R/R Question for Earl?

[Guest]

Hi Earl.

In a thread below you posted this:



"The R/R's on both bikes have been fine since I did the replacement. That would be 4 years on one and 3 years on the other.

My method of connecting the R/R was recommended by the guru at Electrex in ca. (phone conversation) My experience since that conversation about 4 years ago is he was 100% right.

In following those instructions, I have never again had a single problem with an R/R.

However, the one thing you must not do is run with your headlight off.
You must consume the extra stator leg that is now in the loop 100% of the time. You could turn the headlight off IF you turn something else on that consumes an equal amount of electricity. (such as heated gloves, vest, lighting, etc)

Earl"

As part of the re-build on my GS750 (78 UK model), i have fitted the electerex RR recomended here. I have cut out the lighting switch loop also as recomended.

Now i don't really want to run with the lights on all the time, so should i run the light switch loop, would that be better do you think?

According to my Haynes manual, Suzuki fitted a modified alternator after engine number GS750 44985. Mine should be the modified later one according to the engine number. Presumably, this can take more abuse than the earlier one, and there has been no prior problem with the charging on the bike. I decided to fit the electerex as a safety, and this replaced the seperate original R/R units fitted.

What would be the consequenses of not using the lights all the time with the electerex? I thought this would be a `fit and forget' fix?

Thanks for your time.

Footy.

Prio

[earlfor]

Re: R/R Question for Earl?

The reason not running the headlight is a problem if you have rewired so as to have the 3rd stator leg online 100% of the time is that a GS charging system is unlike an automotive system. In a car, the charge rate varies according to consumption and the state of charge in the battery so the system stays in balance. On a GS, the charge rate only varies with engine rpm. The stator output/charge rate on a GS at 6k rpm is 6 times what it is at 1k rpm. Electrical energy is not produced considerate of consumption. The "balance" in the GS is achieved in two ways. The battery is a storage unit and buffer and the R/R sheds excess electrical energy as heat. Once the stator is producing an output that will power everything on the bike and leave a surplus, that surplus has to go someplace. The battery has a set capacity (normally about 12 amps for our bikes) The R/R also has a limited capacity to convert energy to heat. If you put your battery on a battery charger, the optimum charge rate is 10% of capacity or in our case, 1.2 amps. Maintenence rate is 1% or .12 amps for a fully charged battery. Once the battery is fully charged, no more energy can be put into it because voltage is pressure and max charging voltage is about 14.8. Higher voltages will destroy the battery and the bike's electrical system.
Heat destroys electronics and destruction/life is directly related to operating temperature. This means the greater the mismatch between your charge rate and your consumption rate, the more quickly you will burn out R/R's, and boil away/replace batteries. On a GS, ideally you want to consume about 90% or greater of your charging output.
If you can keep the system balanced to less that a 10% disparity, your R/R, stator and battery will last nearly forever. (my opinion)

In your case, if you do not want to run the headlight all the time, I would put the wiring back to original spec. That would decrease your charge rate by 33% for those times when the headlight is turned off. This will increase the life of your battery and R/R in my opinion by tenfold.

Earl


[quote="Footy."]Hi Earl.


As part of the re-build on my GS750 (78 UK model), i have fitted the electerex RR recomended here. I have cut out the lighting switch loop also as recomended.

Now i don't really want to run with the lights on all the time, so should i run the light switch loop, would that be better do you think?

According to my Haynes manual, Suzuki fitted a modified alternator after engine number GS750 44985. Mine should be the modified later one according to the engine number. Presumably, this can take more abuse than the earlier one, and there has been no prior problem with the charging on the bike. I decided to fit the electerex as a safety, and this replaced the seperate original R/R units fitted.

What would be the consequenses of not using the lights all the time with the electerex? I thought this would be a `fit and forget' fix?

Thanks for your time.

Footy.

[Footy.]

Thanks a lot for that Earl.

Regards.

Footy.

[earlfor]

You're very welcome. :-)

earl

Thanks a lot for that Earl.

Regards.

Footy.