Change over R/R but now wires getting hot

[Tv]

I changed out my old R/R to a Shindengen 232-12 (6 wire) I wired up as instructed in previous R/R posts.

Yellow to yellow in no particular order
REd to Red
Green to Earth
black to a wire only live when ignition turned on (think its the wire related to brake light switch but different colours to my manual)

Bike fires up good, MM shows 13.5V+ volts at 2500rpm and just under 14Vat around 5000rpm, however, when I turn the headlight ON the three yellow wires start to get hot. If I leave the bike running for about 5mins they get hotter. If I turn the headlight OFF, they cool down again.

Have I done something wrong or is this normal?

Also, is it nornmal for the ignition switch to warm up?

REgards
Tony

[focus frenzy]

the ignition switch should not heat up!!!

did you check the voltage with the headlight turned on?

the wires do get a bit warm, and the regulator should get nice and warm.
ignition switch shouldn't

sounds like the headlight system may have a short someplace.

[Tv]

I think the voltage goes up a bit when the headlight is turned on. The R/R gets warm (this one has a huge heat sink compared to the Suzuki original) but not hot. I'm just worried that after I put the whole thing back together and go riding I toast the wires and make fire.

BTW, when I say the ignition get hot, it was running indoors and the whole bike was getting pretty hot so maybe I'm just over careful. How can I check for a short in the headlight system?

Egards
Tony

[Redman]

Some notes:

- If you have a headlight on/off switch (Suzuki '79 and previous), and assuming the wiring is original the then the wiring for one of the 3 phases of the stator is open (off, disconnected) when the headlight switch is off, so there is no current flow on that particular stator wire when headlight is turned off. Its kinda like turning off 1/3rd of the chargeing system when headlight is off. If voltage goes up when the light is turned on (like you said), then it must be still wired per original, otherwize voltage would drop when more electrical load put on the system.

- Three yellow wires would be the stator wires.

- WHen you say the yellow wires wires are hot, it would be good to determine if entire wire is getting hot along its entire length or if it is the connectors that are getting hot. Can do this by having it all cooled down, then start it up and feel if the connectors are getting hot before the wire gets hot a few inches away from the connector. If its the connectors getting hot (my suspecion) then clean them up the best you can. But problem may also be where the connector connects to the wire (as opposed to where the connectors connect to each other), in which case the connectors need to be replaced or otherwize elimninated. Different people have different recomendations for how to replace or eliminate these connecotrs.

[earlfor]

Re: Change over R/R but now wires getting hot

The brake light is not live when the ignition is turned on. Its only live when the brake is used. Change that wire to the tail light wire or even the coil supply wire.

Earl


[quote="Tv"]
black to a wire only live when ignition turned on (think its the wire related to brake light switch but different colours to my manual)

[Sandy]

Check what Earl and Redman recommend as well as check all the ground wires. Also with those Honda R/Rs if the black wire is not hooked to a switched 12V wire it will actually put out around 17 - 18 VDC, when you hook up the wire it should drop to around 14.7 -14.8. So I think there is still an issue in your wiring somewhere. Try your checks with only the main fuse and ignition fuse in place and see if there is a difference. This might help isolate the problem. The ignition switch should not be heating up and I suspect that the contacts in it are corroded. Try getting some contact cleaner in there and working the switch back and forth. This may be good enough to clean them up otherwise you might be looking at a new switch.

[Anonymous]

Thats right...there is a high resistance connection on the ignition switch, which is acting like a resistor and heating up (take it apart and clean it up), also you could have a bad ground connection in that circuit on there. Connections are notorious on these bikes.

[Tv]

Thanks for the tips. I'll try them out and see what happens. BTW, that black wire is definitely connected to a wire that permanently live after the ignition switch is turned on, so correct me if I;m wrong but that's the way it should be shouldn't it?
reards
Tv

[Sandy]

Thanks for the tips. I'll try them out and see what happens. BTW, that black wire is definitely connected to a wire that permanently live after the ignition switch is turned on, so correct me if I;m wrong but that's the way it should be shouldn't it?
reards
Tv

That's right. Good Luck.