The four R's.
Like a few others here, I had a Regulator / Rectifier burn out on my 955i Tiger. And in doing so, the R/R spiked the Stator, killing it as well. A bit of digging around revealed that this problem is not exclusive to 955i Tigers. Many other bikes experience R/R and subsequent Stator failures due to excessive heat buildup within the R/R itself.
The older SCR-type rectifiers and Shunt-type regulators (both found in the stock Triumph and aftermarket replacement parts) build up heat as a by-product of the part doing its job: The Rectifier strips away half of the Alternating Current coming from the Stator, converting it into Direct Current. The DC is then sent to the Regulator, where excess voltage is internally dumped to Ground, creating more heat inside the R/R.
And to top it all off, the R/R, which must remain cool in order to continue functioning, is tucked away between the battery box and the frame, with a panel of bodywork keeping the R/R out of sight. So the only air the R/R gets is a small amount of hot air coming off the cylinders.
I believe that a possible solution is to move the R/R to a more suitable location, where it can get the cooling air it needs to function properly, and to replace the Triumph-type R/R with a modern, cooler-running MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) R/R.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Stretch67/IMGP2234.jpg)
Shindengen FH008EB Regulator / Rectifier from a 2008 Honda CBR1000RR ($40 used on eBay), mounted in place of the seat lock.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Stretch67/IMGP2235.jpg)
R/R bolted to a piece of 1/4-inch thick copper, with 14 computer heat-sinks (from Radio Shack) screwed to the back of the copper. The copper plate draws heat away from the R/R, and the heat sinks draw heat from the copper plate. Heat sink compound was used between each piece of metal to enhance the thermal conductivity between each part.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Stretch67/IMGP2232.jpg)
The body of the R/R is grounded directly to the Negative battery terminal, eliminating the possibility of a bad ground between the R/R, its bracket, the bike frame, the wiring harness, and the battery itself. I grounded the R/R straight to the source.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Stretch67/IMGP2233.jpg)
Not bad at all from a distance. Hell, only a Girly owner would notice something amiss.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Stretch67/IMGP2236.jpg)
All push-in connectors were cut off the wires, and each connection is soldered together, eliminating any conductivity problems due to faulty connectors. I used a 30-amp Maxi fuse for my wiring harness bypass (Sasquatch Fix), eliminating the possibility of overheated connectors from too small of connections in an ATC fuse holder.
You wouldn't believe how much cooler the new setup runs. After an hour's ride, the old setup would get the stock R/R so hot, you couldn't keep your hand on it.
This past Saturday, I put 200 miles on the bike, riding state highways, Interstate, city traffic, and dirt roads. At no point did the new R/R get too hot to touch. In fact, it remained barely warm to my bare hand. The black tank side-panels got hotter than the R/R.
Anywho, just posting my latest experiment.
interesting. What are you doing to unlock your seat?
ack
Pull on the end of the cable. :wink:
That is an important step. :)
I should have asked; where did you relocate the key lock for the rear section?
ack
I haven't. I just tug on the cable. :mrgreen:
That is an important step. :)
I should have asked; where did you relocate the key lock for the rear section?
ack
I haven't. I just tug on the cable. :mrgreen:
I'm getting bored already.
Don't know where that re-post came from.
I only ask because my 05 has one of these where it looks like you mounted your R/R
I wanted to get the R/R as far away from the engine (and its associated hotness) as I could, and the seat lock already had threaded bosses welded to the bike's frame... making it a prime candidate for eviction in favor of more important parts.
Highly-scientific airflow tests (my bare hand at 50 MPH) indicate a substantial amount of air flowing over and around the R/R, even with it behind my leg. It's not in a direct stream of high-speed air, but the air flowing and eddying around my left leg keeps a lot of air circulating and moving over the R/R... certainly enough to carry away its self-generated heat.
My seat lock is in the 'Tiger Parts' box in the garage. I did not cut up my original side panel. I found a black one from a junked bike on eBay and doctored it up to fit around the new R/R.
I'll fab up a new location for the lock, with a longer cable.
Ah, very good. Thanks for the info.
ack
Looks great Stretch, and another good how-to post.
As a note to all and any doing this, it's not entirely necessary to use the copper plate. It is possible to get a variety of anodised alloy heatsinks from places like Radio Shack (Americas), Maplin (UK), Jaycar (Aus/NZ) or even thru mailorder places like RS.
The important thing thou is to get an anodised heatsink (won't corrode in the weather) and use heat paste/thermal grease to ensure any heat is transferred.
The MOSFET RR's will naturally run cooler than the SCR types because they deal with Regulation differently.
Hiya Stretch. I'd like to get a rec/ reg like yours, but none of the Honda ones I've seen on ebay ref a make or that particular model# FH008EB. I don't want to get the wrong one. :icon_scratch Any hints for me.. THANKS!
Here's one from an '07 CBR1000RR. FH008EB is listed as the model number under Item Specifics...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/07-HONDA ... _500wt_954 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/07-HONDA-CBR1000RR-CBR1000-CBR-1000-REGULATOR-RECTIFIER_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247QQcategoryZ35594QQihZ005QQitemZ150271470043QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V#ht_500wt_954)
The listing says they have three in stock.
Was the one you got "plug and play" ? I'm wondering if it will plug directly into the wires from the stator (I've already done the sasquatch mod going to the battery). Thanks...
Nope, not 'plug and play'. The connectors on the new R/R are much larger than the Triumph and Rick's parts. Besides, I had trouble with the stator-to-RR connector once, so now I clip off the connectors and solder everything together.
Thanks for the heads- up, Stretch. Concerning the RR heating issue, if I reach down and feel the wires coming from the RR to the connector where the Sasquatch mod begins... very hot. It seems almost too hot to keep your finger on while riding, but occaisionally will cool off a bit. It's definitely not radiant heat from the engine. Maybe these periods of hot and "not as hot" reflect the current the RR is sending to the battery? I would guess it's not the current from the stator as it is always at a constant rate and the current from the RR to the battery fluctuates depending on what the RR thinks the battery needs? Does this sound right? I'm probably the only nut who's "felt up" :oops: his RR wires while riding! Maybe it's not the heat from load demands traveling thru to the battery, maybe it's heat build- up from the RR itself radiating down the wires? Do the wires from your new RR get very warm?
Stopwatch.
Heat is probably due to the charge going to the battery... easy way to tell. Battery will want most current after startup so RR should stay cooler but wiring to battery will get warmer. Once battery is happy RR will get warmer as it is carrying the load.
If you have done the Sasquatch fix then the shorter the wires from the RR to your join the cooler they will be. It is the long, small gauge, wires that are under-rated for their task, and this is why they heat up.
Yeah ox, it would seem at start up the rr wires to the battery would be flowing more current, but I nearly always have mine on a tender overnight (I'm a bit anal) so my battery's always very happy first thing. The hot area is that bundle which contains both the wires from the stator AND the wires coming from the rr. I guess I could cut off that plastic sleeve that keeps those two sets together and "feel 'em up" separately. The most heat seems to be present when I keep the revs up around 4k+ for extended periods.
At lower revs you ain't going to get the full power out of the charging system, this is probably why you only notice things warming up when the revs are higher.
If the cables are getting warm, and you want to minimise this: either free the cables from the sleeve as you say (simple but more a bandaid than a fix) or do the Sasquatch mod.
As I stated futher up, I've already done the Sasquatch mod. I was just wondering if anyone else had checked the temp of these wires during operation at different revs to see if other folks who've done the mod had similar experiences. I was just thinking of removing that wiring sleeve to determine which wires were giving off the high/ low heat ranges. After melting that fuse, I've just become a little more "interested" in keeping an eye on any heat issues in the associated wiring. It's sometimes hard to tell where other people are located who post in the forums, but it gets pretty darn hot in the southeast of the USA. I'm sure stop and go traffic in 90+ temps keeps things pretty warm (Stretch can tell ya about Georgia heat). I never checked the wiring temps before doing the mod to see if there's any difference in wiring heat. I may unplug the mod and plug back into the factory "route" for a ride just to compare, though I DO enjoy the extra voltage I've always gotten w/ the mod.
I appreciate everyone's feedback!