Meatloaf has Regulator/Rectifier issues

Hopefully you guys can help me out here as my time these days is limited due to work. Not so limited though that I'm willing to take things to a dealer for multiple reasons.

The other day I fired my bike up and ran it around the block just fine after changing tires, adjusting the chain, etc. Everything ran great and I parked it so I could ride to work the next morning. The bike fired up fine and I stopped to get gas about a half mile away. Shut the bike off, filled up, and got ready to go. I turned it on, turned the kill switch to on, waited for the pump to prime, and started the bike... or so I thought I had. The dash flickered and reset and wouldn't start the bike. I got a push start and promptly went back home to park it and grab the car. I suspected the problem to be what I hoped it wouldn't but just now got to tearing it apart after fighting a stuck and stripped fairing bolt for two days. Here are the results:





I officially have R/R issues. Can someone point me where to go at this point? What do I need to test? Is a VFRNess in my near future? Am I going to be replacing the regulator with an R1 model?

Please and thanks.

 

Yea, what Mello said. He's the man on this shit.

Sorry to hear of your woes, but welcome to the official "toasted wires, burnt connections & useless R/R club".

 

Those spade lug terminals are just not suitable for the AC voltage coming out of the stator--notice how wide the gap has opened up on the right-most terminal in the bottom picture. You may have caught it soon enough to have no damage to stator or RR, but you'll have to clean it all up to make good contact surfaces to test it for 'the drill'. Make sure you have a fully charged battery to make troubleshooting easier.

 

Have to start things with all the necessary tools: Laptop, multimeter, beer.



-Looks like you gotta do…. “The Drill.” --------
Go through all your connectors for burnt leads, dig deep. Crispy wires? Not good. The stator connector is the number one burn it up connector on the bike. - Your gonna have to fix that!

------ Burnt connectors - replace with VFRNess

Then---Go through this starting point quick list. You will need a multimeter too.

Steps: ---
- Recharge battery overnite - then to take it to Autozone or similar to load test. -- Good? Bad? – An iffy battery can fake you out and act like a bad R/R. Buy new if needed.

------ Good battery - 14.2V charged

- With good battery fire it up, warm up for a minute or two.

These are R/R quick checks---
--- With voltmeter at battery posts get voltages -- idle volts? 5000 rpm volts? What’s the numbers? Should be in 13ish min idle and in 14s at revs. (if in the 12s at idle, check at about 1900rpms instead. Its not unusual for the system to be in discharge at idle. )

------ 12.0V @ 1350 RPM, 10.5V @ 1900 RPM, 9.8V @ 5000 RPM

- Check stator - These tests are done checking the connector that goes to the stator. (Engine off)
1. Pull connector apart. Set meter to resistance. Check pin to pin, 3 yellow wires, A to B, B to C, C to A. What’s the numbers? 3 separate readings --Should be less than 1.0 ohms.

------ All show zero resistance

- 2. Check continuity from each A,B,C pin to ground, -- -should be infinity - nada nothing. no continuity. -- 3 separate checks. (Connector still apart, engine off)

------ All show zero continuity

- 3. Crank it back up. Do another pin to pin thing, but set meter on AC volts. idle and 5000 rpms. What's da numbers? Should start 15 -20ish and climb 50ish and more. Again – 3 readings- (Again, connector apart) Repeat hot.

------All show 22-23V idle, 60V+ at 5000 RPM

 

The burnt connectors are still in place. This means a VFRNess is in my future along with a repair kit for the stator side. The question is do I pull the trigger on the rectifier at the same time or wait for the VFRNess, retest, and perhaps pull the trigger on it later?

 

If you've got one of those Deltran battery tenders, this little guy is handy to have. Just picked one up for keeping an eye on the voltage for an upcoming road trip.

http://batterytender.com/digital-voltage-indicator-with-lcd-display.html

 

I hadn't seen that one. I am wired for a battery tender but I use a Craftsman model, not one directly from Deltran. That will work however so to each his own.

 

Well from the test data it looks like your stator is okay. Since you have a clamp on meter you could measure the current (both direction and amplitude) on the green wire out of the RR and on the red wire back to the battery to find where the big current draw is that is pulling down your voltage as the RPMs were raised. If the high current is in the green wire then the RR is toast. If it is in the red wire directed toward the battery, then the battery is suspect. If in the red wire directed toward the RR, then RR is suspect.

 

Yes, battery tested good. I don't want to wire directly to the battery and also want to get some switch and unswitched circuits for accessories. The VFRNess will take care of that. I'll get the new R/R, harness, and repair kit for the terminals on the existing stator and I should be good to go. /me crosses fingers

 

What we are trying to say is to Solder the wires instead of using the spade lug terminals--the spade lug terminals are the root cause of all this evil...if you use spade lugs it will happen again.

 

That I can agree with. I would much rather use something like this though as I don't like the idea of having to de-solder to take things apart.

 

That set up will work, just make sure the product can handle the load :thumb:

 

Connections in red plug atop starter relay need careful inspection too after it's unplugged. i hope Honda sacked a bunch of guys in the electrickal design department for causing us all so much trouble.

 

Only connection with issues is what is above. New RR, VFRNess, and terminal strip are on the way. Will report back when installed.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

Initial report shows all is well. VFRness installed with new R/R. Soldered ring connectors to stator wires and R/R connected with the above terminal block.

Fired right up and shows charging at 14.4V at 1400RPM. 14.6V at anything higher. Gotta clean it up and tuck everything in then will post pictures.

 

Coming in a bit late on this and have the same issue. Will order the roadstercycle R/R but my question is where will the 2 other connections on the current R/R (red/white-starter relay & green-tail light) wires connect to after installing the new R/R?

 

As Mello Dude did: post #50
http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/41346-Voltage-Regulator-Repeat-Failure-VFR800-1998/page2

 

So it would appear that my R/R has died again. Voltmeter on the battery shows X.XX voltage and only goes up by about .2V when at 5000 RPM. I pulled the wiring connection between the stator and R/R apart and get no resistance between the wires, no resistance to ground, 20V AC between all stator wires at idle and about 50V AC between all stator wires at 5000RPM.

I have replaced the battery with a new Yuasa and have also installed the VFRness.

Does this sound correct in that my R/R is cooked again? I ordered from Tightwad but cut the standard ends off and replaced with ring style connectors. All connections were tight and no burning when I took things apart.

All advise welcome, please and thanks.