my battery kept going flat so i replaced the rectifier. Battery continued to go flat. checked voltage at battery with engine running and it was not charging. took the stator out and found 2 burnt out segments, sent it to west country windings to be re wound.
Re fitted and stator to the bike, checked voltage at battery and there was a good charge of over 14 volts then after about 2 to 3 minutes there was a lot of smoke from under the tank, stoped the bike and found that the rectifier had fried
I fitted the old rectifier that i had replaced and this seems to show a good charge, however the rectifier was getting quite hot after a few minutes so i stoped the bike.
my question is, how hot do the rectifier normally get.
I May need to buy another rectifier, but at £40 a time i don't want to burn another one out if the fault is somewhere else.
can the stator put too much power out? i have heard good repots about west country windings, so i would have thought that all was well with the stator.
Are there any checks that i can do?
any advice will be much appreciated.
Don
-- Edited by Don on Sunday 11th of February 2024 09:37:04 PM
Usually you check the resistance in the 3 piece connector, there should be 1.0-1.2 ohms between the points. Also if you check the continuity when the ignition is on through each of the connectors from the stator and the frame there should bee no connection or beep.this was the issue with my girlfriends when it would drain the battery rapidly.
Please ignore my red mark up below.
I'd be surprised if the company did anything wrong if as Johnny said they have a good reputation etc. We had two stators rewound in Colombia for like £30 a piece both times basically In someone's shed, fairly simple fix apparently.
I'm only half sharp with bikes at a push but if there's excess heat and smoking would that not be a live touching the frame via a worn insulation of a wire or a poor earth? If you've had the rectifier off would forgetting and not reattaching the earthing point create these issues?