Some 3 Phase Alternator Findings, 82 1100 A2

Another factor is heat/resistance cycle. Heat increases resistance on the wires, and so the wires themselves start to get more voltage drop on them. In the case of fuse/holders, there comes a point where the heat causes more resistance and the resistance causes more heat. Then the cycle accelerates rapidly to the point where the fuse glows red hot and the wires start turning black.

A similar thing can happen in the stator if the wiring has some corrosion or a nick in it.

So I wonder if we even have to take the test further to be a long-term load test. Like maybe 30 minutes? That's more work and requires heavier test equipment plus some sort of cooling system for the motor.

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RE: Seperate reg/rec issue.
Looking back, I realize this may be a new thread topic in itself.
So far, I've been lucky. Whenever I get a charging system that seems to fail only on highway runs, it was because the regulator lost it's ability to track average voltage at high RPMs. It was weird, I could ride all day in traffic and be fine. One long highway cruise and the battery would be dead. Changing the reg/rec fixed it both times. I believe i did a bench test to confirm the reg was shunting too early at higher RPMs. This seems to be a common mode for reg/rec failure and should be testede with a voltmeter while riding on the highway. It takes time too. The first 5 minutes, I had over 14v on the battery while on the highway, but it slowly/steadily dropped to 12v while maintaining same speed.

Yes a longer test may be needed to find some failures. I think my set up could run the 30 minutes, no problem. I would just include a separate power power source for the second fan motor that's in the picture, as I had only the one running as they are 10AMPS each. Then probably repositioning for more coverage, oh and some more Gas.