It’s been a lifelong belief that there is no such thing as too much power. I’ve loved owning V8 powered vehicles, snowmobiles with well over 150hp, and the biggest motorcycle or ATV’s allowed in the class. But as it turns out, when it comes to the charging system on your SXS/UTV, there’s a time when more power becomes a significant problem. Who knew?
These days, plenty of new Side x Side and ATV owners don’t wait long (if at all) before purchasing a laundry list of accessories for their new toy, and many of them are electrical in nature. Winches, windshield wiper kits, heaters, radios, extra lighting, GPS units… you name it. They’re all great accessories, but they also add to the load on your charging system. It wasn’t long ago when the average ATV or UTV stator wasn’t even capable of powering all these accessories, but seeing the writing on the wall, OEM’s began equipping machines with plenty of juice to go. Unfortunately, in some cases all that extra power was too much of a good thing.
SO, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
While your 650W+ stator has plenty of power for all of your gadgets, there’s almost never a time when it has to power all of them, or even a significant number of them, all at the same time. Still, the OEM wants you to have the potential to do so, and you’ll have the full wattage from your stator if it’s called upon. The problem is, when you aren’t using that wattage, it has to go somewhere. That’s where your voltage regulator/rectifier comes into play. Through the miracles of electrical technology, the VR/R takes the power that’s being provided by the vehicle’s stator and “wastes” any excess to ground, keeping your charge voltage within an acceptable range, usually around 14.5v DC.
Now for the problem, as many a Polaris owner has learned… If you’re using lots of electrical accessories, each drawing on the fruits of the stator’s labor, the VR/R’s job is pretty easy as it’s just converting the AC voltage from the stator to DC voltage for your accessory. The electrical potential is fairly balanced. But when there is less load the VR/R has its work cut out for it not only converting AC to DC, but also dumping off the excess…. all of which creates HEAT. Heat has always been the sworn enemy of electrical systems, and given time, it can get pretty extreme, hence the cooling fins built into most voltage regulator/rectifiers. If it becomes too hot your VR/R can and will eventually fail. To remedy this somewhat perplexing problem, an issue that has been the woe of many Polaris owners, the folks at RMSTATOR came up with a unique (and really pretty damn sweet) solution. It’s what they do best. They’re the Nikola Tesla of dirt toys.
RM STATOR RESCUE PLAN
RMSTATOR has long provided excellent electrical products and they’ve never let us down in build quality, but also how well they function. To solve this excess voltage and eventual heat failure problem, they took their popular heavy-duty stator and more or less split it in half, with each having its own separate output, and a second voltage regulator/rectifier. Called the RMSTATOR SPLYT system, each half of the stator now has its own separate charging system handling half of the total wattage requirements of the vehicle. This means that each VR/R will be operating at a far lower percentage of its maximum sustainable load as compared to the factory single VR/R, which would be playing an electrical version of Russian Roulette, operating too close to its peak the majority of the time. The RMSTATOR SPLYT solution is clever, elegant, and it solves the factory problem.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
For $499 US, the standard RMSTATOR SPLYT system comes with a heavy-duty, dual-output stator as well as two SERIES voltage regulator/rectifiers and automotive grade wiring harnesses to connect and relocate the VR/Rs. There is also an option to add a stator cover gasket to your kit, and we highly recommend it. Chances of your old gasket coming off damage-free after a few years of use are pretty slim. For those wanting a bit more potential, for $649 US you can also add a high output flywheel to your kit which increases total power output while keeping your dual VR/Rs working in their optimal range.
HOW HARD IS IT TO INSTALL?
If you’re handy enough to do routine maintenance on your SXS, or if you’ve got a fairly mechanically inclined friend to lend a hand, chances are you can install the RMSTATOR SPLYT kit with little difficulty. The toughest part of the job on our Ranger 900 was figuring out someplace to relocate the dual regulators. We chose to mount ours between the cab and the cargo bed where there was plenty of room and a fair amount of airflow to keep them nice and cool. You’ll want to pay special attention to the routing of your wiring harnesses (they’re plenty long to reach all the way to the front if you choose) and make sure they’re tied up nice and neatly with zip-ties to keep them away from moving parts, the exhaust, or where anything from the trail can snag them.
Installation of the standard RMSTATOR SPLYT kit can be accomplished with common hand tools. If you decide to go with the high-output flywheel option, a flywheel puller will be required. And we mean REQUIRED. Do not attempt to hillbilly-pull your flywheel or you’ll likely damage the crankshaft. However, RMSTATOR does offer a high-quality flywheel puller for a reasonable $49 US. It’s worth every penny!
WHAT POLARIS MODELS DOES IT FIT?
The short answer is… A LOT. Thanks to Polaris’ penchant for utilizing every part they build on 147 different models, as far as we can tell, the RMSTATOR SPLYT kit is available for pretty much all of the Prostar-based Polaris Ranger, RZR, and General engines.
IS IT WORTH THE MONEY?
The stock OEM Polaris voltage regulator/rectifier is north of the $100 mark and doesn’t solve ANY of the existing problems. Replacing the stock part with another stock part just buys you time. The RMSTATOR SPLYT system is, as with most of their products, designed not only to replace your defective OEM electrical components, but to permanently solve your problem. While $499 seems like a sizable investment to replace a $100 defective part, keep in mind that your OEM part didn’t burn up by accident and it’ll likely happen again. Too much power is not a bad thing if you can control it. The RMSTATOR SPLYT system does exactly that.
https://rmstator.com/en_ca/?SID=d223efb197f875a8195a6a38e6951128
