Headlight Wiring

Been thinking along those lines myself 5T. Perhaps buoyed by the modest successes I experienced with the headlight wiring, following your advice, I held off committing to purchase the ready made components and considered the VR 115 alternative. As usual, guidance on the Forum is strong and the savings are considerable, (over $200). Auto-electrics are still Terra Incognito to me, the function, (or even the appearance), of a diode remains a mystery and the texts on the purpose of 3 phase equipment soon have me nodding but I have decided to experiment with the VR115 set up first. If I screw up, it'll only add $60 to my bill and I might learn something.
To this end, I have ordered a VR 115 regulator on eBay ($46 AUD delivered here). I considered the 35A rectifier shown in pic 2, (RG says that we only really need 25A but he put a 35A on his) and separate heat sink plates, (pic 3). Those totalled out at around $15.00 for several examples of each. I then caught up with this combined rectifier and sink, a 50A 1000V 3 Phase heat sink base metal case Bridge rectifier, (pic 4) for the princely sum of $4.22, (pic3). The thing comes with a predrilled central mounting hole and seemed too good to pass up. Two drawbacks that I can see are that some of these models have the annotation that they are suited to brushless generators although the ones I purchased gave this description;
High quality bridge rectifiers used for conversion of an alternating current
input into a direct current output.
The top and internal part are well welded which ensures a more stable
performance.
Base is small and has a large over-current capacity, good heat dissipation and
low voltage drop.
These high power, high frequency bridge rectifiers are used for power supply.
No. of Phases: Three;Model: SQL20A
Material : Resin, Metal
DC Output Current: 20A
Repetitive Peak Reverse Voltage: 1000V
I don't understand the "brushless generator" bit but I just fitted new brushes to mine so I know she has them. The other thing is that they won't be delivered 'til the end of March. Working at that rate, if hostility did break out between the People's Republic and Oz, I would have died of old age before their forces arrived here! Oh well, I've still got the carbies to play with.
Let me know if you think all this stuff is OK - I've certainly got time to change my mind. So..... $46.01for the reg. + $8.43 for two of the recs and at least three bottles of Jack Daniels with what's left over to celebrate my pecuniary economy.
Cheers

Yes, that stuff all looks good. A rectifier is a rectifier, it does what it does no matter what kind of circuit it's hooked up to, that being converting AC current to DC current. Make up a couple so you have a spare. Sometimes those cheapo Chinese offerings crap out. I'm running the plain type that I had to mount on a heat sink, but I have some of those heat sink equipped ones ready to go as well .....









For the VR115, you'll need to make a little extension loom to reach the harness plug .....



I leave the stock plug on the VR115 and just plug the individual wires from my extension loom into it. Then, using a couple cable ties, I secure them in place .....

Handy info and illustrations 5T, even shows how the wiring goes. Cheers.
A couple of questions.
1) The heat sink equipped rectifiers I ordered have a central hole drilled them. I was going to mount one where the original rectifier sat under the battery box. You have made up a nice bracket but my machining skills and tools don't lend themselves to that kind of product. I was simply going to stand mine off the bottom of the box with a rubber washer and a stainless nut spacer on the mounting thread and a second stainless washer and nut underneath, connection tabs pointing down and 6 point connector attached. I assume that it has to be tight but not enough to crack it - "feel" is becoming my middle name! Do I need a bracket of some description? I could always use a length off aluminium channel to provide some protection and a small section of angle on one end would provide the wiring support. Drill and JB them together et voila! I must admit that I don't understand the bolt and nut on the side. They obviously don't go through the regulator so, what purpose do they serve?
2) These rectifiers have a 50 amp rating but their DC output is only 20A, is this satisfactory?
3) I'll use 4 wires on the extension loom for the regulator and then join the yellow and orange wires at the three point connector to attach to the brown. Correct?
4) Finally, is that wiring standard gauge, (the same that is on the bike now)?
Regards

Ah! I see now, that's the mounting bolt. No stress on the rectifier body. I assumed you were still mounting through the centre. Revision of plan called for.
Cheers

Yes, that bolt is for mounting. It copies the original flat sided mounting bolt. If you look at the mount hole in the bottom of the battery box, you will see it is "D" shaped with a flat side .....



It was pretty easy to cut the flat side into the bolt using a cut-off wheel in a Dremel .....



Yes, all the wiring is the same as the original stuff, 18 ga. I think. Yes, 4 wires in the regulator extension loom with the red and yellow combined into one crimp at the 3 wire connector block on the bike harness end .....





When you get the rectifier and can examine it, you'll see the mounting bolt hole is drilled and tapped into a slot along the heat sink. I didn't feel that one half threaded hole was enough for secure mounting. You'll also see that the slot is "T" shaped. That allows you to slide bolt heads into it and add some more mounting points .....



I did use the tapped hole as well but since it's only a half threaded hole into aluminum, I didn't make the Allen bolt very tight and secured it with some lock-tite.

I'm not sure what the DC amp rating needs to be but as far as I know, nobody's had issues using these except for the few occasional failures because they're just cheapo Chinese items.

Excellent. Will let you know how I go but the recs aren't here 'til end of March. I'll pool the files on this stuff and make sure I've got it down pat, set up the reg., buy some channel and angle using the dimensions on the rec. site and then strip my carburettors while I wait.
Appreciated.

Following. My 79 will also get one of those "windy nation whatever" rectifiers. This will be the second I've mounted up using just an extra length center bolt and a short stack of varying diameter washers to act as cooling fins. Very easy and I assume effective fir a little cooling. Now I'm looking for a tidy location to mount it.

That cooling concept is a great idea Randy. Ingenuity is obvious in innovation. I tend to try and buy my way out of a situation - simpler but much more expensive and nowhere near as much "fun" as you put it!
Cheers

It's all fun , right ?

Received my voltage regulator and made up a bracket to mount it on using the original holes, (pic1). Wired the reg up as per 5T's advice, (pics2/3). Painted the bracket up, (pic4), mounted the regulator, changed the existing harness end to suit the new locking connector, bolted it on and hooked it up. Looks like this, (pics 5/6). It does sit level, (to the bike), just haven't tightened the Allen keys. I like it. All up, it cost about the same as the Oregon device but I only spent $20 on postage. Not Oregon's fault that I live on Mars I know.
Tell me, do you think the bracket will cause any restriction of air flow to the air box?
If not, I'm waiting on the rectifier.
Cheers