can't I just build my own R/R unit?

[Anonymous]

I just cant see how a regular automotive reg will work. It would put out an increasing wattage to be sent to the rotating electromagnet as it detected dropping voltage and would cut back on the wattage as the voltage climbed. It actually does regulate. It controls how much the alternator puts out. The Suz just puts out max all the time and its reg controls the voltage by directing the excess to ground through a zenor gated SCR. I would use a 3 phase full wave rectifier to rectify the total output(all three legs) to begin with. I would then have a zenor discharge into the gate of a nice big SCR which would go to ground. The SCR would need to be heavily finned as it would get hot from the "voltage drop" across it so air flow would be an issue as well perhaps. Good night, will follow your progress and the feedback from others. Your onto a great idea.

[Anonymous]

I cant see how an automotive unit will work. It is not made to dump load as needs to be done with a permanent magnet alternator. It is made to supply a variable current to the electromagnetic rotor in inverse proportion to the system voltage. It puts out to control. You need to build one that recieves from the "always flat out" suz alt and deals with the excess by shunting it to ground. The excess power does not go quietly and manifests itself as heat hence the heat sink.

[Anonymous]

you're absolutely right. The auto style units will not work in this setup. Took me a while to pour over diagrams and white papers to figure it out.

However, I'm not done with this yet. I'm far too much into the mode of "do it myself" to give up now I'm thinking that shunting the power to ground might be part of the problem. I'm thinking perhaps building a larger unit, bleeding excess power off as heat, and mounting the regulator in a different spot, perhaps in front of the engine, where it would get a ton of air flow to keep it cool.

Right now I'm far too tired to really look this over, and I need sleep to prepare for my early morning interview tomorrow with Ford. I'll dig out my old circuits book, and see if I can come up with some different designs. It may not end up being a super cheap solution as I had originally hoped for, but it should end up being a much more reliable solution.

[SqDancerLynn1]

I have seen the chrysler regulator used on a motorcycle I don't know the specifics It was on a rat bike site

[Anonymous]

Yes, a Chrysler or other would perhaps do on bikes that use a more sophisticated alternator like I have seen on Yamahas which use an "excitable" rotor but not on the dead simple suz honda units. The output of the excitation would have to match the alternators requirements. Putting the heat sink out front in the wind is how my 67 bonnie works by the way.

[Anonymous]

One of things that I learned in my research today is some of the bikes, Goldwings in particular do use an automotive style alternator, in that it uses electromagnets instead of permanent ones.

[focus frenzy]

the old GT750 suzuki (water buffalo) used a automotive type alternator with a electramagnet instead of regular magnetic rotor.

[scotty]

I just cant see how a regular automotive reg will work. It would put out an increasing wattage to be sent to the rotating electromagnet as it detected dropping voltage and would cut back on the wattage as the voltage climbed. It actually does regulate. It controls how much the alternator puts out. The Suz just puts out max all the time and its reg controls the voltage by directing the excess to ground through a zenor gated SCR. I would use a 3 phase full wave rectifier to rectify the total output(all three legs) to begin with. I would then have a zenor discharge into the gate of a nice big SCR which would go to ground. The SCR would need to be heavily finned as it would get hot from the "voltage drop" across it so air flow would be an issue as well perhaps. Good night, will follow your progress and the feedback from others. Your onto a great idea.

after the scr is activate, what will shut it off???

[jimcor]

I would use a 3 phase full wave rectifier to rectify the total output(all three legs) to begin with. I would then have a zenor discharge into the gate of a nice big SCR which would go to ground. The SCR would need to be heavily finned as it would get hot from the "voltage drop" across it so air flow would be an issue as well perhaps. Good night, will follow your progress and the feedback from others. Your onto a great idea.

Isn't this what Mr. Lucas, "The Prince of Darkness", did on his British electical systems?

[rustybronco]

Eric,
There is a web site that has a listing for the components to build you own R/R it also has the art work for the p/c board or you can use a dremmel and carve out your own traces.
you will need to make a heat sink (big) but it has and can be done.
let me know if you need the address and i will dig it up for you
electrical components can last a long, long time or the go POOF in a short while so don't let an old R/R scare you... (e-bayin' i will go.. hiho the merry oh e-bayin' i will go) 20.00 incl shippin"

[Anonymous]

Yes and no. Lucas discharged the excess to ground by zenor alone. In my old 67 bonnie the zenor resides under the headlight in a cool bullet shaped heat sink. Suz (and I think honda but I dont know for sure) are using the zenor to turn on and off an scr. A zenor is like a pressure release valve, Once voltage from the rectifier output hits, in this case, 14.5 volts it starts to let electrons(current) through. In the lucas case to ground imposing an upper limit on the voltage. In the Suzuki case , the zenor discharges into the gate of the scr and causes the scr to start conducting to ground. I assume that an scr is better suited to the heavy lifting. This is all fine except for the odd way Suz chooses to regulate only some of the power. Honda regulates it all and sends it to the fuse box for distribution. Yes, I came across a yamaha 650 twin a few weeks ago that had a fully regulatable alternator. A much better system when it works but hardly simple involving slip rings and brushes. Simple is good. Having had zero trouble with my 83 gs 1100 charging system, I am not fully knowledgable beyond reading this forum and puzzling over the schematic in my manual. I keep my battery full of electrolyte and my engine topped right up with oil. Its a good old bike

[Anonymous]

I would use a 3 phase full wave rectifier to rectify the total output(all three legs) to begin with. I would then have a zenor discharge into the gate of a nice big SCR which would go to ground. The SCR would need to be heavily finned as it would get hot from the "voltage drop" across it so air flow would be an issue as well perhaps. Good night, will follow your progress and the feedback from others. Your onto a great idea.

Isn't this what Mr. Lucas, "The Prince of Darkness", did on his British electical systems?

Not quite, there was no SCR, just a big zener diode fitted with cooling fins. It was mounted under the headlight to give it some airflow. Not a great design at standstill though!

[dsw1953]

Someone posted an Adobe file with a schematic about one or two months ago. I had it, but when my computer fouled up, it was gone.