'91 Rectifier question

Hi guys,

I'm a VFR newbie with an electrical problem.

I did a long ride (100 mi round trip) a week ago and when I got home I noticed a burning "electical" smell coming from the right back-faring. Took off the seat and noticed that the rectifier was real warm. I decided to take it for a ride yesterday, and after about 10 miles the bike shut off and I lost most power (the lights burned real low). I tride to crank it and got nothing. I took off the seat and noticed that burning "electrical" smell again and could see a light smoke coming from the rectifier.

I'm sure that I have to replace the R/R but I'm not sure if I need to check anything else before I install a new one. Does this sound like a typical R/R failure or do I have somthing else going on that will fry my new one?

Any help would be greatly appriciated,
Will

 

I think it sounds like your R/R is just cooked if it's the only thing cooked then nothing else got cooked! Go to the website "Wire my bike.com" and you'll find everything you need that's where I got my replacement R/R, since then not a problem it's been 2 years now. Hope this info helps, remember shiny side up!

CdnVffer

 

Thanks CDN,
I just didn't want to hook up and cook another R/R.
BTW what is "shiny side up"?

 

"Shiny side up" means keeping your bike up right, basically not to get into an accident! Hope the website will help you good luck enjoy the riding as we have snow up here in Canada now!

 

It means, don't fall off your bike. Keeping the shiny (painted) side up means keeping the rubber on the road and the paint up.

Shiny side down means you crashed.

 

Sounds like your rectifier plug could be fried. Either side. Unplug your rectifier from the bike and check it out. The rectifier is supposed to get extremely warm....if it was not hot to touch, it would not be doing its job, which is to transform AC current from the stator to DC current, so it can charge the battery.

Buy yourself a multimeter. With the bike running, and at 5000rpm, you should be getting somewhere between 13.5 and 14.5 volts. Its easy to test. Just put on probe on positive and one on negative (on the battery) set the multimeter to 20v, start the bike, and test.

If you are not getting this type of voltage and are seeing something more like low 12's, your R/R is toast.

If your R/R tests good (13.5 to 14.5) check your battery. WIth the bike turned off, you should hopefully get 12.7-13.0 off your battery.

Unfortunately, if your battery or stator or R/R is bad, it can fry one of the other 3. Best to get it looked at fast, so you dont fry anything else.

 

I would like to clarify what you said. A bad battery won't charge, or a good battery that has been depleted severely cannot be recharged with the bikes electronics; not enough 'juice' and it'll just fry the replacement R/R.

If you're going to replace the R/R, I'd get a new battery to go with. Though you most likely will be able to get away with just having the battery charged with a dedicated charger for about 8 hours at 2amps.

 

Correct. Always a safe bet to replace the battery when replacing an R/R. However you can always have the battery load tested at Schucks or NAPA.

 

Like they said, and I know Powder knows what he is talking about, LOL I taught him.. :wink:

 

1800-CALL-JAY is a great service when you are stuck on the side of the road. Instant answers!

 

Update on R/R

Just wanted to give you all an update on my R/R.

When I took off the back fairing, I could see that the R/R had puked up it's guts. There was a crack in the middle and oil had leaked out onto the frame. I decided to take it in for and electrical check so that I didn't burn-up anything else. All check out good. A new Rick's R/R, a slow charge on the battery, and I'm back on the road. :smile:

Thanks to everyone for the help. Hopefully this info will help someone else down the line.

-Will

 

Would have loved to see a picture of this. Have never seen an R/R in that condition before. Good choice on Ricks.

 

Rectifier Fix ULTIMATE

http://vfrworld.com/forums/modifications/14147-r-r-relocation-opinions-needed.html

I had no issues last year and it you could touch it with your hand. There was no damage to the underside either.

More than I was expecting