Regulator/Rectifier Unloaded Output

[pineygroveshop]

My bike is a 2002 Tiger.  Does anyone know what the output voltage of the R/R should be when it is not connected to the bike (besides the connection to the stator) or battery?  More specifically, can someone with a Rick's stator and Hot Shot R/R tell me what they are reading, unloaded (read disconnected), output from the R/R?

Cheers,
Stephen

[Mustang]

these links should help you out

http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=p708gj50c7aljeniko6louv8a1;topic=5608.msg35763#msg35763


this one especially


http://www.electrexworld.co.uk/pdfs/Tro ... G-&-RR.pdf

[pineygroveshop]

Thanks Mustang.  I think I've been through most if not all the charging posts on this and the other forum.  I also think that I've got a good grasp of the charging system on my Tiger.
I'm reading 16.7VDC out of the R/R, unloaded.  Too high?  Do I dare hook it to the battery?

[pineygroveshop]

Word from Rick himself is that measuring the  R/R output without a connected load will not give you the correct measurement.  Must connect to bike harness, or the battery if you have done the Sasquatch Mod.
Question answered.  Thanks for the inputs.

[Bixxer Bob]

For what it's worth I've fixed low voltage at the battery on mine twice now and both times it was simply cleaning the blades in the connectors - both the three yellow ones (although to be fair, I got fed up doing that one and soldered the buggers) and the red and black output ones.

I have a theory that I can't prove but is logical to me anyway.   First, understand that electricity plus damp equals corrosion, particularly in DC circuits.  Ever stripped the insulation on wiring on an old bike or car and found the copper blackened (usually on the negative wire for reasons I can't explain)?  Exactly.

The three yellow connector blades carry a lot of current and so any slight corrosion in there is going to cause a resistance.  Resistance plus current equals heat.  Heat chars the connector but also makes the resistance worse.  Eventually you get a short which takes down one or more coils in the stator by melting the varnish on the windings.  Meanwhile the resistance also causes an imbalance in the rectifier input which may or may not be relevant.  Even if it's not, the shorted stator coil will also short the rectifier.  Either way the rectifier diodes get damaged and it fails.  Separate from this, the connector to the loom can also get corroded.  this doesn't do any damage as such (unless it gets shorted) but causes a lower than optimum output at the battery.

Tin hat on........

[NKL]

I agree, I think most reg/rec and generator failures are caused by dirty contacts at the plugs.

[Bixxer Bob]

I expect there'll be folks that have had reg/rec failures without any evidence of problems at the connectors; but this is based on two out of two failures, one each on my Tiger and Blackbird.

[NKL]

It was certainly the reason for the failure on my XTZ750.

[pineygroveshop]

I've had two R/R failures with my Tiger.  The first was at 70k, could have been dirty connectors; but, I don't recall it.  The second was at 78k.  Connectors were taped up well and too soon to get dirty.  Now that I have a Rick's Stator and Rick's R/R I'll never have another charging system failure!   

[ArchRider]

I'd like to get in on this one because I'm troubleshooting the same area on my '01.  I have a HotShot reg/rec that I plan on installing.  I checked the resistance on the stator and get 0.2-0.4 ohms between all three phases.  I'm taking it that this means my stator is not shot and installing the new reg/rec should improve my bike's charging conditions. 

That is, if I solder the yellow connections (and I am reading this thread correctly).  I'm a bit hesitant to move forward with the new reg/rec to have the older stator go and wipe it out.  Would someone please let whether using the older stator is a bad idea even if it appears to be fine?

I need to check the sticky for info on soldering.

Paul

[pineygroveshop]

Hi Paul,
Meter resistance from each yellow wire to ground.  You should see infinity.
Meter resistance from each yellow wire to each yellow wire.  You should read continuity.
Meter A/C voltage from each yellow to ground, at idle, you should see @17VAC.  Rev it a bit and see the A/C voltage rise.
www.ricksmotorsportelectrics.com has YouTube videos of how to check the stator and the R/R outputs.

[ArchRider]

OK.  Finally got some time to check the stator voltage and I'm getting around 13.5-14 VAC at idle.  I rev it up to 1500-2000 rpm and get 17-20 VAC depending upon where I hold the rpm.  20 VAC is around 2000 rpm.  All three leads produce the same results.
Since you said I should be getting around 17 VAC at idle, I'm apprehensive to install the new reg/rec.
Any recommendations?

Paul

[ArchRider]

I also checked the voltage between the leads while at idle and consistently read around 23 VAC.  This is high compared to Rick's YouTube video (16.5 VAC).
So at idle, I have a higher voltage than expected between the phases (23 VAC) but when checked against ground all three are consistently low (13.5 VAC).  I have no idea what this is telling me.  At least all the readings are consistent.
Note that all measurements were taken with the reg/rec completely disconnected.

[pineygroveshop]

OK.  Finally got some time to check the stator voltage and I'm getting around 13.5-14 VAC at idle.  I rev it up to 1500-2000 rpm and get 17-20 VAC depending upon where I hold the rpm.  20 VAC is around 2000 rpm.  All three leads produce the same results.
Since you said I should be getting around 17 VAC at idle, I'm apprehensive to install the new reg/rec.
Any recommendations?

Paul

Paul,
If you have consistent voltages on all three yellow outputs.
If you have no continuity between any of the three yellow outputs and ground.
If you have continuity between any combination of yellow outputs to yellow outputs.
Install the new R/R.

[Bixxer Bob]

I found a simple diagram here: http://www.windgenkits.com/PDFs/s1.pdf   that should help understand what's going on. Looking at the diagram, if you check resistance between any two yellow connectors (yellow on yours, not the diagram) the resistance should be double the reading when you check any yellow connector to ground.  If it checks out, as Paul says, you are good to go.  A faulty stator might generate less power, but it can't generate more. So whatever you're getting, consistency is the key.  Just a word of warning, you are not going to get consistent low resistance readings from a five-dollar meter..... you need quality kit to do this sort of work otherwise all you do is scare yourself.  Just sayin'......