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It seems lately I have gotten more than the usual emails and phone calls concerning charging systems on the IB 300cc trikes. After a call today, I sat down with my charging system reference materials and knowledge of electricity/electronics and wrote this guide. Hope it helps those that need help.

Testing a Charging System

On a 300cc Trike
3Phase Stator

This procedure is for checking a 3 phase stator. This stator is easily recognized by the fact it has a plug with 3 yellow wires in it. Although I wrote this for Ice Bear’s 300 cc trike, the same procedures apply to other Chinese 3 phase stators.

I will keep this as simple as I possibly can. You should have some basic knowledge of electricity and how to use a multimeter. I strongly suggest you use a good digital meter and not a cheap $10.00 one. Using a good meter will give you more accurate results. Keep in mind the voltages I give are optimum.

First and foremost make sure your battery is fully charged. These charging systems are not meant to charge a completely dead battery! Also check that all plugs and wires are tight and do not have corrosion on them. Double check chassis grounds! If you get all the way through Step 6 without a problem, then you have a bad battery.

Step 1 - Switch the multimeter to DC Volts. Switch the range to 20 vdc. Connect the multimeter leads to the battery terminals, Red lead to positive and black lead to negative. Start and rev the engine up to around 2500 rpm. You should be reading between 12.8 vdc to 14.2 vdc. Rev the engine up and the voltage should increase not decrease. If so, your charging system is working correctly and you stop here. Otherwise go to Step 2.

Step 2 – With the engine idling, connect the meter’s black lead to the battery’s positive post and the red lead to the red output wire on the voltage regulator. The voltage reading should be less than 0.2 vdc. If the voltage is above that repair the broken wire between the voltage regulator and the positive post of the battery then repeat Step 1. If the voltage is less than 0.2 vdc then go to Step 3.

Step 3 - With the engine idling, connect the meter’s black lead to the battery’s negative post and the red lead to the negative output wire (ground) on the voltage regulator or the case of the regulator. The voltage reading should be less than 0.2 vdc. If the voltage is above that then there is a ground issue. Check all grounds, connections and leads between the voltage regulator and the battery. Make sure they are clean and no corrosion, repair as necessary, and then repeat Step 1. If the voltage is less than 0.2 vdc then go to Step 4.

CAUTION!!

3 Phase stators are capable of AC voltages above 60 volts AC.

Be Careful!

Step 4 – Shut the engine off and disconnect the plug with 3 yellow wires in it from the wiring harness. This plug is located on the right side of the engine. You will see a wire harness coming out of the top of the right side case, above the oil fill dipstick. Follow this harness to the plug with 3 yellow wires in it. Check for corrosion and clean if necessary. Switch the multimeter to the ohms function and set the meter to the lowest range, usually this is 200. At this point we are checking the stator coils. Place the meter leads across 2 of the yellow wires, record your reading. Then move one lead to the other yellow wire, record your reading. Then move the other lead to another yellow wire, record your reading. I usually do this twice to make sure I have checked all possible pair combinations. 3 separate readings. All readings should be between 0.5 ohms and 2.0 ohms. If any of the readings do not fall in this range, then you have a bad stator. Replace it and return to Step 1. If all readings are good go to Step 5.

Step 5 – Leaving your multimeter in the ohms function and the lowest range, connect one lead to a GOOD motor ground. Using the other lead, check all 3 yellow wires. Your reading on the meter should show an open. What I mean by this is no resistance reading at all. Some digital meters will show OL others will show 1. If your meter shows 0 to 100 ohms, your stator is bad. Before replacing the stator, make sure there is not a frayed wire in the harness contacting ground. If not, then replace your stator and return to Step 1. If all 3 readings are good, then go to Step 6.

CAUTION!!

3 Phase stators are capable of AC voltages above 60 volts AC.

Be Careful!

Step 6 – Leaving the stator plug disconnected, start the engine. Set your mutimeter to AC. Set the meter’s range to 100 or better. Make sure you are using the ac function not the DC function. Once again we are going to check all 3 yellow wires like we did in Step 4 but, this time we are looking for voltage readings. At an idle, place the meter leads across 2 of the yellow wires, record your reading. Then move one lead to the other yellow wire, record your reading. Then move the other lead to another yellow wire, record your reading. I usually do this twice to make sure I have checked all possible pair combinations. 3 separate readings. All readings should be around 25 vac. Now, rev your engine RPM above 4000. Keeping your engine above 4000 take your 3 readings again. This time your readings should be above 60 vac. Let the engine return to idle. If any of the readings are bad, then replace your stator and go to Step 1. If all the readings are good then you have a bad voltage regulator. Replace it and go to Step 1.

Hopefully you have success using this troubleshooting guide. If not, feel free to contact me.
This guide was written using various sources and personal experience.