Rectifier Question

[BigD_83]

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.

[Anthony]

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]

Click HERE. Follow that, then proceed to the rest of the system.

.

[jbird7262]

It would help more if you re-size it, then re-post it.

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.

.

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.

[posplayr]

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.

.

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.

[posplayr]

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.

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.

[Anthony]

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.

[tkent02]

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.

[Anthony]

What's the best way to clean the corrosion?

[posplayr]

What's the best way to clean the corrosion?

read GS Charging health.

[Anthony]

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?

[posplayr]

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?

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.

[tkent02]

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.

[Anthony]

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.

[posplayr]

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.

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.