Regulator Issues

[Neosophist]

I did not take any measurements, as soon as I saw smoke coming off the yellow wires I shut the engine off as I was worried I would fry the battery. I will take some measurements after i rewire the system.

Ahh.. smoke off the wires!

How did you conenct them togheter? Unless they are high quality soldered joints you risk setting them on-fire, just like when the 3 pin plug corrodes.

There is high current drawn over these wires and any shitty connection adds resistance. To overcome the resistance you need to increase the current draw (and burn out the genny) but since the wires are not made for this amount of current you will set them on fire too.

Also my 1989 NC30 is still on its original reg/rec.

One of the biggest troubles besides the genny plug getting corroded and melting away is neglect of the charging system. The bike isnt designed to charge a dead battery only to keep a fully charged one charged. Also old batteries dont take charge well and since the reg/rec is so compact it is easy to over-do it.

I've found over the last 10 years or so that if you keep the battery fully charged and replace it every couple of years you dont tend to have reg/rec issues.

Of course fitting a bigger reg.rec as i have done to my other bikes will allow more tolerance as they can clearly deal with more heat and more neglect.

[JamieDemos]

Thanks for the info neo.... The battery is about 3 months old. The wires were joined with a connector pin, same as the stock one, I replaced it when I replaced the battery and previous regulator.

I will be replacing all the wiring. Will it be better to run all the wiring without and conects? Ie straight from the generator to the regulator?

[Neosophist]

Thanks for the info neo.... The battery is about 3 months old. The wires were joined with a connector pin, same as the stock one, I replaced it when I replaced the battery and previous regulator.

I will be replacing all the wiring. Will it be better to run all the wiring without and conects? Ie straight from the generator to the regulator?

connectors are fine, but they need to be soldered and not crimped...

otherwise the connection tends to oxidize very quickly and heat up and burn

i use waterproof amp connectors on all my bikes to replace this exposed connector, add a bit of di-eletric grease and the corrosion is pretty much eliminated so the chance of it burning up is greatly reduced.

[JamieDemos]

Aaaah I see, my connectors were crimped. What amperage fuse should I be using?

[JamieDemos]

I have a new problem guys. I was going to start the bike to check the voltage at 5500rpm so that I can establish whether the regulator is shot.... Except the bike would not start, it turns over fine but doesn't start. I then noticed I had left the choke open for the last two weeks while the bike was sitting. Could I have flooded the bike?

[magg]

"Choke" needs engine rotation, no rotation no fuel flow. Do you have spark, rect/reg over-voltage issues can damage ignition control unit.

[JamieDemos]

The good news is that I am definitely getting spark. The bad news is that I am completely lost as to why it suddenly will not start.

Any ideas?

[JamieDemos]

Update: I got the bike started after many many tries. It seems to me like it sounds off, or maybe I'm dreaming. It seems to be starting fine now.

I measured the voltage while the bike was at 5500rpm and got 13.9v .... So the regulator is fine right?

I felt the wires and they were starting to get hot.

Am I correct in saying that all I need to do is rewire the charging circuit?

[magg]

13.9 volts typical for oem wiring configuration, >14.5 is best. Would expect "wires" to get warm, maybe "hot" depending on each individual sensitivity. Physics says current flow will generate heat unless conductor resistance is zero and since full alternator output current flows continually, wires will run "warm". Which wires in particular get "hot"?

[JamieDemos]

The yellow wires before and after the connector (the ones that come from the generator).