Reg/Rectifier - how to test?

[Aasland]

This is regarding my wife's SV650, but it isn't specific for that model. And there are lots of electrical geniuses on this board who can help me.

Background:

Wife's SV isn't charging the battery so I did some multimeter diode tests and the reg/rect is bad (shows no continuity where there should be). So I got a new non-Suzuki aftermarket one from Ebay. One connector isn't right ... but I can easily splice in the old one and make it work. Knowing that will void the warranty, and not wanting to wait another week (limited riding season here) I figured I'd test the thing first. If it passes the tests, I'll splice and use it and at most lose the $30 I have invested in it. If it fails the tests I'll send it back.

Question:

When testing the new reg/rect, on my work bench, using the multimeter diode test, I see the numbers flash into the right range for a second (i.e 1.4V) then it goes to zero. Is this right? The old one doesn't do this.

 

[TomInPA]

This is regarding my wife's SV650, but it isn't specific for that model. And there are lots of electrical geniuses on this board who can help me.

Background:

Wife's SV isn't charging the battery so I did some multimeter diode tests and the reg/rect is bad (shows no continuity where there should be). So I got a new non-Suzuki aftermarket one from Ebay. One connector isn't right ... but I can easily splice in the old one and make it work. Knowing that will void the warranty, and not wanting to wait another week (limited riding season here) I figured I'd test the thing first. If it passes the tests, I'll splice and use it and at most lose the $30 I have invested in it. If it fails the tests I'll send it back.

Question:

When testing the new reg/rect, on my work bench, using the multimeter diode test, I see the numbers flash into the right range for a second (i.e 1.4V) then it goes to zero. Is this right? The old one doesn't do this.

Be sure to check the stator leads for continuity (short) to ground. It is the easiest test and most common failure mode. Insulation cooks through and the stator grounds. Hooking up your new R/R to a bad stator would be counter-productive.

 

[Aasland]

Be sure to check the stator leads for continuity (short) to ground.

Yup - that's OK. For a while I thought the stator was bad as the voltage dropped from 13.5 to 13.3 when RPM's go up, but further digging showed that to be normal on the SV's ... plus the stators on these don't have a history of failure (whereas rectifiers do).

 

[03HiYoSilver]

Be sure to check the stator leads for continuity (short) to ground.

Yup - that's OK. For a while I thought the stator was bad as the voltage dropped from 13.5 to 13.3 when RPM's go up, but further digging showed that to be normal on the SV's ... plus the stators on these don't have a history of failure (whereas rectifiers do).

Aasland,

I not sure if your model is included in this, but Suzuki just issued a Recall on certain models Rectifiers during the last couple of months.

 

[Aasland]

I not sure if your model is included in this, but Suzuki just issued a Recall on certain models Rectifiers during the last couple of months.

Thanks for the tip - the recalls are for 2008's and up, while we have a 2001.