My rectifier went out for the second time. I am just wondering what makes the rectifier break? How can I stop this?

 

Sounds like you have a short somewhere in your wiring? If that is your second one, there is definitly something going wrong. It could also be a bad ground?

 

Should I bring it my dealer to look at it. They will be better suited to find the cause of this probelm..right?

 

Yeah.. I think it's a good idea. They should have all the proper equipment to check out that kind of a problem. Are you still under warrenty? I don't know if they would charge you for that kind of troubleshooting, but I bet they would get a pretty penny for it if they did? If you don't get it fixed, you could eventually end up with a electrical fire. Your problem may or may not lead to such a thing, but it always good to get those electrical problems fixed. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Yeah. I think on Tuesday when they are open I am going to call em' up and drop the bike off. Last time I sent it to them to run a diagnostic on it and they said it was the rectifier but they didn't say anything about a short or what would cause the rectifier to break. They did't charge much because it only takes a minute or two to put the new rectifier in. Thats why I asked if I should bring it to the shop again cause I can do it myself but like you said it could lead to a bigger problem if I don't find the source of my problem.

 

It could very well be a intermittent or high resistance short in the system that took out the regulator.


Some other things to consider:
Do you run any accesories on the bike? Have you upgraded any of your lighting (bulbs or add-ons)? Have you had any problems with your battery running dead (before the rectifier blows) ? If you did have battery problems, how did you handle it? New battery? Jump Start? Push start? take the battery off and charge it?

The reason I ask these questions, they could be clues as to why the rectifier/voltage regulator may be failing. The charging system on the bike is designed to "maintain" a charge on the battery under normal use. Meaning it will keep the accesories from draining the battery. Also the batterys aren't designed to "deep-cycle". Deep-cycle is a term used for batterys that can withstand many cycles of complete discharge and recharge. Ignition batterys aren't designed to do this. Some say that if you run an ignition battery dead, you could shorten the lifespan of the battery by as much as 50% each time you run it dead. I personally think it's closer to 25%, but either way it's bad. When a discharged battery is applied to the charging circuit, it draws an enormus amperage on the system. This puts a huge strain on the charging system.

If you add too many lights or two high a wattage of lights to the system, the charging system is also put under a huge strain.

Jump starting the bike with a dead battery could fry the rectifier/voltage regulator. Even if it doesn't fry it, the charging system now has the daunting task of bring a dead battery up to full charge.

Push starting the bike with a dead battery (assuming there's enough voltage for the ignition, is again forcing the charging system to recover a dead battery.

The best thing to do with a dead battery is either replace it, or take it off the bike and put it on a charger at no more than a 2 amp charge. This will take overnight to charge, but it's the only way to charge the battery without shortening the lifespan. Automatic chargers are the best because they detect the peak charge and automaticly shut off, keeping it from overcharging.


now with all that said, your problem could have be a bad run of voltage regulators from the manufacturer. But honestly there isn't much to a rectifier/voltage regulator, I can't see how they could screw one up. I would definately try to talk the dealer into doing a full diagnostic on it. Especially with the bike history (2nd blown regulator)

Also, (this is a bit out there) if you have done any welding on the bike without disconnecting the battery, that will blow out the regulator just about every time.


-Tom

 

WOW... Looks like someone did thier homework. Thanks alot. I have had to charge the battery lately because the bike is having such a hard time starting when cold. I have even jump started it to get going. I never would have thought that was why the rectifier went. The first time it went I did everything right.I never had to charge it or jump it but I guess it just had it's time. Well I will order one for overnight delivery on tuesday and I will avoid doing any of things I have recently done. Thanks alot for all the info I really appreciate it.