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VoltageRegulators
About TheVoltageRegulatorisanimportantcomponentoftheelectricalchargingsystem,andkeepsyourmotorcyclebatteryfrombeing
Parts overchargedanddamaged.Thissectionhasinformationoncommonregulatortypesandtroubleshootinginformation.Thereareafew
TechInfo commontypesofVoltageRegulatorsusedonmostmotorcycles.Themostcommonisasingleorthreephaseregulatorforpermanent
Contact magnetchargingsystems.Thistypeisusedonthemajorityofmodernstreetmotorcycles.Adifferentstyleofregulatorisusedonfield
Dealers coilregulatedsystems,whicharefoundonmanystreetmotorcyclesfromthe1970'sthroughearly1980's.Andfinallyaverysimple
regulatorisusedonalternatortypesystems. MostVoltageRegulatorscontainaRectifiercomponentaswell,andtheyareoftenreferred
CUSTOMERSUPPORT toas'RegulatorRectifiers'. TheRectifierisaseparate,butequallyimportantcomponent,whichservestoconvert("rectify")thealternating
current(AC)producedbythestator&flywheeltodirectcurrent(DC)necessarytochargeabattery.Thedifferenttypesareexplainedin
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SinglePhaseVoltageRegulatorsareusedwithsinglephasestatorsinpermanentmagnetflywheelchargingsystems.Youcanseethe
statorsandrotorspagestolearnmoreaboutthesetypeofsystems.TheSinglePhaseVoltageRegulatorservestwofunctions.First,is
toactasaRectifier(whytheseareoftencalledRegulatorRectifer's). Therectifiersectionisrepresentedbythe4arrowsintheschematic
above.ThearrowsrepresenttheinternalDiodes,whichareelectroniccomponentsinsideunitwhichformtheRectifiersection. Diodes
areasimpleelectricalcomponentthatserveasinglefunction.Diodescanbethoughofasonewaystreetsforelectricalcurrent.They
onlyallowcurrenttopassinonedirection:positivepolarity. Thesinglephaserectifierhaseachendofthestatorcoilconnectedin
betweenapairofdiodes.Thediodesfilteroutthenegativeportionofthealternatingcurrentwave,onlyallowingthepositivepolarity
currenttopass.Afterthediodebridge,theelectricalcurrentfromthestatorisrectifiedintodirectcurrent,whichisusedtochargethe
battery.

TheRegulatorisseparatesetofcomponentsandfunctioninsidetheunit. Theregulatorfunctionisverysimple(andreliable)inmost
motorcycleregulators.Aregulatorcontrolcircuitmonitorsbatteryvoltage,andcomparesthismeasurementtoaninternalreference
voltage(theregulationpoint).Motorcycleregulatorsaregenerallydesignedtoallowamaximumbatteryvoltageof~14.6VDCatthebattery
whilecharging.Whenthisvoltagelimitisreached,thecontrolcircuittriggerssemiconductorswitches,called'SiliconControlled
Rectifiers'(SCR's).WhentheSCRistriggered,itessentiallyclosesaswitch,makingaconnectionbetweentheoutputofthestator,and
ground.Thisactshuntsstatoroutputtotheground,whichisdissipatedasheatthroughouttheregulatorsbody.Thisiswhytheregulator
housingdesigniscritical.Itnotonlyservestoprotecttheinternalcomponentsfromtheelements&vibration,butnedstoefficiently
dissipateheatasexcesscurrentisbledoff. Finsareoftenusedtoallowairflowtohelpcoolthehousing.

ThreePhaseVoltageRegulators

ThreePhasevoltageregulator/rectifiersfunctionthesamewayasdescribedaboveinthesinglephasesection. Thedifferencesarethe
rectifierbrigecontainsanothersetofdiodestorectifythethirdphaseofoutputfromthestator.

FieldCoilRotorRegulators
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 rectifierbrigecontainsanothersetofdiodestorectifythethirdphaseofoutputfromthestator.

FieldCoilRotorRegulators

TheseVoltageRegulatorunitsareofthetypeusedonbikesthatusearotorwithaninternalfieldcoil,insteadofapermanentmagnet
flywheel. ThistypeofsystemisusedonmanyJapanesemotorcyclesthroughoutthe70'sandearly80's,liketheHondaCBseries&
YamahaXSseries. Theseunitshaveaninternalrectifier,thatfunctionsthesamewayastheunitsdescribedabove.Thedifferencewith
thistypeofsystemisintheregulation. Regulationinthesesystemsisdonebyvaryingthecurrentflowthroughafieldcoilinsideofthe
rotortovarythemagneticfield,ratherthanshuntingstatoroutput(seepermanentmagnetsystemsabove). Theregulatorsensesbattery
voltage,andregulatescurrentflowtothefieldcoil.Whenthebatteryvoltageislow,theregulatorallowsmaximumcurrenttoflowthrough
thefieldcoil,increasingthemagneticfieldintherotor.This,inturn,increasestheoutputfromthestatorwindings.Whenthemeasured
batteryvoltagereachesfullcharge(~14.4V),currentflowthroughthefieldcoilisreduced,orstoppedaltogether(dependingonthe
particularmodel),toavoidoverchargingthebattery. ThesesystemsaremoreefficientthanPermanentMagnetchargingsystems,as
thereisnotasmuchwastedcurrentbeinggeneratedthathastobedissipatedasheat.Howevertherearemorepartstowearoutin
thesesystems,suchastheslipringsontherotor,orthebrushesprovidingcurrenttothefieldcoil.

AlternatorRegulation

Somemotorcycles,particularlystreetmodelsinthe80's,usedanautomotivetypealternatorsystem. Intheseunitsanalternatoris
usuallygeardrivenfromthecrankshaft. ThealternatorhasaninternaldiodebridgetoperformAC>DCrectification(seedescription
above).Thealternatorhasaninternalfieldcoil,whichiscontrolledbyaseparateregulatorunit(alsointernaltothealternator).The
regulatorscanfailontheseunits,andareeasytoreplace.

GeneralVoltageRegulator(Regulator/Rectifier)TroubleshootingSteps

VoltageRegulatorunitsgenerallyfailfromheat. Mostregulatorsworktoprotectthebatterybydissipatingunnecessarychargingcurrent
asheat.Theheatissunkbythemetalbodyoftheregulator. Onmostbikes,theregulatorbodyisfinnedforaircooling,andismountedin
somelocationwithdecentairflow.Ifaregulatorfailsoftenonaparticularmodel,andtheregulatorismountedinalocationwithpoor
airflow(underneaththeseat,underafairing,nearexhaust,etc.)itcanhelptomoveandremounttheregulatorhousingsomewhereon
thebikewithverygoodairflow.

RegulationFailures

TheregulationfunctionsofaVoltageRegulatorunitcannotbeeasilytested.(Weoffertestingservicesonourtestbench,wherewecan
accuratelydiagnosearegulatorfailure.Pleasecontactustoarrangetestingservices.)Regulationfailureswillgenerallypresent
themselvesbyoverchargingthebattery.Thismaybenoticeablebyblowingupheadlightortaillightbulbsfromhighvoltage,orthebattery
gettingextremelyhot,andboilingtheacidinside.ThiscanbeeasilydiagnosedwithaDigitalMultiMeter(DMM).

1:ConnectyourDMMtothebatteryterminals,RedDMMleadtothePositive(+)terminal,BlackDMMleadtotheNegative()terminal.
2:SettheDMMtoDCVoltagemode,20Vrange.
3:Starttheengine.
4:Notebatteryvoltageatidle.Itshouldbeintherangeof12V13VDCatidle.
5:Revtheengineto40005000RPM,andchecktheDMMreading.
6:Theregulatorshouldreach~14.414.6VDC.

IfthevoltagecontinuesincreasingwithRPMover15VDC,theregulationfunctionisnotoperatingcorrectly.Theregulationfunctionisnot
serviceableatall,theVoltageRegulatormustbereplaced.Regulationfunctionscanbeintermittent,andgetprogressivelyworse.Itcan
behardtotestandbepositiveofregulatorfailure,butthisistheeasiestandmostcommonwaytodiagnosethisfailure.

RectifierFailures

Therectifierfunctioncanbeeasilytested,bycheckingforcorrectoperationofthediodesintheinternalrectifierbridge.Youdoneeda
DigitalMultimeterwithaDiodeCheckfunction.Thiswillbeasymbolonthemeterlookinglikeanarrow(>|). Thediodetestfunction
operatesbysendingasmallsupplyofDCcurrentfromthemeter'sinternalbatteryoutthroughthemeterleads. Toperformthistest,you
willconnectthemeterleadsinbothdirectionsacrosseachdiodeinsidetheVoltageRegulator. WhentheleadsareconnectedinPositive
Polarityposition,thediodeshouldallowcurrenttoflow,andthemeterwilldisplaythevoltagedropacrossthediode(usually0.50.7
VDC).WhentheleadsareconnectedinNegativePolarityposition,thediodeshouldnotallowanycurrenttoflow.InthiscaseaDMMwill
generallydisplay'OL'forOverLoad,ornoconnection/novoltagedrop.Toperformthistest:

Note:Thewirecolorsinthetestsbelowareforthemajorityofmotorcycles.Ifthecoloristhenotthesameonyourregulator,tryandtrace
thewirestodeterminetheirfunction.
Yellowwiresarethetwoorthreewiresthatconnecttothestator.Thesearewhiteonsomebikes.
RedwireisthePositiveDCoutputfromtheregulatortothebattery.OnsomebikesthisisWhite/Red.
Generated with www.html-to-pdf.net BlackwireistheNegativeDCoutput(Ground)fromtheregulatortothebattery.OnsomebikesthisisBlack/White,Black/Yellow,or Page 2 / 3
Green.
 Note:Thewirecolorsinthetestsbelowareforthemajorityofmotorcycles.Ifthecoloristhenotthesameonyourregulator,tryandtrace
thewirestodeterminetheirfunction.
Yellowwiresarethetwoorthreewiresthatconnecttothestator.Thesearewhiteonsomebikes.
RedwireisthePositiveDCoutputfromtheregulatortothebattery.OnsomebikesthisisWhite/Red.
BlackwireistheNegativeDCoutput(Ground)fromtheregulatortothebattery.OnsomebikesthisisBlack/White,Black/Yellow,or
Green.

ForwardBiasDiodes
*ConnecttheBLACKDigitalMultiMeter(DMMfromnowon)LeadtotheRedwireintheRegulator/Rectifier's(RRfromnowon)connector.
*ConnecttheREDDMMLeadtooneoftheYellowwiresintheRRconnector.
=TheDMMshouldreadfrom0.4000.600VDC,andmostmeterswillbeep,ifthediodeisfunctioningcorrectlyintheforwardbiasmode.
*ContinuethissameprocedurewiththeotherYellowwiresintheRRconnector,notingifanyfail.
*Adiodeisbadifthemeterdisplays0.000,hasacontinuousbeep,ORthemeterdisplaysanynumberotherthan0.4000.600VDC,OR
themeterdisplays'OL'.
Anyoftheseresultsmeanthediodehasfailedbybeinginternallyshorted(itwillnotblockcurrentinotherdirection),isinternallyopen
andnotpassingcurrentatall,orisstartingtofailinoneoftheseways.

ReverseBiasDiodes
*ConnecttheREDDMMLeadtotheRedwireintheRRconnector.
*ConnecttheBLACKDMMLeadtooneoftheYellowwiresintheRRconnector.
=TheDMMshoulddisplay'OL',ifthediodeisfunctioningcorrectlyinthereversebiasmode.
*ContinuethissameprocedurewiththeotherYellowwiresintheRRconnector,notingifanyfail.
*Adiodeisbadifthemeterdisplays0.000,ORthemeterdisplaysANYnumbervalueatall.
Anyoftheseresultsmeanthediodehasfailedbybeinginternallyshorted(itisflowingcurrentinthereversedirection,whichitshould
block),isinternallyopenandnotpassingcurrentatall,orisstartingtofailinoneoftheseways.

IfyounoteoneormorediodefailuresintheRectifiertestingstepsabove,theVoltageRegulatorunitmustbereplaced.Thereisno
internallyserviceablepartsinside.

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