Teach me electronics 101

[ron bayless]

My 80 gs 1000 L.it has what,a rectifier,cdi,voltage regulator,points,etc right?I understand this is not the best type electrical system.Fortunately the thing called a stator was replaced before i bought my bike.is there a way to improve this whole thing? I fortunately am not having a problem right now but would like to improve the system if that is possible.Ron B

[denydog]

I'm no teacher, but I think you don't have a CDI :-|. Seems to be a common misconception.

[Steve]

It does, however, have electronic pick-ups and an amplifier (ignitor) in the ignition system, so it is often thought of as a CDI (capacitive discharge ignition). They are different systems, but do share many of the same parts.

Ron, probably the best thing you could do right now to "improve your system" is to assure clean, tight connections between the stator and rectiver wires (3 wires, most likely yellow) and to run a reduntant ground wire from your regulator to the battery. This is in addition to just making sure that ALL of your electrical connections are good.


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[ron bayless]

It does, however, have electronic pick-ups and an amplifier (ignitor) in the ignition system, so it is often thought of as a CDI (capacitive discharge ignition). They are different systems, but do share many of the same parts.

Ron, probably the best thing you could do right now to "improve your system" is to assure clean, tight connections between the stator and rectiver wires (3 wires, most likely yellow) and to run a reduntant ground wire from your regulator to the battery. This is in addition to just making sure that ALL of your electrical connections are good.


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SOUNDS LIKE GOOD ADVICE.DONT KNOW WHAT A REDUNDANT GROUND IS SIMCE I AM ELECTRICALLY ILLITERATE.SOUNDS LIKE IT MEANS AN EXTRA GROUND WIRE.I SUPPOSE I WILL JUST HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL SOMETHING BREAKS,THEN NO NOT KNOW WHAT IS BROKEN,THEN ASK HERE OR WAIT 6 MONTHS UNTIL THE ONLY GUY WITHIN 50 MILES OF ME WHO WORKS ON OLD BIKES CAN FIGGER IT OUT AND FIX IT.I JUST NEEDED SOME BASIC INFORMATION AND WHAT YOU SAID IS PROBABLY VERY BASIC.ONLY TO ME IT MEANS NOTHING UNTIL I LOOK UP SOMEWHERE WHAT REDUNDANT GROUND MEANS.I HAVE LEARNED HERE THAT ANY SYSTEM HAS A POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE WIRE,AND THE NEGATIVE WIRE NEEDS TO BE FIRMLY ATTACHED TO A PIECE OF METAL SOMEWHERE ON THE BIKE TO KEEP IT GROUNDED AND THEREBY KEEPING THE CURRENT GOING WHERE IT IS SUPOSED TO AND THE AMOUNT IT IS SUPPOSED TO.I RECENTLY HOOKED UP MY LEFT FRONT TURN SIGNAL AND COULDN GET IT TO WORK UNTIL I TOUCHED THE GROUND WIRE(BLACK WITH WHITE STRIPE) TO A BOLT HOLDING THE HANDLEBARS ON.i TOUCHED IT TO THE HEADLIGHT SUPPORT AND IT WOULDN WORK.i GUESS IT WASNT GROUNDED GOOD ENOUGH.ONCE I HOOKED ITS GROUND WIRE TO THE GROUND WIRE FROM THE RIGHT TURN SIGNAL THE THING WORKED GREAT.THANKS FOR YOUR ANSWER.I DOUBT YOU KNEW HOW LITTLE I KNEW.RON

[Steve]

Ron,

Yes, "reduntant" means "extra".

The regulator/rectifier is mounted somewhere near the battery, sometimes underneath it. Sometimes they rely on being grounded to their mount, which, in turn, is connected to the frame, which is eventually connected to the battery. Sometimes they have a separate wire (usually black) that connects to a bolt; it could be the bolt that holds the regulator to its mount. Simply connect a 10- or 12-gauge wire from where the regulator ground wire is, directly to the negative side of the battery.

The regulator does its job of regulating by momentarily shorting the stator's output to ground when it gets too high. If you don't have a good ground, this excess output has nowhere to go, and this is one way they fail.


Oh, and please find the CAPS LOCK key. It is very hard to read with everything in capital letters. 8-[


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[ron bayless]

Ron,

Yes, "reduntant" means "extra".

The regulator/rectifier is mounted somewhere near the battery, sometimes underneath it. Sometimes they rely on being grounded to their mount, which, in turn, is connected to the frame, which is eventually connected to the battery. Sometimes they have a separate wire (usually black) that connects to a bolt; it could be the bolt that holds the regulator to its mount. Simply connect a 10- or 12-gauge wire from where the regulator ground wire is, directly to the negative side of the battery.

The regulator does its job of regulating by momentarily shorting the stator's output to ground when it gets too high. If you don't have a good ground, this excess output has nowhere to go, and this is one way they fail.


Oh, and please find the CAPS LOCK key. It is very hard to read with everything in capital letters. 8-[


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CAPS LOCK key. It is very hard to read with everything in capital letters.

sorry.I am at work and we do everything,every word in caps.I forget I am on a non work site.

[ron bayless]

Ron,

Yes, "reduntant" means "extra".

The regulator/rectifier is mounted somewhere near the battery, sometimes underneath it. Sometimes they rely on being grounded to their mount, which, in turn, is connected to the frame, which is eventually connected to the battery. Sometimes they have a separate wire (usually black) that connects to a bolt; it could be the bolt that holds the regulator to its mount. Simply connect a 10- or 12-gauge wire from where the regulator ground wire is, directly to the negative side of the battery.

The regulator does its job of regulating by momentarily shorting the stator's output to ground when it gets too high. If you don't have a good ground, this excess output has nowhere to go, and this is one way they fail.


Oh, and please find the CAPS LOCK key. It is very hard to read with everything in capital letters. 8-[


.

The regulator does its job of regulating by momentarily shorting the stator's output to ground when it gets too high And then the rectifier gets blown out eventually because something caused too much current for it to regulate came from somewhere and blew it out,right? I see terms mentioned here like igniter unit,r.r,stator,cdi and i think how in the heck do you ever know which one and how do you not replace the wrong thing.My clymer manual shows how to check several things.Anyway,thanks for the lessons.I can see now it would take too long and too many posts to bring me up to speed.I was a carpenter before being a registered nurse.I couldnt tell someone how to build a house and expect them to be able to build one after i told them.Same principle here.I am glad the mechanical fixing of things arent so difficult for me.I appreciate your answers.No need to respond back.Ron

[Steve]

Ron, tried to send you a private message, but your inbox is full.


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[redtires]

Ron...PLEEEEEEASE read this....now, I'm no electrical wizard, but I urge you not to give up so easily on your quest for knowledge in this area. I have learned extraordinary amounts of information on this site (thank you to all...by the way! ) I have always been a car guy myself and have been greatly educated on the similarities and differences in the bikes electrical system vs. a cars. One thing that works for me in a lot of situations is a good 'ol analogy..a bikes electrical system works very much like a power generator, like on a hydro-electrical plant. Water spins a huge bank of copper wire encased magnetic "spokes" inside of an enormous steel cylinder, and very simply put, this creates an electrical charge. The crankshaft on the bike does the same thing. The stator is the wire wrapped spokes and the crank spins the metal cylinder, also creating an electrical charge. On the bike, the electrical charge is sent to the battery (to charge it) and to components, like lights. Now, the faster it spins, the more charge it makes...so, rightly so...if there is TOO MUCH electricity, and it can't go anywhere (which is where the grounding and your regulator comes in) it "fries" the stator...kind of like putting way too many amps through a wire in your house...it heats up and then burns up. Which is where your stator goes "poof". So, once the stator goes...it no longer produces a viable charge, so no more charge means no more full battery, etc... This is why a good, clean connections are needed, to help prevent either the stator from being "fried" or the regulator from overheating and basically becoming a super-mini Chernobyl. Gosh, I really hope that that helped you out somewhat...hang in there bud!!!

[ron bayless]

Ron...PLEEEEEEASE read this....now, I'm no electrical wizard, but I urge you not to give up so easily on your quest for knowledge in this area. I have learned extraordinary amounts of information on this site (thank you to all...by the way! ) I have always been a car guy myself and have been greatly educated on the similarities and differences in the bikes electrical system vs. a cars. One thing that works for me in a lot of situations is a good 'ol analogy..a bikes electrical system works very much like a power generator, like on a hydro-electrical plant. Water spins a huge bank of copper wire encased magnetic "spokes" inside of an enormous steel cylinder, and very simply put, this creates an electrical charge. The crankshaft on the bike does the same thing. The stator is the wire wrapped spokes and the crank spins the metal cylinder, also creating an electrical charge. On the bike, the electrical charge is sent to the battery (to charge it) and to components, like lights. Now, the faster it spins, the more charge it makes...so, rightly so...if there is TOO MUCH electricity, and it can't go anywhere (which is where the grounding and your regulator comes in) it "fries" the stator...kind of like putting way too many amps through a wire in your house...it heats up and then burns up. Which is where your stator goes "poof". So, once the stator goes...it no longer produces a viable charge, so no more charge means no more full battery, etc... This is why a good, clean connections are needed, to help prevent either the stator from being "fried" or the regulator from overheating and basically becoming a super-mini Chernobyl. Gosh, I really hope that that helped you out somewhat...hang in there bud!!!

That is great explanation,and i appreciate it.This kind of elemental explanation is what I needed.I appreciate all the input here.I have fixed my signal lights,my petcock,my speedometer drive unit,found out my battery needed to be replaced instead of my starter all because of the guys and gals here.A priceless resource for guys like me.