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Rectifier Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anthony
  • Start date Start date
BigD_83 said:
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.
Click to expand...

I had a stock 81 GS750E and while the electrical was in a it was in a ghastly state when I first got it, after diligently cleaning all connections, testing and adding a heat sink it seemed to continue to run well and did not burn up it's replaced stator.

So there would seem to be a case for leaving it stock if the other modifications were made although I don't have much confidence that that would be followed.
 
Well I was checking the inline connectors near the battery, and most of the plastic that goes around the connectors were burnt up or even stuck together. So I cut off the plastic, cleaned the connectors with contact cleaner, put dielectric grease on them, and sealed them up with waterproof electric tape with liquid tape on top. Could the rectifier have burnt those connectors over time, or have got them too hot? I definitely want to make sure nothing burns again, but I'm not sure if that was a combination of age and exposed wire.
 
Corrosion in the connectors gets them too hot, when a normal amount of current goes through them. If they get hot enough to melt through the plastic, the wires can short to each other, then you have the big expensive smoke show.

Remove the corrosion periodically before it gets bad and you will likely never have a problem.

The corrosion doesn't even have to be really visible to be a problem, even the light tarnish on the brass can do it.

Just clean them once in a while whether they need it or not.
 
Okay so I did, and according to your write-up, it seems I cleaned them properly. Except maybe I could cut the current connectors and just solder them together instead w/ heat shrink tubes. But I what I did will work for a while, just not perfect. Definitely a winter fix for that. But how do I check how good the connections are that are hooked up to the rectifier? Unscrew it and check behind it?
 
Anthony said:
Okay so I did, and according to your write-up, it seems I cleaned them properly. Except maybe I could cut the current connectors and just solder them together instead w/ heat shrink tubes. But I what I did will work for a while, just not perfect. Definitely a winter fix for that. But how do I check how good the connections are that are hooked up to the rectifier? Unscrew it and check behind it?
Click to expand...

You don't know if you did it correctly unless you complete a Quick test and pass that and then confirm the voltage drops in revised Phase A.

maybe you did it all , but without that evidence, the past experience of many others that have come before you, I would assume not. :(
 
You could just ride it a while and if the smoke doesn't come out you probably cleaned everything OK.

Putting the smoke back in is harder though. I'd go with Posplayer's tests, he knows his stuff on this.
 
Pos, I did the quick test that you wrote up already, and the results were good. Everything was within the range that was suggested, except for the 2500 and 5000 RPM tests which was showing only .2 lower than the suggested range. But that may have been due to my hard time keeping it in that RPM range.
 
Anthony said:
Pos, I did the quick test that you wrote up already, and the results were good. Everything was within the range that was suggested, except for the 2500 and 5000 RPM tests which was showing only .2 lower than the suggested range. But that may have been due to my hard time keeping it in that RPM range.
Click to expand...

Bear in mind your interpretation and mine might possibly be different. :)

Even though you still have not posted any results that are analyzable, the minimum qualitative evidence you have provides suggests you have problems. :(
 
Problems with the rectifier? I can re-do the test and write down the numbers if that helps more.
 
Anthony said:
Problems with the rectifier? I can re-do the test and write down the numbers if that helps more.
Click to expand...

If you want expert advice, you need to answer the questions. After you write the numbers down, post them.
 
QUICK TEST Results:

1)12.35

2)11.88

3)12.8

4)13.38

5)13.93

6)12.72

This was done all from cold, haven't started t since yesterday.
 
Anthony said:
QUICK TEST Results:

1)12.35

2)11.88

3)12.8

4)13.38

5)13.93

6)12.72

This was done all from cold, haven't started t since yesterday.
Click to expand...

OK If you read the Quick Test you will see I emphatically stated that it was a not a replacement for the Stator Pages and that you should proceed to the Revised Phase A if you pass the test.

So while you did pass, you are only passing a gate; you are not done. You probably have in excess of 0.5V of drop in your connections. That is marginal at best and only a slippery slope to further problems.


So clearly your conclusion and mine are different.
 
Okay, that makes sense. I wanted to do just the quick test first, and then run the bike's current full tank of gas w/ seafoam to get the engine and carbs cleaned out with all that first. It sounds really healthy, with tappy valves, and all. I think after sitting for years only being ridden once or twice, it just needs to have a good on road riding. Then I will proceed with the stator papers (the adjusted copies you have posted) and see if the rectifier or stator is bad. I just wish I could get this stupid horn figured out. It's been a head scratch-er for sure. I've been discussing that in another thread.
 
Anthony said:
Okay, that makes sense. I wanted to do just the quick test first, and then run the bike's current full tank of gas w/ seafoam to get the engine and carbs cleaned out with all that first. It sounds really healthy, with tappy valves, and all. I think after sitting for years only being ridden once or twice, it just needs to have a good on road riding. Then I will proceed with the stator papers (the adjusted copies you have posted) and see if the rectifier or stator is bad. I just wish I could get this stupid horn figured out. It's been a head scratch-er for sure. I've been discussing that in another thread.
Click to expand...

The R/R and stator are most likely NOT bad, it is the dirty connections that you will measure the voltage drops for when you do the revised Phase A tests.

You horn might get you killed I guess, but running with high voltage drops will definitely kill your stator at some point.
 
So just dirty connections can cause the voltage drops? And one horn works for me, I can't run the dual horns for some reason right now. There is a short or cross somewhere, I just have to take the time to find it.
 
So will the stator papers fault guide show you were the voltage drop is occurring? Or is this a "fix all connections" kinda thing?
 
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