraded stator, rectifier and voltage regulator for best results.

Also I wonder if just running OEM equipment and not having your heated gear at maximum might be a better solution.

What kind and make of heated gear are you looking at and what do you expect for temps come winter ??

:plus1:

:plus1:

Those who live in Georgia don't know what REAL winter IS !!! :poke2: :biggrin:
(Yes, I am wildly jealous!) :roll:

Except for that one week in January, I suspect that you will find no need for the HIGH setting on anything. Don't overlook long-johns; cold air blowing up your pants legs can make a BIG difference.

[burkbuilds]

Yeah Easy, I have found that long johns are all my legs need here in the Winter, my insulated jacket was really fine last year without being heated, now my gloves, that was the wrench in the machinery. Once it got down to 18 degrees F, I just couldn't take the pain anymore even with heated grips on high, the fingertips just felt like they were being crushed in a vice after about 15 minutes of riding. Hopefully that will be taken care of with the heated gloves! We southerners really don't know much about Winter compared to anything North of the Mason Dixon Line, and we like it that way!
Mrlmd1, I don't know what their policy is if I challenge the output specs they quoted, I do have their representatives e-mail to verify what he told me, but I'm not sure about their refund policy. They did give a one year warranty, so that should help although they may just want to send me a new Stator to replace the first with if I am not satisfied.

WW, I won't even be back in town to put the stuff on for about three weeks, so it's just going to have to wait till then and hope I have time to do it that weekend. In about a week and a half I'm taking my first "road trip" of any length when my daughter and son in law and I plan to ride down to the Gulf coast for a weekend in Panama City Florida! That's about a 6 1/2 hour drive each way, nothing major but way more than the 2 1/2 hour trip I make back and forth to the Atlanta area most weeks. We plan to stop about every hour and a half and stop for dinner on the road too so it will probably take us about 8 hours or so to cover the distance.

[Water Warrior 2]

A weekend in Panama City sounds Oh So Good. Have a good time and ride safe.

[mrlmd1]

C'mon over this way on the way home, It's about a 2 hour ride East, then you can go home through Tallahassee up 319 & I-75.
Maybe I could find old Bad Bob to join us.

[burkbuilds]

That sounds nice, and I'd really like to meet you and Bad Bob, his GZ seat mods inspired mine; however, I think I'm gonna try to spend as much time with my beautiful bride of over 25 years as I can that weekend, not getting to see her very often while I am away in school. But thanks for the invitation!