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Rectifier Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anthony
  • Start date Start date
A

Anthony

Guest
Hey guys,
I have a question that I've been wondering about since I've got my bike. How do I know, or find out, if my rectifier has already been replaced? It looks like it's in great condition, and the electrical quick test I ran last night seemed to show that everything is working like it should be. I basically want to know if I need to replace it or not, since things work good now. Any chance on finding that out?
 
We could sit here and describe it all day long with no resolution, but if you were to post a picture of it, we could verify it rather quickly. :D

.
 
zGFyi5r.jpg
 
Anthony said:
Wow sorry for the huge picture haha, hope it helps.
Click to expand...
It would help more if you re-size it, then re-post it.
icon_shrug.gif


It does show signs of being a Suzuki R/R.

Can't say whether it's the one that was on the bike as it neared the end of the assembly line or a replacement, though.

.
 
So there's no real way to determine if it's been replaced or OEM?
 
That sure looks OEM to me. Test it per the manual and various posts here, but I'd replace it with a series R/R even if it passes the tests.

Mine only had 5K miles on it and although it was a year newer then yours, it failed. Of course I'm pretty sure they I caused the early death by pulling all my incandescent bulbs and replaced with LED's.

Make sure you don't upgrade everything to LED's like I didn't until you've gone through the electrical system/cleans all your connections and grounds and upgraded your R/R to a series unit like the Polaris or CompuFire unit like in my post here.
 
Anthony said:
So there's no real way to determine if it's been replaced or OEM?
Click to expand...

If you were an expert in Suzuki Motorcycles and you were so inclined I'm sure you could deduce an answer to your question, but alas you are not so I assume you cannot. :cry:


You would then be best served by relating the relevant information to the board who has members that are experts. Big Pictures are nice, but that is not a sufficient condition for conveying information.
 
So bottom line is, replace it anyways if you can afford it? That's what I've seemed to gather from most threads on here haha :P How much would a Polaris or Compufire R/R run me?
 
I got my CompuFire for $165 shipped on Amazon (see my link above for more) lots of people here have had great success with the Polaris unit here and can be had for about half what I payed for the CompuFire.

Keep reading and clean up/test all your connections - use the links in posplayr's signature and your bike will be glad you did.
 
Anthony said:
So there's no real way to determine if it's been replaced or OEM?
Click to expand...
Oh, it appears to be OEM, for sure, but "OEM" is "Original Equipment Manufacturer".

What we can't tell is whether it might have been replaced with an OEM regulator.

It might be the one that was installed on the assembly line, it might be one off the parts shelf. They look the same.
icon_shrug.gif


.
 
Cleaning up all of the connections in the system and testing it occasionally works too. I still haven't had a charging system failure in 350,000 or so miles on a multitude of GSes. Have bought a few with dead charging systems, but they all had a lot of corrosion in the wiring and connectors. Once they were cleaned up and repaired, none have failed.
If you were worried you could throw an extra R/R in the tool bag and not worry about it.
I have a box or about 20 of them here.

That said, I am replacing my Suzuki RRs with the Shendigan series regulators. They are cheap, and they work well. The whole concept of a series regulator is so much better.

Why push my luck?
 
So I suspect I should run the electrical tests on my charging system (the in depth ones), and if it turns out fine, I probably don't need to worry about it. I'm sure I'll get a new R/R when I have extra money. But from what you can see in that picture, my bike needs a lot of other things...
 
Anthony said:
But from what you can see in that picture, my bike needs a lot of other things...
Click to expand...
Actually, by the time I scroll around the screen to see other parts of the bike, I have probably forgotten what else I have seen. :-\\\

When you post pictures, try to limit them to 800x600 or, at most, 1024x768 in size.
Still plenty big to see details, but not so large that we have to scroll all over to see the whole thing.

Just for comparison, here is your picture in 800x600:

rr800_zpsc122fc27.jpg


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If money is an object, clean up the system, and carry a spare used RR. Test it first.
I have one from an '80 750 in you want it.
 
Thanks, Steve. The resizing made it much easier on the head

My take on the matter, Anthony, is that if your numbers are checking out, and you stay on top of maintenance, why fork out money that is not necessary? Spend it on suspension and/or brake upgrades, or some other thing that will make the bike safer or more of a pleasure to ride.

The one thing about some of the new R/Rs is the space they take up. The Polaris unit might not fit in the same location as the stock R/R. However, others with your model have found the room, so you can too, should you want that little peace of mind that comes with an upgraded R/R. I believe I picked up the Polaris version for around $69 a number of months ago, so it is not a huge investment.

Like TKent says, though, you still have to go through the electrical and clean things up, or the swap might not be as successful as one would hope, long term.
 
Well what's the best way to clean up the electrical system? It probably needs it. I cleaned up all the connections I could find with contact cleaner spray. What else can be done, safely?
 
Steve said:
It would help more if you re-size it, then re-post it.
icon_shrug.gif


It does show signs of being a Suzuki R/R.

Can't say whether it's the one that was on the bike as it neared the end of the assembly line or a replacement, though.

.
Click to expand...
Looking at that huge picture, I've got a guestion about the starter relay wiring pattern, I was told that I should run my black starter cable to the rearward post and the + red from battery to the forward post, is this correct? because looking at this photo it shows the oposite with black forward. Suggestions.
 
Steve said:
Oh, it appears to be OEM, for sure, but "OEM" is "Original Equipment Manufacturer".

What we can't tell is whether it might have been replaced with an OEM regulator.

It might be the one that was installed on the assembly line, it might be one off the parts shelf. They look the same.
icon_shrug.gif


.
Click to expand...

If it is the part number for that model bike then does it matter if it was replaced? Yet it does, but that was not the question.
 
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