DJ_JONES
Novice Class
Turbo or NOS? Pick your poison
Posts: 46
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posted July 30, 2008 06:56 AM
voltage regulator and wires getting very hot...
I am trying to get my bike ready for the DYNO and while I had it running today I noticed s slight bit of smoke coming from the wires that attach to the regualtor that some fromt he stator. In the pic you will see me pointing to where the smoke was coming from. Only that side of the wires seem to e hot. I replaced the regualtor its self as I had a spare but that did not seem to be much help. The regualtor gets so hot you cant hold your hand on it.
Any ideas why? Bad stator?
I checked all the wires between the stator and the reguator and nothing is pinched.
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DJ JONES
Humble, TX
2000 ZX-12R (1290 + Wet kit)
2004 Hayabusa (Stage 1 Turbo)
Texas Shootout #1762 & #777
MDB Racing (HERE WE COME)
   
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ridgeracer
Pro
Posts: 1309
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posted July 30, 2008 08:21 AM
 Edited By: ridgeracer on 30 Jul 2008 09:28
Did you pull the connector apart and check the pins? This is a known problem with these bikes. There is actually a recall notice or service bulletin floating around out there about it. If I remember correctly the positive crankcase pressure in the generator cover over time forces oil up the white wires and it gets into the contacts in the plug which increases their resistance which makes them get hot. They eventually burn out the plug.
You should get it checked out it has been known to start some bikes on fire.
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ridgeracer
Pro
Posts: 1309
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posted July 30, 2008 08:24 AM
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DJ_JONES
Novice Class
Turbo or NOS? Pick your poison
Posts: 46
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posted July 30, 2008 08:29 AM
We'll Karl had told me to try that and I did cut that connector out but it did not help my problem.
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DJ JONES
Humble, TX
2000 ZX-12R (1290 + Wet kit)
2004 Hayabusa (Stage 1 Turbo)
Texas Shootout #1762 & #777
MDB Racing (HERE WE COME)
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halffast
Novice Class
Posts: 34
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posted July 30, 2008 09:28 AM
Thie isn't bike specific but maybe it will help diagnos the prob.
http://www.electrosport.com/
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woppi
Pro
Posts: 1362
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posted July 30, 2008 10:04 AM
#
dj_jones
is there some oil inside the plugs ??
woppi
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1st TFA Member / Austria !
" if it has wheels or titts - sometimes you will get troubles "
2000 Limited ZX12R NOS
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DJ_JONES
Novice Class
Turbo or NOS? Pick your poison
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posted July 30, 2008 10:20 AM
Yes there was. I removed the connecter and hard wires the wires but the problem still exists.
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DJ JONES
Humble, TX
2000 ZX-12R (1290 + Wet kit)
2004 Hayabusa (Stage 1 Turbo)
Texas Shootout #1762 & #777
MDB Racing (HERE WE COME)
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halffast
Novice Class
Posts: 34
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posted July 30, 2008 01:43 PM
Regulator/rectifiers do get hot, that's the reason for the large heat sink. Now that you've hard wired it the wires should be cooler. Maybe someone with a temperature gun could measure theirs and you could do the same to see if you're back in the ball park.
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DJ_JONES
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posted July 30, 2008 03:39 PM
Understood but this seems excessive to me....
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DJ JONES
Humble, TX
2000 ZX-12R (1290 + Wet kit)
2004 Hayabusa (Stage 1 Turbo)
Texas Shootout #1762 & #777
MDB Racing (HERE WE COME)
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KZScott
Needs a life
high on speed
Posts: 7235
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posted July 30, 2008 06:16 PM
did you get a higher output stator(rewound) for your electronics? that would heat it up more, plus the oily wires increase resistance....hmmmm
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ridgeracer
Pro
Posts: 1309
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posted July 31, 2008 06:04 AM
quote:
...the oily wires increase resistance....hmmmm
The oil gets between the contacting surfaces of the male and female plug pins. The increased resistance is at the pins and that is why they get hot.
Watts = Amps x Amps x Ohms
If the plug is conducting 10 amps and the contact resistance goes up just 1 ohm that is 100 Watts. Imagine the heat given off by a 100 W light bulb concentrated in that little plug.
Speaking of watts calculations it applies to the finned box which is in fact a rectifier / regulator. That thing on the left side of the engine is in fact an alternator and generates alternating current. That means the direction of current in the wires from the stator is constantly alternating.
The rectifier converts this Alternating Current (AC) to Direct Current (DC). DC current only flows in one direction, like a battery. Each of the diodes ( a kind of electron check valve ) in the rectifier drops the voltage about 0.6V. At 10 amps RMS that is 6 watts per diode or about 18W.
The regulator, as the name implies, tries to keep the voltage at a steady level but it can only keep the voltage from going above a certain voltage. It does this by acting like a automatically varying resistance between the source (alternator via rectifier) and the load (bike electronics). Again anytime we have resistance we have heat in watts.
If the voltage coming into the regulator is 20V and the voltage coming out is 14V that is a drop of 6V. If the current is 10 amps then A x V = W; 6 x 10 = 60 watts. Plus the 18 from the rectifier makes 78 Watts. The thing is going to get warm. As someone else said that is why it has cooling fins.
Now these are just back of the napkin figures, your mileage may vary as they say. But the math is pretty simple here and tells us something we all know intuitively. Increase the load (amps) increase the heat.
If in fact the regulator is running hotter than normal only one of three things can be happening.
1)The bike circuits are drawing more than a normal load
2)The alternator voltage is higher than normal
3)The frigging thing is broken.
You say you swapped it out so its not likely number 3. If the stator is stock its unlikely to be number 2.
Have you added any electrical accessories to the bike lately?
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DJ_JONES
Novice Class
Turbo or NOS? Pick your poison
Posts: 46
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posted July 31, 2008 08:23 AM
No new electronics.
Guess it is time to try my spare stator....
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DJ JONES
Humble, TX
2000 ZX-12R (1290 + Wet kit)
2004 Hayabusa (Stage 1 Turbo)
Texas Shootout #1762 & #777
MDB Racing (HERE WE COME)
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entropy
Moderator
Posts: 8671
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posted July 31, 2008 09:24 AM
DJ,
see what voltage is getting to the battery.
if voltage is right, i wouldn't do anything,
warm wires? maybe they should be warm (picking up heat from the rectifier)
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This moderator uses moderation in moderation
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DJ_JONES
Novice Class
Turbo or NOS? Pick your poison
Posts: 46
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posted July 31, 2008 09:26 AM
The regulator is so hot you can not put your hand on it. Is that right?
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DJ JONES
Humble, TX
2000 ZX-12R (1290 + Wet kit)
2004 Hayabusa (Stage 1 Turbo)
Texas Shootout #1762 & #777
MDB Racing (HERE WE COME)
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oscartheninja
Parking Attendant
Posts: 4
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posted July 31, 2008 10:44 PM
hey dj_jones i just had the same problem tonite, started smoking on me, so what did u end up doing???? did u just cut that plug out and hard wire it??
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ericczyz@yahoo.com
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DJ_JONES
Novice Class
Turbo or NOS? Pick your poison
Posts: 46
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posted August 01, 2008 04:23 AM
If your bike is stock and you havnet done anything take it to the dealer as they have a recall and will fix it all up.
I have temporaily disconnected my stator but I do not run my bike on the streets.
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DJ JONES
Humble, TX
2000 ZX-12R (1290 + Wet kit)
2004 Hayabusa (Stage 1 Turbo)
Texas Shootout #1762 & #777
MDB Racing (HERE WE COME)
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halffast
Novice Class
Posts: 34
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posted August 01, 2008 04:36 AM
I'll try sending the link to this site again. They have a PDF troubleshooting guide which can be downloaded. It's very helpfull.
http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/fault-finding-guide.php
Good luck,
Rick
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