charging system upgrades

[doubletrouble]

I have a 81' H that i picked up last fall and had my first bit of trouble with my charging system. I had to put in new brushes. I have a new battery and found out the rotor was shorted. so i installed new rotor and right now things are good but my question is about what else i can do do upgrade my electrical/charging system? Everything else on the bike is stock. I just read that switching to a solid state rectifier/regulator is an upgrade. Does anybody else recommend that i should and is mikesxs $99 regulator/rectifier a good buy?
I'm planning on keeping this bike for a long time so i'm willing to invest whatever it takes to make it dependable.
thanks!!!
DT

 

[pamcopete]

DT,

Your '81 is equipped with a solid state reg/rect from the factory.

 

[doubletrouble]

i learn something new every time i look here..thanks!!

 

[XSLeo]

If your stock reg/rec ever goes bad, there are cheaper replacements at your local parts store.

 

[Dusty]

What reg/rec parts will work from my local NAPA ?

 

[pamcopete]

Dusty,

The part from NAPA is a regulator only. For a complete replacement of the reg/rect, build a rectifier using Radio Shack rectifiers and a small piece of aluminum as a heat sink.

Here is a link for one of the regulators from NAPA:

http://xs650temp.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=Charging&thread=3341&post=19636

When you get to that site, browse around in the electrical/charging systems section for the complete story.

 

[doubletrouble]

does anybody have a part number for a reg/rec from radioshack for my 81H?
Is venting the left side rotor area a common practice? i just saw that for the first time?

 

[XSLeo]

If you follow Pamcopete's link it shows the regulator I'm using. If you look around the site the link leads to you will find a thread about buildling the Radio Shack rectifier.
Venting the left side cover is becoming more common. Easy to do, get a couple spacers and longer screws. Put the spacers between the alternator cover and engine side cover, put in longer screws.

 

[pamcopete]

XSLeo,

Just looking at your electrical setup. The only thing that's drawing any current is the headlight. The PAMCO and the LEDs are drawing next to nothing, so I think you can expect a long rotor life. Even longer if you are also using the vented cover. Even the rotor itself is not drawing much current because its current from the regulator is proportional to the output current from the alternator, which is probably about 5 Amps.

This also means that there is more current available to charge the battery, which is especially important in stop and go city driving.

I've got the PAMCO, of course, and an LED tail / stop light, so mine is similar except for the turn signals. I should look into LED turn signal bulbs as well. What are you using? And the flasher?

 

[XSLeo]

Yes, the headlight draws the most. With the regular bulbs, if you watched my volt gauge on the handle bars it would drop down with ever flash of the turn signals. Now it don't even flicker.
For my turn signals I went to www.superbrightleds.com
I looked at all there bulb options. They have them like a regular bulb and a lolipop bulb. I didn't think either would work out very well. To big for our housings.
I got their bulb #1156-PCB-R36-WV It's a square circuit board with 36 LED's on it. It has the bulb base on wires. This number is for red LED's. I got the amber version for the front.
I then painted the back of the circuit boards with liquid tape to prevent any possible shorts.
I tried installing them pressed up against the lense, didn't look right. I just saw a square of light in the lense. I then used two sided foam tape, like they stick trim on cars with, to stick it into the back of the housing. Looks much better, the whole lense lights up.
I am using their LFS-1-flat or LFS-1-pin flasher. I'm not sure it's been awhile. I think it was the flat.
It has short leads with either bullet type connectors or blade type conectors in a plastic housing. The flat you can take the wires out of the connectors and plug them in where the stock flasher plugs in.
I did find that tucking the flasher in betweem the gussets on the head of the frame didn't work to well. To close to the green monster coil, the coil will cause the flasher to not flash right. Keep it a bit farther away and it works fine. I just pulled it back as far as I could and zip tied it to the frame out of the way.

 

[everyday12s]

just and idea for you. i upgraded my charging system on my 78 by taking the charging system off a 96 ninja 250. the way it works is backwards from the xs but the rotor goes right on the shaft and i just had to make a plexi glass cover to replace the metal cover and bolted my stator to that and just mounted the r/r under my batt box. it works awsome. and with the ninja 250 system i dont have to run a batt you can just run a capacitor but i already had the batt so i just used it. i have around 3000 miles on it since i finished it and its been flawless. ive included some pics the only ones i have just to give you an idea. good luck man

 

[everyday12s]

 

[XSLeo]

A slightly different PM alternator system. The clear cover is very trick.