what would cause my voltage regulator rectifier to get hot verry hot to the point where it smokes i know they get hot but not that hot and melts the stink from this thing is unreal and i put a new one on and let the bike run for a couple of minutes and that one is gitting pretty hot too i caint keep burning these out they aint cheap.the bike was workin fine all day i took it in a big puddle earlier and i noticed it started sputtering i took it home and let it sit after i washed it off took it out after about 2 hours drove it for about 10 minutes and it was pretty close to catching fire im lucky i was next to a puddle to get some water to pour on the rectifier.please help i just got this bike and all i had is trouble i also had to replace the clutch i dont know much about these things and nither does anybody else i talk to can you e mail me with any advice at youngcory1984@yahoo.ca

 

If you start up the quad and feel around the rectifier, what gets hot first: The heatsink part, or the wires and connector? On your old one is the connector melted? Look at the pins in your wiring harness. Are they burn't? Is one pin more burn't looking then the others?

Often times the connector melts because of a bad connection in a crimp joint to the wire, or just a loose/burned connector pin.

If the regulator heatsink is getting hot first and the connector/pins aren't burn't then the regulator is bad. The regulator should be able to pass all the power the stator is capable of putting out without overheating.

Another test:

Start up the engine and measure the DC voltage across the battery terminals. What is it? Then rev the engine up to around 3000 RPM and measure it again. What is it?

 

just the heat sink nothing else is gittin hot. the old one the one that bernt the black resin in the back got all cracked and started leaking some kind of red gunk and no wires or conectors on that one bernt. i dont have a metor but if i do git one how do i test this for problems.whatever hapened my batery isnt holdin a charge now either the bike was workin great till i got it wet.

 

If you charge the battery up, and pull out the main fuse in the quad, does the battery hold a charge? If not, you have a bad battery. If it does then something on the quad is draining battery.

If something on the quad is draining the battery I'd start with the regulator first since that already suspect. Unplug it and see if the battery stops going dead while sitting.

Here's another test: Start up the quad, and while it is running disconnect the battery (or pull out the main fuse). Does the regulator still get hot? If not, then turn on the headlights. Does the regulator get hot now?

 

it was the rectifier all along the seccond hand one i put on after the other one bernt was no good i put another one on and now its all good batery is chargeing and the heat sink is only gitting a little hot. thanks

 

The worst problems to solve are ones where you change out the suspected part with another bad one and it does the same thing. It kind of destroys confidence and leads to a lot of frustration.

Glad you got it running again.