Topic: Trouble wiring a Rick's Reg/rect combo

[Mingo]

Bike is 78 750.

Anyhow, I wired it up and rode around a bit. But, at the battery terminals, it's putting out 12.06 volt, no matter how much i rev the engine. On the stock reg/reg I would get 14.8 volts at 4000 rpm.

When I first put it one, the battery, with the engine off had a charge of 12.5 V. After ten minutes of riding with the new regulator, the batter, engine off, is was at 12.32v. After another 20 minute ride, it's at 12.15v.

The regulator came with two bundles of stripped wires. No connectors.

One bundle had  three wires:
a white & red wire, which I connected to the white and red battery lead.
A green, which I connected to an available green ground wire.
And a black, which I attached to an available black wire.

The other bundle had 5 wires: the three yellow wires and a black wire, and a white wire.
The three yellows went to the obvious three yellows.
The white went to the white field wire.
The black is the confusion.
I tried connecting it to the green line, since the meager instructions say that this black (as opposed to the other black line in the other bundle coming from the reg/rec--which is supposed to go the the ignition) should connect to the second field wire. But that just blew fuses. Three of them.

So I just connected that second black reg wire to the first black reg line, which was connected to the bike's black ignition line.

As it is, the bike runs, but I'm slowly losing charge on the battery, and, again, when I rev it up to 6K rpm, I don't get anymore voltage, just the 12.06 volts.


Can someone see what I'm doing wrong?

Why am I replacing it? Because I'm installing a dyna ignition (as soon as I get this to work). I was told that the ignition is less likely to fail with a solid state reg/rect.

[LesterPiglet]

That's a bit of a mess. It's not staying like that I hope. Do you have a picture of the reg/rec and maybe it will enlighten us. Dunno anything about Dynas but I would recommend Hondamans ignition. It's simple to fit, makes an instant improvement, inexpensive and if there is ever a problem with it, it is a 2 minute job to convert back to points. Also Hondaman gives a very good warranty that I don't expect I'll ever need to use.

[Mingo]

That's a bit of a mess. It's not staying like that I hope.

Right. Just using the twist caps while I get the wiring right.

Anyhow, here's the instructions. The thing I can't figure out is how to tell what wire the "other side of field or brush 2" is.

[Spanner 1]

On the stock set-up the field coil = the White and Green wire. To use the 'new' R/R then, you would connect the original white and green to the new Black and White ( doesn't matter which to which ) BUT you must disconnect the other end of the green wire @ the 8-way connector. The end that goes into the wire loom, that is . So if you choose to connect white to white, then the black will connect to the green that goes into the alternator case ONLY. the green that normally 'mates' to this green at the 8-way connector is left 'hanging' with no connection....
That being said.... overall +1 with Lester Piglet....

[Mingo]

On the stock set-up the field coil = the White and Green wire. To use the 'new' R/R then, you would connect the original white and green to the new Black and White ( doesn't matter which to which ) BUT you must disconnect the other end of the green wire @ the 8-way connector. The end that goes into the wire loom, that is . So if you choose to connect white to white, then the black will connect to the green that goes into the alternator case ONLY. the green that normally 'mates' to this green at the 8-way connector is left 'hanging' with no connection....
That being said.... overall +1 with Lester Piglet....

Thanks. I'll give it a try.

[Mingo]

And one more question: with this reg/rec, will the bike still produce progressively more volts as the rpms go up (measured at the battery terminals), or will it be more consistent across the board?

[madmtnmotors]

Spanner is correct, the black wire from the 5-wire bundle will connect to the field coil green wire. This was the hardest thing for me to come to grips with when I hooked up mine, since black is typically hot, and green is ground. My instincts were screaming at me as I connected black to green...

It just don't seem right. You'd think the reg/rect manufacturers could color code to match the bike. Obviously not...

As far as voltage, performance should be the same as stock, about 12v at idle increasing to 14v-14.5v above 3000 rpms.

[Spanner 1]

AS 'Mad' says, this R/R may produce varying voltage vs. rpm, but many of the aftermarket R/R's work on a different principal and produce a steady 14.5v at any/all rpm's and increase the wattage ( amps ) as rpm's increase.

[Mingo]

Still not working.

Here's what I have done:

Ran green wire straight from alternator to the black line of ricks unit.  White line from alternator to white line on Ricks. 

Bike runs,  but charges at 11.65v, at any rpm.

I am testing at battery terminals.

Switched white and green lines with black and white on Ricks unit.

Same results.

Switched the field wire (both green and white) to the other black line (on the 3 wire bundle)  on Ricks unit. The one that's supposed to connect to ignition.

Bike still runs,  but charges at 11.65v, at any rpm.

Re-connected white and green field wires to Ricks black and white wires on 5 wire bundle

Bike runs,  but charges at 11.65v, at any rpm.

Disconnected black line from bikes ignition to ricks black line on 3 wire bundle.

Strangely, bike still runs,  but charges at 11.65v, at any rpm.

Since the bike charged nicely moments before I swapped out the reg/rect, I believe my alternator is good, but I'm not sure how to check.

[madmtnmotors]

Have you tried swapping the known good stock unit back into place?

[Spanner 1]

O.K..... you cant use the 3 wires ( Black, White and Green ) that were plugged into the stock regulator... well, actually you can connect the new unit to the White and Black ( 3 wire loom ) BUT you must connect the Alt. Black ( the one with the Yellows ) @ the 8-way connector to the green that disappears into the alt. with the yellows etc. only ( cannot connect to the 'loom' green ).... try again ?

[Mingo]

O.K..... you cant use the 3 wires ( Black, White and Green ) that were plugged into the stock regulator... well, actually you can connect the new unit to the White and Black ( 3 wire loom ) BUT you must connect the Alt. Black ( the one with the Yellows ) @ the 8-way connector to the green that disappears into the alt. with the yellows etc. only ( cannot connect to the 'loom' green ).... try again ?

I'm pretty sure I understand you, maybe not, but I have already pulled the green line from the 8-way connector (on the loom side), and run a new green line straight from the alternator side of the 8-way connector to the black line of the 5-wire bundle on the ricks unit. Is that what you mean?

Is so, then it must be something else. 

Have you tried swapping the known good stock unit back into place?

No.  I was hoping someone would see some obvious error I've been making here, before I entertain the idea that the ricks unit is defective.

Is there an easy way to test my field wires while my reg/rec isn't working?

[Spanner 1]

Looks like you got it right  ..... The new R/R needs to connect to the field coil without a 'ground reference '  which is what you have done by disconnecting the Green wire into the loom ( where it connects to frame/ground ). Even tho' the other end that enters the alternator is also Green it goes directly to one end of the coil and  not to the case/ground.......... if you can verify you have close to battery voltage on the 'other' Black wire ( 3 wire loom ), then maybe the unit is faulty  .
For a full test tho', would be best to start-over with a freshly charged battery, which after a 1 hour rest off the charger must read 12.6v min.... then try again.

[lucky]

That wiring is a mess!

I hope it is temporary.
Go to a auto parts store and get the right stuff. NOT house wiring twist on connectors made for solid wire.

Rick's regulator /rectifier combo usually comes with a plug in connector and 3 loose wires that would have been connected to the regulator.
Just take those three wires and plug them into the wires that were previously connected to the regulator.(black, white, green) THATS IT .DONE.

[LesterPiglet]

Do you skip some posts Lucky?

[Mingo]

That wiring is a mess!

I hope it is temporary.
Go to a auto parts store and get the right stuff. NOT house wiring twist on connectors made for solid wire.

Rick's regulator /rectifier combo usually comes with a plug in connector and 3 loose wires that would have been connected to the regulator.
Just take those three wires and plug them into the wires that were previously connected to the regulator.(black, white, green) THATS IT .DONE.

Thanks for following my posts so closely. 

You're right about the plug and play aspect, though. I have just discovered that there are two Rick's units that fit the 78 750. The 10-503, and the 10-100. The 10-100 is what you have, and plugs in to existent connectors. This 503 is requiring a fair amount of wiring.

I wonder if z1 will exchange a unit that's been wired to my bike for the last 24 hours. We'll see on Monday.

[Mingo]

Is there a way for me to bench test my reg/rec at home with a multimeter?

Also, is there a way to test my alternator with a multimeter, while the reg/rec is not working right?

[lucky]

Is there a way for me to bench test my reg/rec at home with a multimeter?

Also, is there a way to test my alternator with a multimeter, while the reg/rec is not working right?

You can go to Rick's Motorsports website and it gives instructions on wiring and checking the unit.

[lucky]

Do you skip some posts Lucky?

Yes.

[lucky]

That wiring is a mess!

I hope it is temporary.
Go to a auto parts store and get the right stuff. NOT house wiring twist on connectors made for solid wire.

Rick's regulator /rectifier combo usually comes with a plug in connector and 3 loose wires that would have been connected to the regulator.
Just take those three wires and plug them into the wires that were previously connected to the regulator.(black, white, green) THATS IT .DONE.

Thanks for following my posts so closely. 

You're right about the plug and play aspect, though. I have just discovered that there are two Rick's units that fit the 78 750. The 10-503, and the 10-100. The 10-100 is what you have, and plugs in to existent connectors. This 503 is requiring a fair amount of wiring.

I wonder if z1 will exchange a unit that's been wired to my bike for the last 24 hours. We'll see on Monday.

I thought that may have been the case.
I would look at the stock wiring diagram and find out which wires go to the plug that was previously plugged into the alternator. Make a drawing.
Once you have those fixed then you can move onto the regulator wires.

[Mingo]

[/quote]You can go to Rick's Motorsports website and it gives instructions on wiring and checking the unit.
[/quote]

I can't find anything like that at their site. 

A question for Lucky (or anyone with the plug and play 10-100):


If the 10-100 is plug and play, does that mean that it's okay for the stator to be grounded?

Much of the advice I got earlier on this thread was how to unground my green field wire.  It may be that I did this too late- after burning through a few fuses, and perhaps damaging the reg/rec. 

I'm wondering what would happen if I return my harness to stock condition and get the 10-100. Will I still need to unground the stator? My 10-503 comes with a note, mandating that I check that the stator is not grounded, which I wisely didn't pay attention to.   

Does the 10-100 come with such a note?

[Spanner 1]

Well.... good luck, as Rick's website says 'Warranty void if buyer misused the product' or words like that  ... anyway, your stator is not grounded ( just modified this post ).

[Mingo]

anyway, your stator is not grounded ( just modified this post ).

Meaning, now that I've ungrounded it, right? Or are you correcting me, and I don't fully understand what I did today?

[Spanner 1]

Your stator is ungrounded.... as stock and as required by the aftermarket R/R your trying to fit.
The field coil is grounded as stock, but you have removed the ground wire ( green to loom ) to allow the field coil to 'float' as some/most solid state R/R's require... so your good with all that...
I think your new R/R was fried before you started this thread 

[imgnr]

I bought a universal Rick's R/R on E-Bay for $20 and wired everything up according to the diagrams and the fuse kept blowing.  Did exactly what this thread said to do which is disconnect the green wire from the ground and amazingly it worked!  Would not have known what to do if I didn't stumble upon this thread.

Thank you and bravo!  I wonder if the R/Rs made specifically for our bikes will require the green wire to be ungrounded as well...