Compufire vs. SH-775

[Rob S.]

I'm trying to learn about my electrical system (1100EZ). There seems to be a consensus that the regulator/rectifier should be upgraded, even if charging and rest of electrical is working.

I assumed the SH-775 was state of the art, and therefore the way to go. But I also keep reading about Compufire. Are they both regulators/rectifiers, just different brand names?

If so, is one better than the other (for an '82 1100e)?

Will they both have an equal effect (lowering) on oil temp?

[Nessism]

Shingengen R/R's are high quality and the Compufire are twice the price. The choice seems a no brainer in my opinion.

Regarding the oil temp reduction, I'm not convinced there is a whole lot of benefit there. Won't hurt of course though.

[smoothbored]

I did all the basic checks and removed the handle bar stator loop first. My 31 year old charging system was working ok. After much research here I changed my stator and R/R with a SH775 for future reliable service. Now I'm set for so long road trips this year on my 83GS1100E. I got the R/R for 70. shipped. Fits a late model Polaris Razor.

[posplayr]

I'm trying to learn about my electrical system (1100EZ). There seems to be a consensus that the regulator/rectifier should be upgraded, even if charging and rest of electrical is working.

I assumed the SH-775 was state of the art, and therefore the way to go. But I also keep reading about Compufire. Are they both regulators/rectifiers, just different brand names?

If so, is one better than the other (for an '82 1100e)?

Will they both have an equal effect (lowering) on oil temp?

Read GS Stator link in my Signature.

[Rob S.]

I did all the basic checks and removed the handle bar stator loop first. My 31 year old charging system was working ok. After much research here I changed my stator and R/R with a SH775 for future reliable service. Now I'm set for so long road trips this year on my 83GS1100E. I got the R/R for 70. shipped.

So the SH-775 will work just as good as a Compufire, and save a few bucks, correct?

Can I leave my (probably stock) stator as is, and just upgrade the R/R to an SH-775, and still see benefits (brighter lights, starter spinning faster and lower oil temp)?

[Nessism]

Can I leave my (probably stock) stator as is, and just upgrade the R/R to an SH-775, and still see benefits (brighter lights, starter spinning faster and lower oil temp)?

What do you hope to gain by removing a perfectly functioning stator?

Brighter lights? No

Starter spinning faster? No

Lower oil temp? Already covered above

[Nessism]

Ed, Rob did not say he was going to remove a perfectly functioning stator.

I have COMPUFIRE RR's on both my GS1100E's. Owned both bikes since new. I know for a fact that STATOR life increased (So far, 23K on one, 15K on the other...2 riders helping out here) as never got more than 10K before.....Widder Vest and Gloves....not the best for stock charging system. Is oil temp lowered? A bit...hard to tell in real world riding.....different speeds, temps etc.....But have never seen temps more than 2 needle widths over 210..Always below the horizontal line on gauge. Cheap insurance I think even at twice the price. Additionally, I am in my 4th year with my MOTOBATT AGM Batteries. Never a battery tender anywhere near. There is no downside.

Rob, why don't you pull the trigger and buy something for a change?

I have a Compufire R/R on my 1000S. Bought it at Jim's recommendation and happy with it. Good to hear that they are holding up in service. Seems to me the more power you consume on the bike, including accessories, the less you need a series R/R, but regardless. Bought a SH-775 for my latest project because it was quite a bit cheaper. My only question relative to the benefits of a series R/R is the temp stuff.

Regarding Rob and his endless questions, he said his charging system is working so that means the stator is fine. Can't see much benefit in ditching a working part. Guess that thought process could include the R/R too, but the reliability benefits of the series unit seem clear enough. Of greater importance than the R/R type though is fixing the ground and wiring issues in the stock system. 90% of GS owners don't bother to do anything until their harness melts down then they scratch their heads. You can lead a horse to water...

[Steve]

You can lead a horse to water...

... but have you ever smelled a wet horse?

.

[tkent02]

Regarding Rob and his endless questions, he said his charging system is working so that means the stator is fine. Can't see much benefit in ditching a working part. Guess that thought process could include the R/R too, but the reliability benefits of the series unit seem clear enough. Of greater importance than the R/R type though is fixing the ground and wiring issues in the stock system. 90% of GS owners don't bother to do anything until their harness melts down then they scratch their heads. You can lead a horse to water...

If you are going to keep all of you wiring and grounds the original system is fine, I still haven't had one fail.

[Guest]

I bought the Compufire, the SH-775 wasn't known back then. I've been happy with the Compufire. I did install a new stator when I bought the Compufire, just a little insurance. History on my bike with stators and R/Rs. Burnt out 7 stators and 3 R/Rs. 4 of the stators were OEM, two were Rick's and One was an Electrex. 2 of the R/Rs were OEM, 1 was a Ricks, the last one was a Electrexs. And yes, my electrical system is very well maintained. I also run 3 grounds, one from the battery to motor, one from the R/R to the frame and one from R/R to the battery.

Might add, these all failed within 3 years of each other. You could just about set your watch to it.

[Nessism]

If you are going to keep all of you wiring and grounds the original system is fine, I still haven't had one fail.

I've had two different original GS's with poor charging voltage, traced back to corrosion in the R/R ground path. Countless people here have had their harness melt down along the "stator loop" also. I believe that at minimum, the charging system should be rewired to bypass the stator loop and the R/R grounds improved. That will give the system a fighting chance.

[tkent02]

Stator loop, are you talking about the loop up to the headlight switch? Never had that melt down. Have removed a few loops but not on the ones with healight switches. With no corrosion there is no heat, no melting down.

I have bought several GSes with dead charging systems, but never had one fail on me. All of the dead ones were very corroded and had burnt connectors. They don't fail because I clean up the connections before I start riding them.

Take care of that stuff and they will be fine. Over 100,000 miles on one GS, about 200,000 miles total between a bunch of other GSes, no charging problems yet.

That said, I just bought a Shendigan 775 series regulator for my curent 550, it just seems like a better idea.

[Grimly]

If you are going to keep all of you wiring and grounds the original system is fine, I still haven't had one fail.

Hmm... in 2012, after many years off the road, I put one of the GSs back on, and quickly checked the charging system out. Everything was ok at that point. Over the next year, the cheapy battery I'd bought died slowly and further investigation showed the grounds and connections weren't as good as I thought they were.
The symptoms were strange - probably because of the poor grounding, the charging voltage was fluctuating a bit, but never enough to cause any real concern on the meter. I reckon it was actually under-charging on the road, because of that and caused the battery's demise.
I'd gone with a budget battery because in previous service I'd had several years out of cheapies and never saw any real benefit or extra use from more expensive ones, because back then the charging system was kept clean and working reliably with stock stator and Honda RR.
In fact, the stator failures I had just stopped when I ditched the original RRs and fitted Honda Superdream RRs to both bikes.
Anyway, six months back bought another battery, scrupulously cleaned every connection, made new wiring/fuse/ harness for the charging system and more or less started from first principles, gutting out the old crap and re-doing it.
Now back to reliability, but I'm seriously thinking of the SH-775 RR as a long-term upgrade, allied with yearly clean-ups of connectors, etc.

[posplayr]

Hmm... in 2012, after many years off the road, I put one of the GSs back on, and quickly checked the charging system out. Everything was ok at that point. Over the next year, the cheapy battery I'd bought died slowly and further investigation showed the grounds and connections weren't as good as I thought they were.
The symptoms were strange - probably because of the poor grounding, the charging voltage was fluctuating a bit, but never enough to cause any real concern on the meter. I reckon it was actually under-charging on the road, because of that and caused the battery's demise.
I'd gone with a budget battery because in previous service I'd had several years out of cheapies and never saw any real benefit or extra use from more expensive ones, because back then the charging system was kept clean and working reliably with stock stator and Honda RR.
In fact, the stator failures I had just stopped when I ditched the original RRs and fitted Honda Superdream RRs to both bikes.
Anyway, six months back bought another battery, scrupulously cleaned every connection, made new wiring/fuse/ harness for the charging system and more or less started from first principles, gutting out the old crap and re-doing it.
Now back to reliability, but I'm seriously thinking of the SH-775 RR as a long-term upgrade, allied with yearly clean-ups of connectors, etc.

You mention charging system "first principles"??

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=140109