Is my Reg/rec dead?

[ybanrab]

Just got another chance to poke around on the NC30 project bike and thought I'd take a look at the charging system. The yellow wires are all showing some heat damage where they connect to the reg/rec and one has about an inch of insulation burned away. Luckily the resistance of the coils themselves checks out ok (1 ohm each), but the reg/rec doesn't measure up the same as the Haynes manual says. When trying to measure the resistance between terminals, all the connectors to the coils are open circuit and I get 30k ohms between the two power terminals in either direction. I suspect I know the answer, but I just wanted to check that I'll be needing a new one?

Any advice on getting a new one? I see there's ones on eBay for £24 (which appeals, as I'm on something of a budget):
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Regulator-Rectifi ... 286.c0.m14" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

but they could be of dubious quality?

Thanks in advance

Barny

[Cammo]

Don't waste your hard earned on that one, it certainly is of dubious quality!

Try and get a used Yamaha R6 unit, 2002 onwards will fit up with a few minor mods and will never let you down. Should get it cheaper than the one above also. There are afew threads around here on how to fit them, or just yell out if you need help.

[rich1988]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 490wt_1053" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Is the one I got, came very quickly and they sent me a tracking number etc as well, its practically the same as the OEM one and thus far has been fine, there is always the chance it will fail again and take the battery with it but for the price of a Honda one I could buy another battery and another Reg/Rec

[Cammo]

No offense to Rich, but whatever you do make sure you get one that has cooling fins!

The better the heat shedding ability, the longer it will last...

The Yamaha units I spoke of above have probably 200% times the surface area over the (finned!) honda units and will get rid of damaging heat a lot better!

[ybanrab]

Thanks for the replies guys, one of the members has hooked me up with a cheap Honda unit, which will do for the moment to get the bike up and running. I'll see what I can do about the heat though. Cleaning the back of the reg and the subframe where it mounts and using some thermal grease from a PC heatsink may help shed the heat a little better. I could also wire in a fan but I don't know whether that's overkill?

Thanks

barny

[rich1988]

No offense to Rich, but whatever you do make sure you get one that has cooling fins!

The better the heat shedding ability, the longer it will last...

The Yamaha units I spoke of above have probably 200% times the surface area over the (finned!) honda units and will get rid of damaging heat a lot better!

none taken I cheaped out because I didnt know what the quality would be like, my bike gets very light useage anyway so I cant see it being an issue but I would advise getting the version with the heatsink its only a few quid extra

[wullvfr]

theres no denying the reg rec with fins is more efficient than the standard oe item but from 2007 to late 2008 i had issues with the reg rec giving up the ghost on my nc30,and i had fitted the non original reg rec with fins.after much faffing about i sourced a cheap oe one and fitted it along with this that and the next,and didn't have any other issues with the charging system.so dont write them off

wull

[VtypeV4]

Funny, that post goes up and guess what happens!? Mine failed today, i thought i could smell eggy battery and it was red hot. The battery seems ok but the reg-rec was charred and wrecked. It was trying to put 18v into my batt!

I've located another Honda one thats much chunkier with metal cooling fins but has an extra black wire. All the other colours match so shall i just ground (to frame) this spare wire?

They seem to be a weak point on mine, this is the third one in 3 years on this bike. Are they a common failure?

[Cammo]

They seem to be a weak point on mine, this is the third one in 3 years on this bike. Are they a common failure?

Yes they are.

Honda reg/recas are crap (still are!), and the nc30 complete charging system is a bit suss.

It might also be the alternator that's responsible, not your reg/rec. The haynes manual has all the electrical checks. Once the system is sorted properly you shouldn't have any issues.

[wullvfr]

It might also be the alternator that's responsible, not your reg/rec. The haynes manual has all the electrical checks. Once the system is sorted properly you shouldn't have any issues.

thats spot on,best thing to do is check other parts of the charging system before spending the cash on a costly reg rec when it may go again...soon!!!!



wull