rectifier regulator wiring

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janhsmn wrote:

thanks for all your replies so far on my previous post. :clapper:

I have decided to start a new post as i am desperate to get this matter sorted. So bear with me. :waving:

I have delved further into the mass of wiring around the rectifier. With the help of the clymer manual I have deduced that the two green wires that come out of the rectifier and normally go to all the lights appear just to go directly back to an earthing point on the rectifier (basically the bolt holding the rectifier onto the bike).

The bike lights have been wired seperately to seperate independant switches by a previous owner.

My question is, is the fact the green wires are now earthed back to the rectifier a possible cause of it overheating.



thanks again :jumper: :jumper:

Janet and Gary

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Janet and Gary, there are (2) green wires coming out of the regulator/rectifier,, depending on the bike & model in question either BOTH of those green wires return to a chassis ground,, OR on some modelsone green wiregoes to chassis ground & the other goes to the turn signal relay & then on to ground.

Those wires need to go to ground & also have a good clean path to ground.. Those rectifiers do run hot as they sink the extra (unused) current to ground.. There is a (I believe black with ? stripe) wire coming out of the regulator that needs to go to main line power as that is the voltagesense line. While I haven't ever done it I believe that running that back to the (+) battery post will give a little better (cleaner) reference signal & probably lower the controlled voltage slightly (that would need an ignition controlled relay to disconnect at "key off" position to protect against battery run down.


One thing I forgot to mention the other day; look to see if your generator has been upgraded to the injected engine generator (larger rear cover is the give-away),, if so that generator makes more power & needs the correct regulator to go with it as it has more current carrying capacity & larger heat sinks.


Twisty

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 When  a rectifier starts to die... it becomes less able to hold back some of the inverted (AC ) signal... and starts to overheat... The Clymer manual has a 4 part test ... (y G  two way, and red , yellow two way )  which requires a ohmmeter to sense if the internal diodes are "blocking" the second half of the signal../forums/images/emoticons/mad.gif.  I have only actually done this elaborate test once... As you have NOT installed an EC harness...  a simpler test is find someone with a similar rect / reg, and switch it into yours for a half hour or so.../forums/images/emoticons/big_grin.gif                                                                                                                                                That being said...  I agree with Sailor... the EC harness takes both greens back to the battery , and establishes a clean ground there ...  and that is probably better for the poor old Reg ...  BUT  your PO fiddled around , because your two greens go to ground, NOT ,/forums/images/emoticons/shock.gif as shown in my wiring Diag of your bike , in a sorta loop around to the lights, relays, switches, etc...                                                                                                                                                         So If it was my bike ... I would find out where the  PO cut the green grounds to ALL those other circuits... lead a large (10/12 Ga )green ground to the Reg Rect from the battery, and   tap into that , as many  of the  green grounding circuits shown on your original ground  wiring, as I could find.../forums/images/emoticons/confused.gif Lead them into the false tank area, and solder them into the new ground wire ................. Chassis ground on a Bike is very poor ,in the long run... they tend to corrode from mixed metals... and eventually... resistance, and heat  .....................................one to check is the big ground strap under  and behind  the left side  engine triangle frame mount-       it is often corroded                                                                                                                                           ..... a simpler  temporary  test ... would be to just lead a jumper cable to your battery  and to the (stripped) green wires coming off the Rect / reg... and see if that cuts down on the heat ............. SilverDave /forums/images/emoticons/emoticonsxtra/cooldj.gif

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exavid wrote:

ccsailor wrote:

hey Twisty I'm pretty sure that what I just said??????????????/

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Both you guy'sposts were within 6 minutesso you guys were probably typing at the same time. I'ts happened to me a few times, I answer a question and when I finish and upload it I find there's already an answer by someone.

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Exavid, you guessed it, his postwasn't there whenI started typing..

But even so we sure didn't say the same thing..ccsailorsaid"I stand by my earlier post that your regulator should not be running that hot Pumping out that much heat shows a high current flow somewhere Have you checked all your fuses for the correct values?" & I sure didn't say that.Those regulators do run hot & any highcurrent flow in the system past the regulator lowers the heat in the regulator not increases it. I also didn't say fuse values have any effect as fuse size has nothing to do with regulator heat.

I do agree that checking between the (-) battery post & ground isn't a bad idea but would also think that seeing as the regulator sinks the excess current to ground lowers the voltage that any ground resistance on the grounding side of the regulator would have the heat show up at that connection not the regulator.

Those stock generators produce upwards or 36 amps at 4000 RPM's regardless of what the regulator does & it has to GO SOMEWHERE, so it either goes into running something, or charging the battery, or operating a fan or light,, OR, the regulator has to deal with it through resistance.

Now that is the basic (simplified) operation.. Now before some EE jumps down my throat there is some slight regulation of the actual generator because when the regulator momentarily shorts out a segment of the stator it also lowers the stator's flux & does effect the total output of the other segments somewhat.

Twisty

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janhsmn wrote:

oh i think my brain as overheated now.:gunhead:

i am starting to struggle with some of this. is it worth getting a new regulator and seeing if this solves the problem. I cant nick my husbands as he has the sei fuel injected aspencade so they have different regulators.



thanks again for all your suggestions.

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Janhsmn, you could try another regulator if you like (you could always use an extra if needed later)..

I would rather see you place voltmeter on the battery & monitor charging voltage while riding down the road.. If it is holding between 14 & 15 volts at speed & keeps up at just above idle your regulator is controlling the voltage OK.. Now there is ALSO a rectifier inside the regulator & that turns the generator's 3 -phase AC current into DC current to operate the lights, charge the battery, & run other accessories.. If that isn't functioning it can cause some strange things to happen but heat isn't one of them (That usually causesnot enough charge to keep the battery up & run the accessories as that probably would take 1/3 or more of the generator's output away ).

Here is the bottom line-- generator makes upwards of 36 amps at high engine RPM's,, your bikes electrical system is only using a part of that, what is NOT used by the bike's electrical system is turned into heat in the regulator (it's that simple)..

Any chance you are running LED's for lights, not running all the factory lights, headlight not operating, battery sulfated? Those will all cause the regulator to have to handle more heat to keep the voltage at specifications.

Twisty

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thanks twisty for your advice.

although i can start engine on bike am awaiting a new universal joint to be fitted so am unable to ride it as such to try this test. Most of the lights are standard. The bike is set up so i can ride with only the headlight on and not the tail lights (seperate switches). Which i usually do during the day. There are two spotlights (ordinary ones) on the front and some old style orange lights on the front. Again this are controlled seperately by two indepenant switches. These can be switched on without the engine running or the accessories being switched on. So i presume these have a direct link to the battery some how. Again I dont normally ride with these on.

I was hoping to get the rectifier problem started whilst it is off the road awaiting the new UJ, but it looks like i will have to wait until it is rideable again to do these tests.

will let hubby read your post in the morning as he is slightly ahead of me in the goldwing wiring puzzle.

thanks again

janet