550F charge issue?

[Oddjob]

Doesn't appear so Steve. Even today they are still making non mosfet Reg/Res, my CB1300 is non mosfet and that's a genuine part from Honda. Loads have failed on the 1300, I've been lucky and mines just fine but I have a spare just in case.

[Sesman]

That’s very interesting. When I finished Uni, IGBT was coming on strong in power applications and I simply took it for granted they would usurp p/n MOSFET Clearly still a role MOSFET for low power applications.

Speaking of reg/rec failures my old 800VFR had an appetite for them. I always carried a spare on foreign trips until I learned a Yamaha variant was more reliable.

[Bryanj]

Whats wrong with the original two unit system that is more forgiving, rectifiers only seem to fail if you break a wire off or hit it with a big hammer whilst regulator only needs good, clean connections

[Sesman]

Probably not a lot. My 46year old units work just fine, but when they break I’ll go for the solid state option, unless somebody gifts me an original replacement. Out of pure interest , do the sparks on this forum believe the semiconductor option of field control offers any benefits over the elec/mech original solution?

[Laverdaroo]

Just aquick show and taell tale related to Reg Rec's. My model VFR800 is reknowed for blowing them as per what Phil stated ablout his VFR. Mine however is the original unit and going strong after 21 years, must be a batch that was crap as never had a problem with it on mine. Must be the lucl of the draw¬!

[Sesman]

Wow, now that is good service. To be fair I did about 9k on mine over several years of ‘touring’ in the south of France and Spain, where it was effing hot. I’m sure that was a factor in the premature failures. In all other respects I wish i still had my 98 VFR. It was a superb machine and would hold its own today with similar machines. When I say ‘touring’ read beer induced duration TT racing. Nothing to be proud of, but great times sadly missed.

[Bryanj]

The problem with the "electronic" ones is that they dont like either voltage spikes or reverse polarity. Now the reverse part can only happen by fitting the wrong battery or simply getting it wrong BUT i have seen, more than once, both done.
The voltage spike is far more common due to old and poor connections/ looms.
Personally i will use the original type until i cant get one

[deltarider]

The problem with the "electronic" ones is that they dont like either voltage spikes or reverse polarity. Now the reverse part can only happen by fitting the wrong battery or simply getting it wrong BUT i have seen, more than once, both done.
The voltage spike is far more common due to old and poor connections/ looms.
Personally i will use the original type until i cant get one

And right you are. It was a German engineer who posted his findings on the German forum after having monitored and compared the OEM arrangement to aftermarket full electronic devices. He discovered the big resistor more or less 'senses' the ambient temperature - not so much the battery's temperature as I understood it - so in hot weather the charging is reduced somewhat, whereas in the cold, right after a cold start the charging is at max, because the resistor is still cold. I don't know how big the effect is and if it was designed on purpose by Honda or just a bonus of having that big resistor in the open.

[Sesman]

I suspect it was an unintended consequence; the dominant impedance of a coil is reactance, which is unaffected by temperature. The resistance part of the coil however will change with ambient temperature changing the X/R ratio, which affects both Z (impedance) and the D.C. time constant….which will affect the regulator coil current and torque produced, effectively changing the rpm at which the regulator moving contacts are powered. I could say a little more about dv/dt and the relative effects of producing meaningful voltage spikes, but I suspect it might not be too useful.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Call me a Luddite but the trouble with solid state stuff is there is no easy way to test it. (says he who has electronic ignition) no bits you can adjust to alter voltage.

[Laverdaroo]

Bloody hell Phil, you been talking to Ash
Has all this elastic trickery been part of your career? I had to google some of that!

[Sesman]

I think it’s probably more about testing input and output rather than board level components. But I agree Ted, for the majority of automotive applications the opportunity for adjustment is definitely limited if non existent. They work or they don’t. There are those on the forum who know a damn site more than me about RC, X/R, ripple and the like and it’s effects on components.

[Sesman]

It’s not entirely correct what I’ve written Roo, as the bridge rectifier output is DC with AC ripple. So there will be a small reactive component to consider, but the coil characteristic presents in the majority as resistive, so in the majority is affected by temperature. But to what degree and how much the charge start/ stop is somewhat academic. To be honest I’d be surprised it has much effect in practice. Ash and others are far better versed on this kind of thing.

I spent 4 years at Leeds Uni learning how little I knew.

[Bristolbadger]

So after a little more investigative work at the w/end I've discovered my alternator meter readings seem ok but my reg/rec has indeed given up the ghost.
I've taken the plunge and ordered an Electrex one, hopefully more robust than my old one.

Also one of my stator coil yellow wires was a bit corroded and blackened. Is this common and maybe indicative of shorter problem...?
I can't remember putting new bullets on when I wired up the bike a few years ago and probably should have, so I'd like to renew the connection wires from the stator & field with new wire and bullets.
Is 10amp auto wire ok for this?

[Laverdaroo]

Nick Ive buckets of the right barrel connectors for that set up if you havent got any and before you reach foir the nasty blue ended lumpy things

Giz a bell when you're in, fed and watered and we can have a yap, need to run some bits passed you, when 20 questions, yer know. Re yer chopper.................yer 750 that is