A
Anonymous
Guest
My bike is a 78 GS1000 having some charging issues. I have gone through the bike once with the stator papers but pland to do it again as a precaution but it appears the R/R is bad. Does anyone know if a 79 GS1000s R/R will work on my bike? I know the Suzuki part number is different but I am wondering what the difference is. I believe the 78 used a seperate rectifer and regulator while the 79 (part number 32800-49140 if this helps at all) used a combined unit. I am just wondering as I can get a 79 one locally brand new for about 25 bucks! Way cheaper than an Electrix model.
It is my understanding that these go bad in phase 3 (lights on). If I CAN use the 79, is there also a way I can splice the phase 3 out of the system so the rectifier wont go bad (like the gentlemen did when he used the Honda rectifier in the posting on this site)?
Again, you people are awesome and all this help goes to show the love that we have for these machines! I will have piled WAY more money into this machine than it is certainly worth, but to me its STILL money well spent (but if I can save some thats great too!)
It is my understanding that these go bad in phase 3 (lights on). If I CAN use the 79, is there also a way I can splice the phase 3 out of the system so the rectifier wont go bad (like the gentlemen did when he used the Honda rectifier in the posting on this site)?
Again, you people are awesome and all this help goes to show the love that we have for these machines! I will have piled WAY more money into this machine than it is certainly worth, but to me its STILL money well spent (but if I can save some thats great too!)
What Earl says makes sense to me, but doesn't that put more load on the two phases that have to work all the time? It seems it would be better to go with a good RR that has no problem keeping the voltage under 15VDC and no problem sinking off the heat/power generated by all three phases of the stator working all the time even when the lights are off. The Electrex unit has a much larger heat sink. It almost wouldn't fit on my bike, I had to use a Dremel on the holes in the ignitor mounting plate to move it over 1/4in. to get everything to fit right. I was going to use the Dremel on the RR but didn't want to make it unreturnable. Even on hot days running on the freeway with no lights that Electrex RR never seems to get very warm. Better check my battery to see if it's boiling dry...
That stems from the difference between a car charging system and the GS system. Cars match output to load, so loss of continuity of a phase in an auto alternator would mean the remaining two phases would have to make up any deficit. The GS charging system does not match output to load. The stator AC voltage increases directly with crankshaft rpm regardless of whether there is any load. The stator outputs 80 V AC at 5K rpm. It produces 40V AC at 2.5K and 16 V AC at 1k rpm. Load is designed to be aproximately the same as the average output of the stator at an average riding rpm. Go too slow for too long and you will drain your battery, Go too fast for too long and the battery will become fully charged. BUT, once the battery is fully charged, the stator still produces the same charging amperage. The excess amperage is shunted to ground. Two phases of the stator are all that are needed to maintain the battery if the headlight is turned off. The output of the 3rd phase is almost consumed entirely by the headlight. There is about a 2 to 3 amp surplus with the headlight on and a stock wattage headlight. (surplus depends on which GS model you have but it should be in the 2-3 amp range) The R/R having to heat sink away excess power puts unnecessary wear on it. Running the bike with 3 phases charging and the headlight off produces an excess current to be shunted that the R/R is not capable of handling for very long. Its a sure way to treat yourself to a new R/R every couple of weeks.