Better Electrical regulation?

[Arie]

I have had more than my share of electrical problems; I have been through 3 r/r in the past few years. I have replaced bad wires, bad connections, not to mention burnt out r/r/s and recently a burnt out ignitor and voltmeter.

%#$%# @$$hole cut me off a few weeks ago causing me to hit the brakes and horn. voltage spiked to 20v then voltmeter went black and the bike stalled on the highway. This was in the midst of that heatwave. I had to push my bike back home; fortunately I was only a mile away at the time. Holy cr@p the heat can make you feel like a wimp and I never knew I could sweat that much.

I have replaced the ignitor, and will get a new r/r. and am wondering if a new harnesss is in order? I have already replaced a few wires as it is but want to put this problem to bed.

for the electrically minded out there, I read about someone who built a circuit for a completely different purpose, which regulated voltage not by dumping to heat, but by turning on/off many times per second. anyone know of a similar device that can be used for our application?

btw, in other posts about ignitors, it had been suggested that by opening the device up, the burnt out resistors could be changed. I opened mine, and fwiw this is what I saw: not a lot to "fix"



Arie

[Hap Call]

I have had more than my share of electrical problems; I have been through 3 r/r in the past few years. I have replaced bad wires, bad connections, not to mention burnt out r/r/s and recently a burnt out ignitor and voltmeter.

%#$%# @$$hole cut me off a few weeks ago causing me to hit the brakes and horn. voltage spiked to 20v then voltmeter went black and the bike stalled on the highway. This was in the midst of that heatwave. I had to push my bike back home; fortunately I was only a mile away at the time. Holy cr@p the heat can make you feel like a wimp and I never knew I could sweat that much.

I have replaced the ignitor, and will get a new r/r. and am wondering if a new harnesss is in order? I have already replaced a few wires as it is but want to put this problem to bed.

for the electrically minded out there, I read about someone who built a circuit for a completely different purpose, which regulated voltage not by dumping to heat, but by turning on/off many times per second. anyone know of a similar device that can be used for our application?

btw, in other posts about ignitors, it had been suggested that by opening the device up, the burnt out resistors could be changed. I opened mine, and fwiw this is what I saw: not a lot to "fix"

[ATTACH]910[/ATTACH]

Arie

Arie, I just want to say first that I admire your patience. As far as replacing the entire harness, unless you can find a NOS harness at a great price, I wouldn't try it. It would give you peace of mind but unless the present harness has been damaged by heat or someone hacking it up, it should be in useable shape. I suggest the following:

1. Get a complete wiring diagram for your bike with wiring color code and everything. The Suzuki diagram is an excellent one for a black-and-white diagram. Study it like a 15 year-old would study a Playboy Centerfold. Become familiar with it.

2. Pull all the body work off your bike. Tank, side panels, Headlight bucket, tail section, even the instrument cluster. This will give you unobstructed access the wiring harness and all electrical components.

3. Starting at the front of the bike, start pulling every electrical connection you find apart and clean it. DO ONE AT A TIME IF AT ALL POSSIBLE! You do not want to end up with a mass of loose wire ends trying to put them all back where they came from. Use silver contact cleaner that is made for electrical contacts. You can find it at most automotive and electrical supply houses. Use those green scouring pads you can get at a supermarket to clean dishes, the ones that are kind of abrasive but will not take the Teflon off the bottom of the pan. Use Q-Tips soaked in the contact cleaner to clean the inside of the female connectors. Do not use steel wool.

*IMPORTANT* - When cleaning the connections do not attempt to clean the connections down to the copper. The connections are silver plated copper. The silver will corrode but silver oxide is still an excellent electrical conductor. Copper is an excellent conductor but copper oxide is not. If you remove all the silver and leave shiny copper it will work great until the copper starts to oxidize - then you will have a world of problems! The silver plating prevents the copper from oxidizing. Clean to shiny silver.

While cleaning the connectors, carefully inspect the wiring itself. Hopefully it will be in good shape. If you find more than a few problems with the wires than you might consider changing the harness. Pay close attention where the wires transition from the frame to the headlight...due to years of acting like a "hinge" the harness here can become bad with broken wires. Also, above the engine the insulation on the wires can become brittle due to the heat coming off the engine.

This step is tedious and as exciting as watching paint peel but once done you can be assured of a good path for all you electrical currents.

4. Carefully pull the fuse box off, making notes where the wires all go (taking clear digital pictures would be great here). Take it apart and clean it completely, especially where the fuses clip in. Reinstall it back on the bike.

5. Find a new place to locate the R/R. Get it out from under the side cover. It does not get the cooling air it needs when it is behind that cover. Many motorcycle manufactures mount the R/R up front of the engine to insure proper cooling. I suggest you engineer a mount and to the same thing. You will have to extend the wires going to and from the R/R but it will greatly lengthen the life of your electrical system.

6. Perform a full electrical test to insure all components are functioning correctly...stator, battery, R/R. Go here:

http://www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_statorfacts.htm

Read it, learn it, live it! Well, don't actually live it, but ya know, kinda pay attention.

Replace any defective parts you find.

7. While you are at it, you may wish to pull your switches apart and clean the contacts...not necessary but it can help.

8. This last step is VERY important. Put the body work back on, start it up, and ride.

The regulated voltage thing you are talking about is an SCR power transistor and is used in A/C applications for dimmer switches and such. Not sure if it would work on a DC circuit.


Hap

[Arie]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

You have given me a lot to think about, right now I am waiting on a new r/r and a new voltmeter. then the fun begins!!

hopefully, my demons can be exorcized.

and hopefully I can get some riding in!

Arie

[Arie]

The bike lives once again!

I got a Ricks r/r and a new voltmeter, and installed them last night. Put everything back together, replaced a slew of blown bulbs, and took my baby ot for a ride. It was Sweet!!!

The r/r read 13.6 at a max, so I now have a r/r that works. I had used a honda mod a while back, but that blew after the dreaded corroded connectors and old wires did their stuff. replaced several wires, connectors, and the entire fuse box.

I had replaced my r/r with another earlier this year, and while the diodes tested ok in all bias tests, I have concluded that the sensor portion of this r/r was no good - it turned off the r/r when connected and when not connected the r/r diode not regulate: the voltage just increased with rpm until i fried the ignitor.

So maybe I'll get to do some riding!