Testimonial: D'Ecosse's R/R Wiring Mod

[bmarvil]

I just taped off my stock connector. I'm running a FH011(yes I know its bulky) but I got it for $10. With the wiring mod and 12ga wires I'm charging 14.5 at idle and throttle response seems to be better than with the stock r/r.

[Syscrush]

Originally Posted by bmarvil

With the wiring mod and 12ga wires I'm charging 14.5 at idle

Good. That fits my experience with my SV, too.

and throttle response seems to be better than with the stock r/r.

That seems like it's almost certainly a classic example of mod psychology.

[zoltan]

It's a little off topic, but I did this with my new DRZ400SM as well, installing a FH008 in place of the tiny stock SCR RR. It now puts out 14.5+ v at idle, and is great about charging the battery. It was a bit tricking to fit (and required just a bit of welding on the frame), but I'm very happy with it. It'll probably end up as a standard mod I do to all my bikes from here on out.

Just FYI, you can buy very high quality wire and heat shrink from Amazon (with free shipping). Search for "Ancor". They're a marine company, and they heatshrink is the good stuff with glue inside it, and their wires have high quality sheaths, and are tinned along their whole length (helps with corrosion in a Marine environment).

[Bolo]

completed the mod with great success!! thanks guys for your inputs

[Nasferatu]

Originally Posted by ziptech800

Yes -- in the OP, I list D'Ecosse's post in a link. It tells you all you need to know.

Basically, this is the shopping list for the cheapest, quickest-turnaround version (ghetto-est, in other words) with the stock R/R:

Go to an Ace or similar hardware store, Home Depot or Lowe's will also stock all you need. Get:

-- 4' @ 12ga wire in red and black
-- wiring connector crimper w/ wire stripper and cutter
-- 12ga blade-type fuse holder with 30A blade fuse (mini if possible)
-- crimp-type bullet connectors
-- crimp-type eyelet connectors (big enough to go onto your battery terminal bolts, 1/4")
-- electrical tape
-- voltmeter with a 20VDC setting and a 100VAC setting or higher

1. Remove your seats and rear cowl.

2. Goto RH side of subframe, find your R(egulator)/R(ectifier) -- finned unit with two pigtails -- one connector with 3 YEL wires, one connector with a RED and a BLK/WHT wire.

3. Find your stator connectors -- disconnect one of the two.

4. On the stator connector closest to the stator, attach your voltmeter leads with it on the 100VAC-or-greater setting. Start the bike.

5. At 5000 rpm, record your readings, then measure a different combination of the stator wires, or 'legs'. All should read > 60 VAC between these stator legs.

6. If one reading is wildly different from the others, and < 60 VAC @5K, I have bad news -- your stator is bad and must be replaced @ ~$220. REpeat measurement to confirm, so you don't freak yourself out. If all show good, continue below.

7. Apply dielectric grease to all female blade connectors for the stator, reconnect.

8. Find your RED & BLK/WHT connector into the harness. Disconnect, tape up the connector half attached to the bike's wiring harness throroughly -- it will not be used after this mod, and is live, 12 VDC unswitched hot afterwards -- do a good job.

9. Cut off the RED & BLK/WHT wire's connector half from the R/R. You'll be fitting your bullet connectors to the two wires.

10. Strip the ends of the RED & BLK/WHT wires about a 1/4" from the ends.

11. Crimp a male bullet connector to the RED wire. Wrap the base to the wire in electrical tape, to protect the wiring. Do a good job -- if this touches any ground uninsulated after installation, it'll short -- possibly with fiery consequences.

12. Crimp a female bullet connector to the BLK/WHT wire, and wrap in tape similarly.

13. Measure a piece of your RED 12ga wire, run it to your POSITIVE(+) battery terminal behind the battery. Cut to length, giving good slack for turning corners and relieving stress.

14. Strip wire, crimp on and wrap a female connector to the new RED 12ga wire. Install onto the R/R's RED wire male connector.

15. Take the RED 12ga wire, and figure out how much of the fuse holder wire you want to splice in. Strip wire, crimp in and wrap bullet connectors going in the direction of current (males pointing towards the positive battery terminal).

16. On the final end of the RED 12ga wire, strip, crimp, wrap your eyelet connector. Install onto POSITIVE(+) battery terminal.

17. Repeat steps 9 - 12 for negative terminal eyelet, install male connector for female R/R BLK/WHT wire, and a wrapped eyelet onto negative battery terminal.

18. Double check your work for problems waiting to happen:
-- is any unprotected hot (positive) wire in the install going to touch any metal on the subframe?
-- am I going to pinch, cut, disconnect or damage any of the installed wires when I put the bike back together?
-- is everything done properly, no iffy portions anywhere?
-- have I read the instructions again, making sure I've not skipped or forgotten a step? Like install the 30A fuse?

19. Turn on your voltmeter to the 20VDC setting, and hold the RED to the POS(+) terminal, BLK to the NEG(-) terminal. Insure you have > 12.0 VDC before continuing. If not, you need to put it on a 1.5A Tender or similar charger for a few minutes.

20. Start the bike, wait 5 seconds for the R/R to ramp up to operating output. See what your battery voltage is @ 1300 rpm and 5000 rpm -- R/R should not be hot. You should have > 14.1 VDC at idle, and > 14.2 VDC at 5K. If you're getting that or better, congratulations -- you've just done the direct-wiring-mod.

A better install quality can be had with a set of Packard Delphi connectors from Eastern Beaver and one of their fuse holders as well, plus some shrink tubing rather than the tape and soldering to help the crimp... but for the most part, that's it. Ask if you have questions or see a problem in the proc. No pictures yet.

....just a strange question: I did the mod, and I get the 14V at idle and at revs.... Are the new eyelets from the mod replacing the original terminals, or are they tightened along with the original pos/neg cables. I have them both attatched to the battery.

[D'Ecosse]

(There really was no need to quote that entire post to ask your question)

Yes, you need to keep the original battery terminals connected to battery - the new lugs are in addition to those.

[ILuvCurvy]

I'll attest to wonders of this mod! I just recently got my re-worked R/R from D'Ecosse (thanks again!), and for the first time my bike is showing more than 12.0v @ 5k rpm. It's nice to know that (hopefully) I won't have to worry about going on trips and wondering if the battery will have enough juice to get me home. It's probably about time to pick up a new Yuasa battery after all the pain my current one has been though

[spaikmos]

I've been having problems with my 01 SVS for a while now. After the battery died for the Nth time and I had to push start it in a parking lot on a summer day, I finally decided to look around to see what the problem is and found this thread!

I'm pretty sure the battery isn't being charged properly by the bike, because if I don't put a trickle charger on it, the battery isn't strong enough to start it.

Anyway, my question is, I took some measurements and mine seem really far off. I'm wondering if this is indicative of a different issue?

Battery (bike off) - 13.6V (I was charging it overnight)
Battery (igniton on, engine off) - 13.2V
Battery (idle) - 15V
Battery (5k rpm) - 19V (!)

I disconnected the 3 yellow wire plug closest to the R/R. I didn't realize there may be another 4" wire on there, so I measured downstream of the stator. All 3 measurements were about the same, and my readings were about 90V at 5k. I measured the frequency as well, and got about 450 Hz (these are ballpark readings; I didn't write them down and I was having a hard time controlling the RPM while reading the multi meter). 90V sounds really high, as the spec is 60V minimum... is this ok?

Also, it 19V out of the R/R at 5k seems much higher than everyone elses' readings.

The R/R is stock AFAIK, but the guy I got the bike from did do a lot of cosmetic mods (different turn signals, random trim pieces, sliders, etc). I don't think he'd touch the R/R, esp since I got the bike in 2002.

Btw- since I've had the bike, I've had to replace the battery TWICE and I've been dealing with rough starts ever since. I figured it's something to do with the recharging system and I was ok dealing with it, but now I'm getting old and cranky and want this to work right.

So my questions:

1) Is my stator/alternator ok?
2) Is my R/R fried, or is 19V out of that thing ok?
3) Could these measurements be indicative of another problem?
4) I was looking at Eastern Beaver and the battery cable replacement kit (FH008 complete kit) is $30. Seems like prices have gone up a bit. I'm ok with that, but just want to confirm this is what I want to get.

I'm ok with electronics, so I don't mind disassembling the stock plugs and making my own "kit" if I have to. I just want to this stuff to work.

Thanks!

[D'Ecosse]

Originally Posted by spaikmos

.. 2) Is my R/R fried, or is 19V out of that thing ok?
3) Could these measurements be indicative of another problem?
...
I'm ok with electronics, so I don't mind disassembling the stock plugs and making my own "kit" if I have to.

R/R is definitely fried - DO NOT RUN THE BIKE LIKE THIS, YOU WILL BLOW UP THE IGNITER = $$$$$$$$$$

(your stator is most likely OK)

See signature if you need connector parts.

[Syscrush]

Originally Posted by D'Ecosse

R/R is definitely fried - DO NOT RUN THE BIKE LIKE THIS, YOU WILL BLOW UP THE IGNITER = $$$$$$$$$$

What he said. The igniter is maybe the most expensive thing you can kill this way, but it sounds like you've already killed your battery, and stuff like headlights & gauges can go too. Take care of this ASAP and use a good FET-type R/R.