Testing the Regulator and Rectifier...

locoleon

I know that there are many posts on how to test the reg/rect pieces when they are on the bike connected to the harness..

But, is there a way to test the seperate parts when they are not connected to the bike..ie.. fresh part in from ebay?

I just want to test some spare reg/rects that I got in a box without plugging them into the bike if I can get away with it...

Thanks

pumps

The Clymer doesn't really say much except to look for dirty or pitted points surfaces and broken wires. Clean the points and solder any broken wires. This being on a mechanical one of course.
Found this from: www.dansmc.com/electri...esting.htm

Rectifier. When a coil produces electricity, it sends it out in plus or minus waves. The battery can only charge on one of these waves. A rectifier has silicon diodes that only allow half the wave to get through. Back in the 60s and 70s a lot of the little bikes had these single wave rectifiers. Now most bikes have full wave rectifiers that have four diodes. All this rectifies the AC current to DC to charge the battery. To test the rectifier, hook up the ohmmeter leads to one of the wires and to the ground (mounting) stud. Note the reading you get. Now reverse the leads from the ohmmeter and note the reading again. The exact reading is not all that important, but there should be a big difference between the two if the diode is working right. Test each of the wires this way. If any wire is very close in the two readings then the diode is leaking and no good. If there is no continuity, then the diode is shorted out and no good. Be careful not to turn the bolt holding all the diodes together. This can short them out. It is possible to test the rectifier with a circuit tester by adding a D flashlight battery in line with the circuit tester. You want to see the light, light in one direction and not in the other. If all of a sudden you start blowing the main fuse, it's possible one of your rectifier diodes has failed, letting current, from the battery flow back to ground.

ostly about testing the rectifier. For testing regulators it would seem they have to be hooked up to a running bike and tested with a meter. I'd like to know if you find out anything different myself.

xsleo

As far as I know Pumps is right on about checking the parts. The best test on the solid state regulators is to hook them up and see what they do. The Clymer book tells how to check the mechanical regulators in chapter 3. Gives ohm readings for the different positions of the contacts.

pumps

Do you suppose if you hooked up a defective regulator it could damage your electrical system? If so could you fab up an inline fuse harness or something in there to protect your system? Would I be correct in thinking the worst could be under or over charging?

xsleo

You could hook a fuse in the brown wire. Wouldn't hurt. Most likely just an over or under charge.
I have thought of building a test setup with a shaft cut to match the rotor and fit in a pair of crank bearings and using a spare set of lower cases to mount the stator and shaft and spinning it with a small electric motor that is speed adjustable. Maybe even hooking a cam chain sprocket on the shaft to have a set of jugs and a head with a cam to test ignition parts.

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