Regulator/Rectifier issues and an overheating battery!
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 6:13 pm
Hello everyone,
I've read multiple posts regarding issues with regulator, rectifiers and batteries and I've seen multiple solutions however I just seem to run into one problem after another.
My bike is a 1992 Honda CB400 Super Four. My engine is NC23 and I believe my frame is NC31 but I'm not exactly sure as I can't find the bloody frame number anywhere!
I bought the bike approximately three months back and I had almost a month of riding with only minor issues however one day I pulled up at the garage and saw smoke coming from under my seat and side panel.
I immediately left the petrol station and returned home, only a few hundred yards away, I pulled off the seat and I was greeted with a great big plume of smoke and no apparent cause for it.
A few days later I was out for a longer trip and I was on the motorway cruising in 6th gear at 75/80mph, between 3000 to 6000 RPM depending on the wind. After half an hour the bike started to bog out majorly, I went all the way back down through the gears and over a period of about 60 seconds the bike entirely lost power. Luckily I pulled up on the hard shoulder.
At this point I noticed my bottom was a little too warm and I also heard a high pitched whistling noise coming from under the seat so I removed the seat and my battery was swelling quite a lot!
By this point it was quite apparent my regulator was firing far too much power into my battery. We removed the caps from my battery and the battery was that hot it had run out of acid. We then filled the battery with water and the bike got me to where I needed to go and carried on running however it was under performing quite a lot.
Cutting a long story somewhat shorter, my bike continued to run as it did for a few weeks, I had to keep topping the battery up with water every few days though.
I then ordered a replacement regulator and a new battery however the regulator I ordered, the SH603-12, is a 5 pin connection obviously meant for another CB400 Super Four from 1992 as it was listed that it would be suitable for my model.
The bike is performing absolutely wonderful again with a new battery however the new battery is getting far too hot again, I need to know if there's any way I can fit this SH603-12 5 pin rectifier in place of the SH611-11 with a 4 pin connection.
Sorry for going on and on, just wanted to give people an idea of what's happening.
Cheers,
Dave
I've read multiple posts regarding issues with regulator, rectifiers and batteries and I've seen multiple solutions however I just seem to run into one problem after another.
My bike is a 1992 Honda CB400 Super Four. My engine is NC23 and I believe my frame is NC31 but I'm not exactly sure as I can't find the bloody frame number anywhere!
I bought the bike approximately three months back and I had almost a month of riding with only minor issues however one day I pulled up at the garage and saw smoke coming from under my seat and side panel.
I immediately left the petrol station and returned home, only a few hundred yards away, I pulled off the seat and I was greeted with a great big plume of smoke and no apparent cause for it.
A few days later I was out for a longer trip and I was on the motorway cruising in 6th gear at 75/80mph, between 3000 to 6000 RPM depending on the wind. After half an hour the bike started to bog out majorly, I went all the way back down through the gears and over a period of about 60 seconds the bike entirely lost power. Luckily I pulled up on the hard shoulder.
At this point I noticed my bottom was a little too warm and I also heard a high pitched whistling noise coming from under the seat so I removed the seat and my battery was swelling quite a lot!
By this point it was quite apparent my regulator was firing far too much power into my battery. We removed the caps from my battery and the battery was that hot it had run out of acid. We then filled the battery with water and the bike got me to where I needed to go and carried on running however it was under performing quite a lot.
Cutting a long story somewhat shorter, my bike continued to run as it did for a few weeks, I had to keep topping the battery up with water every few days though.
I then ordered a replacement regulator and a new battery however the regulator I ordered, the SH603-12, is a 5 pin connection obviously meant for another CB400 Super Four from 1992 as it was listed that it would be suitable for my model.
The bike is performing absolutely wonderful again with a new battery however the new battery is getting far too hot again, I need to know if there's any way I can fit this SH603-12 5 pin rectifier in place of the SH611-11 with a 4 pin connection.
Sorry for going on and on, just wanted to give people an idea of what's happening.
Cheers,
Dave