Washed airplane, now have a generator issue

There is not much that a little water (in the short term) would damage in the stator housing.  It’s essentially a series of wound coils. There are no brushes or any other moving or contact parts in there that would be affected by minor water intrusion.   I think it’s more likely that you got some connectors wet and then they got a light corrosion on them sitting overnight, and that even seems unlikely.  Is there signs of standing water on any of the electrical components or connectors?

Nothing obvious looks like it dealt with water.  The timing is awfully suspect though. 

Glenn

I would troubleshoot as if water had nothing to do with it.  Test the voltage regulator and the stator.  No matter what caused it, the remedy will be the same.  Last month right after I completed my annual inspection I was doing a run-up to complete the “return to service”, and the stator (B) in my 912iS failed.  I felt the same way, and kept wondering what caused it, but in the end it was just time for it to fail and had nothing to do with the annual inspection.  

If the engine cranks, I assume it does, then check first to see if you have enough RPM to generate spark.  (250 RPM crank or 100 prop is enough)  An optical tack to check the prop speed works great for this. RC aircraft prop tacks work fine for this and are inexpensive. 

Washing also should not be an issue unless you used a pressure washer.  This can drive water past the small sealing rings on the CDI connectors and also into the spark plug boot connector areas.  Be sure that you remove any visible water and I would check the connectors.  

I would agree with Jeff B, treat is  as if the wash is nothing to do with it.  Do the battery check, see if you have RPM enough for spark and the other standard checks.  If you do find any water dry and assemble with dielectric grease (DC4 or lithium both work) on all connections. 

Cheers

The airplane starts up just fine and runs just fine.  This is the alternator / voltage regulator.