I have a 2001 suzuki king quad 300 with 500 miles on it and was riding sunday and all of a sudden it started smoking right under the handelbars .So took it apart and the recitifer was what was smoking the back was burnt up .Was wondering what could have caused this have checked all the wired and there was a ground wire that was cut but not cut all the way through that runs to the battery please any help would greatly be appreciated .Bought new recitifer and want to make sure before i put it on so i don't burn it up also . Thanks

 

Are you sure that was a ground wire? All a rectifier does is convert AC to DC. If yours was burnt, either you had a defective one or your alternator was charging your dead battery (or for some reason had a large electrical load on it - winch, lights, etc). Not a good idea to charge a dead battery with an alternator. It will cause a great deal of heat to the rectifier.