My New Rotor fried already!!

XS650D

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Installed a new Ricks Rotor last fall, Just noticed that battery was really low and wouldn't
start bike. Checked and was 11 VOLTS running. Strange as battery was still 12.5 Volts few weeks ago and I checked start of season to make sure new rotor was still charging, all good at that point.So i
test Volts with bike running and and NO CHARGE now ,Crap!!
Checked the ohms on the New Rotor and nothing, zero. Wow!
Got maybe 500 miles out of it. Are these things a crap shoot on getting a good one?
Or am I burning them out. I have all new electrical,Reg,Rec, ect. When I installed the new unit last fall
I tested and it was charging at 14.3 Volts at approx 3000 rpm so I wasn't over charging.
Supplier has given me full credit (1 yr warranty) so I ordered another same product.
Am I just having some bad luck ,2 rotors gone within 500 miles, seems strange.
 
Last thread on rotor problems your voltage was fluctuating......... Depending on the quality of your new SS Reg/Rect, it could still be the problem...........No good buying from Jim if your other electrics are problematic, Jim can't give a warranty..........That's not to say he isn't doing good rewinds, just that he is not in a commercial situation and can't afford to replace a component if the damaged is caused by something else.

A lot of guys have used Automotive regulators and 2 single, or a single 3 phase rectifiers and find they are reliable instead of trying to find a quality SS Reg/Rect........
 
Skull,u are correct, i WAS having voltage issues until I changed out the REG/REC then all was good!
After changing the REG/REC I was consistently getting 14.4 to 14.6 well within the accepted range
in my manual.When my Original shit the beds installed a new unit purchased from Fortnine in Quebec (Canadian Disb
for there products) .Unit looked good and not like the units Mikes sells. Im just stating I could have a dud. Worth noting is that after installing the new Rotor my voltage stayed at 14.3 regardless .I attributed that to the new unit producing a solid line of current with no cracks or breaks in the copper line.
It happens I guess BUT if theres something that could trigger these to fry prematurely , would like to know what to
look at.Thx
 
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I have a new unused one like mikes sells if you want to give it a try. I thought my rotor was bad at one time but was wrong and never installed it. I would sell it to you for half of what mikes does if your interested in trying a Chinese brand just PM me.
 
I added a troubleshooting section to my sales page. It's basically just a copy of gggGary's excellent thread. In a nutshell.... anything that makes the rotor run at full power all the time can cause it to overheat and short out. A battery with a bad cell will never take a full charge... yet the rotor will happily fry itself trying to fully charge it. If the voltage coming out of the ignition switch is a little lower than battery voltage, the regulator will see this and continually try to make up the difference.... again overheating the rotor... There's other reasons. Have a look at the troubleshooting section.
 
Those guys just buy from someone else and stick a mark up on the parts......selling XS650 Sprockets and they have an 8 stud pattern on them????.........Ricks motor sport products have had issues going off threads on here.........In 2 of your Rotor threads i posted a link to a collection of rotor suppliers people from here have used and recommend.........Rewinds on original rotors seems to be the way to go.............Ricks Rewinds was suggested i think not Ricks Motor sports

Read through Jims rotor thread he found the factory rotors weren't up to his OCD standard and tweaked them to his satisfaction.........Also look at the quality of Jims wiring and wrapping and then look at The Motorsport Rotors winding's and coating
 
I added a troubleshooting section to my sales page. It's basically just a copy of gggGary's excellent thread. In a nutshell.... anything that makes the rotor run at full power all the time can cause it to overheat and short out. A battery with a bad cell will never take a full charge... yet the rotor will happily fry itself trying to fully charge it. If the voltage coming out of the ignition switch is a little lower than battery voltage, the regulator will see this and continually try to make up the difference.... again overheating the rotor... There's other reasons. Have a look at the troubleshooting section.
Jim, plz correct me if I'm not reading wiring diagram for my '82 correctly, but it looks like the voltage regulator senses voltage out of the ignition switch; i.e., the brown wire; so if there is some drop red-to-brown across the switch contacts, the regulator wouldn't see it.
 
Thx Skull, I pm Jim. Ill get my Original Yama unit redone.
Yeah I think I got the 2 Ricks mixed up, probably got same shit that Mikes sells or equivalent.
I recall going thru that entire Electrical check section few years ago and thought I had it all figured out
and working great till my Original Yama Unit fried late last season. It did not have a great deal of miles on it
but have no idea why it went. Regardless the new unit worked great and read at 14.3 solid with no fluctuations
after installing.I tested it again 3 weeks ago and was working perfect (spring test run) Now im not so sure if it was abad unit
or I have another electric gremlin.Im installing a new battery regardless ,it was down to 12.4 Volts not ideal but but terrible either.
I have the separate Chrysler Reg and the Mikes Rec,new key switch, all handle bar switches new, went thru all the wires previously
Electronic Ignition and Advance ect ect
 
Jim, plz correct me if I'm not reading wiring diagram for my '82 correctly, but it looks like the voltage regulator senses voltage out of the ignition switch; i.e., the brown wire; so if there is some drop red-to-brown across the switch contacts, the regulator wouldn't see it.
Yeah, the reg. looks at the brown wire to measure system voltage and sends it's output back to the battery on the red. So.... lets say the batt. sent 12.5V to the iggy switch and we lost a half a volt across the switch. The reg looks at the brown from the switch so, it would think system voltage is a half a volt lower than it actually is. The reg would send more power to the rotor trying to make up that difference. That's gonna make the rotor run hotter..... shortening it's life.
 
I would definitely check the battery before pulling your hair out. Just went through a similar experience where I stripped down the whole bike troubleshooting and turned out to be a bad battery I had just replaced. Also I have a spare 6 pin regulator and rectifier if you end up needing one.
 
Yeah, the reg. looks at the brown wire to measure system voltage and sends it's output back to the battery on the red. So.... lets say the batt. sent 12.5V to the iggy switch and we lost a half a volt across the switch. The reg looks at the brown from the switch so, it would think system voltage is a half a volt lower than it actually is. The reg would send more power to the rotor trying to make up that difference. That's gonna make the rotor run hotter..... shortening it's life.

Just wonder, is the current draw on this "voltage signal" wire high enough to create a voltage drop, even if the connection is less than perfect?
 
I don't think the regulator has much if any draw on the voltage, it just reads it.
On my multi-meter I built a black wire with an alligator clamp on the end. With this I can just clip the wire to the battery negative post. I then can touch the red to anywhere I need to check voltage. Easier than trying to hold both wires and look at meter. By doing this I can easily move along the electrical path from battery positive to wherever. Check voltage along this path, Write down where you took the measurement and what the voltage, You may find a weak or bad connection somewhere.
I made a red wire with an alligator clip on it too. Comes in handy for checking battery voltage while running. It's hard to hold both wires to the battery and have a hand to run the throttle.
Leo
 
Just wonder, is the current draw on this "voltage signal" wire high enough to create a voltage drop, even if the connection is less than perfect?
We're not really concerned with voltage drop across the components.... reg, coil, lights etc. That's pretty much baked into the design and accounted for by the engineers. What we're worried about is unwanted voltage drops. Corroded connectors, grounds, switch contacts.... stuff like that.
 
We're not really concerned with voltage drop across the components.... reg, coil, lights etc. That's pretty much baked into the design and accounted for by the engineers. What we're worried about is unwanted voltage drops. Corroded connectors, grounds, switch contacts.... stuff like that.
Yes, that is what I meant. A poor circuit with a 2W bulb will have less voltage drop than the same poor circuit with a 60W bulb on it. Even with just 1 copper strand intact a wire will still show battery voltage if the only device attached is the multimeter, but under load it will show voltage drop. My question was how many mA or A the regulator is drawing through that wire. If very low current draw, it is unlikely that resistance in the wiring should give a false voltage signal.
 
My question was how many mA or A the regulator is drawing through that wire. If very low current draw, it is unlikely that resistance in the wiring should give a false voltage signal.
A type B regulator feeds the rotor. So... about 2.5amps for the rotor and whatever else the reg itself needs.... but that's not the only place to worry. From what I've seen and read here on the forum, probably the biggest offender is the ignition switch. A voltage drop across the iggy switch will affect just about everything on the bike.... including the regulator.
 
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