thanks,its not blowing fuses just kills my battery if I keep the rectifier plugged in.I run it all the time without it plugged in now.I bought a new rectifier from China last yr and it worked perfectly till this spring,now it only cost me aprox $60 compared to $200 here so I don't know if you get what you pay for or not. What do you mean," there should be open circuit between the regulator's housing and the spade that the red wire connects to"?I have a good multimeter but not all that savvy with it .Thanks

 

just did test with meter 5 terminals 2 on top 3 on bottom..+ lead top left 4.34,1.95,1.9
+ lead top right.433,1.92,1.87
- lead top left 1.88,1.96,.430
-lead top right 1.89,1.98,.428
what do you think?

 

No idea, my AVO meter is rubbish at resistances, the point is the spade that connects to the red wire is live all the time so should not be connected to earth. Neither the spade that connects to the green earth wire, nor the case of the rectifier. Easy test, with ignition off remove either live or earth wire from the battery, connect an ammeter between the lead and the battery, the "drain" should be next to nothing. If there is a drain of more than say 0.05 amps, disconnect the rectifier and, if the drain stops, you need a new regulator.

 

I have a '02 Rancher 350FE. I replaced the battery, starter, and solenoid recently. It started right up and I rode around for 15 minutes (starting and restarting). I parked it and came back a week later and now it's blowing the main fuse. I've checked all the connections from the the battery forward (everything I replaced). I have constant 12V at the entry side of the main fuse. I believe the problem is past the fuse box (towards the ignition). I disconnected all the connections in the front (key, lights, etc.) and it's still blowing the fuse. The fuse blows instantaly. I've read the posts about the regulator.
Any suggestions on what to look at next?