Noob looking for Regulator Info

[Hulian85]

Hey everyone I am new as well. I have an 81 xs650 I just bought and sounds like it might have the same issue. When the battery is charged up it starts and runs great but as soon as he battery dies, nothing. When I hook a battery jumper to the cables it starts right up but dies just 10 seconds after. Could this be the regulator? Also I heard some say the wrench test to check for magnetic field. Do it just see if it has that and that means e alternator is working? I am a big car guy but newer into bikes. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SinisterMatti]

Hey everyone I am new as well. I have an 81 xs650 I just bought and sounds like it might have the same issue. When the battery is charged up it starts and runs great but as soon as he battery dies, nothing. When I hook a battery jumper to the cables it starts right up but dies just 10 seconds after. Could this be the regulator? Also I heard some say the wrench test to check for magnetic field. Do it just see if it has that and that means e alternator is working? I am a big car guy but newer into bikes. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

As I understand it, the presence of a magnetic field shows that the alternator is working, to a lesser or greater extent.

 

[Hulian85]

also a question I have is, I keep hearing solid state vs permanent magnet regulators/rectifiers. What is stock?

 

[SinisterMatti]

also a question I have is, I keep hearing solid state vs permanent magnet regulators/rectifiers. What is stock?

Permanent magnet regulator/rectifier is stock as I understand it.

 

[SinisterMatti]

So I received my rectifier today. I was hoping the prongs would be labeled so I could figure out what wires up where based on the diagram in RG's link, but unfortunately this is not the case. There are 5 pins on the rectifier. 1 is labeled positive on the far right, one is negative on the far left, and 3 are unlabeled. How would I go about determining what I connect where? Thanks in advance!

 

[azman857]

The 3 on the back is where the output from the alternater (the 3 white wires) connect to.

 

[SinisterMatti]

The 3 on the back is where the output from the alternater (the 3 white wires) connect to.

Thanks for the quick reply! So black is the ground (-) and whatever is left will be positive (+), correct?

 

[azman857]

Refer to your source of information. If I recall correctly, - is ground and + to one connection of the regulater or + side of the battery. The other connection on the regulator to brown wire which goes to a brush on the stock alternater. I can be wrong.
I did the equivilant on my '80 SG and never looked back. I think it was PEPboys where I got my Wells regulator and got a lifetime warranty.

 

[5twins]

You'll have to add your own wires and a plug so the rectifier will plug into the harness just like the old one did. Looking at the original plug will show you the wires you need - 3 whites, a black, and a red. This is the one I made up. It was just a bare rectifier so I added a heat sink from an old computer, then a plug on the end of the wires so it would plug right into the harness like the original .....

 

[pkovo]

I have the same one, and just wired it up a few weeks ago. I wired with the same colrs to match the harness. Here's a pic of the rectifier wired up

[/URL][/IMG]

Here's a pic of the original connector for reference. I replaced my connector and ran a new ground for the rectifier, which is why the black wire is pulled out of the plug in this pic. However the black wire was in the slot behind the red wire in the connector.

 

[pkovo]

The wires coming off my stock rectifier were a little short, leaving the connector in a tough to reach spot. I ran the wires longer on the new one which allowed me to slightly modify where I placed the connector.

I used an old mountain bike tube as a wiring sleeve for the harness. Keeping it classy

 

[SinisterMatti]

I got everything hooked up and was finally able to test it today. I'm getting a steady 14.3v at 2500 rpm, so I'm feeling pretty happy now. I want to thank everyone for all the advice, and for putting up with all my stupid questions. I do okay with the mechanical side, but I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the electronics for some reason.