Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Beefed up Regulator/Rectifier mod

I have just got the Mosfet FH012 (Yamaha R1) superconductor rectifier as a beefed up replacement. I found the info on this RAT forum. I intend to install it over the Christmas break. Anyone done this already? Results?

That looks very interesting...please take before and after readings and keep us updated.

Can you recommend a methodology for taking readings?

Richard
follow the details in the post on the "other" site befor and after you change the Regulator/Rectifier


Record your battery voltage under the follow conditions
1) Ignition off, unloaded battery.
2) Ignition on, headlights on, not running
3) Bike started, running at idle

For condition 1, should be at least in the high 12.x range if fully charged.

In condition 2, your voltage should not drop much below 12.0 at worst. (It may continue to drop – hopefully slowly! – as your lights will be discharging it. However this should be a slow decline)
If it does drop immediately into the 11’s, your battery is insufficiently charged – if it was just charged from a battery charger however, then it indicates your battery no longer has sufficient capacity to retain charge/supply current to load and should be replaced.

Condition 3 is what we are most interested in with respect to charging capability.
Voltage should be at least in the 13’s at all engine rpm. You may detect it will fall off slightly as you raise engine rpm. This is not atypical performance. A simple mod that can enhance your charging voltage to the battery can be achieved by this modification outlined in this thread. That should give you performance in the 14V+ range.

I found a source for a nice kit for this update.
web page

I ordered it, it came rather quickly, I feel the price is fair, and it includes the FH012AA regulator. It's the universal kit. It may be a month or so before I can install it, but...

Just an FYI kids.....

Yep - that's the website where I got mine. My initial install investigation shows some fabrication is necessary. The existing regulator has 2 bolt holes at 8cm centers while the new regulator has 2 bolt holes at 7cm centers. Also the existing plate the regulator bolts onto has the nuts welded on. So it seems some cutting and welding may be required.

Alternatively, I am thinking of mounting the new RR onto a copper plate (in the same location) to assist as a heat sink - and I am thinking how this copper plate may be fabbed to fit the existing fixings (so the mod is reversible).

Hello - I'm the author of the reference thread on the T'RAT forum, linked above. I found this site through a link-back to my thread.
The FH012 is an excellent R/R and I have installed one on a T100 Bonneville, as you can see on the thread. Also worthy of consideration however - and more than adequate - for the Bonnevilles, is the FH008, found on late model Honda CBR. The Load on the Bonneville is not at all great, being a single Headlight model. These are more widely available on the used market and less costly (I would not be afraid of buying these used - the MOSFET devices are every reliable).
It's also much more compact than the FH012 and does not require the special (expensive!) Furukawa connectors, having a hard-wired harness - the output connectors will have to replaced however, even to the OEM connector if you re-terminate the wires onto new terminals. (if you get an FH008, the 07+ version only has two output wires - much easier to integrate)
What I would suggest to you all predominantly however is to reconsider the mounting location: The OEM location is pretty important for the OEM R/R because of the amount of heat generated! (The MOSFET R/R's will rum MUCH cooler). The OEM location means that the stator output goes all the way to the front of the bike, then the output comes all the way back down to the fusebox/battery! A better option is to consider mounting at the rear and connect the stator output off the first connector plug from the stator itself and connect the output directly to the battery (the +ve via 30A fuse). Your efficiency will rise dramatically.
In addition to pictures of the FH012 Bonnie installation, you can also see pics of a harness I just modified for an FH008, about to be installed on another Bonnevile. My preferred medium for replacement connectors are the GM automotive Delphi-Packard Metri-Pack series, which are reasonably available on EBay.
You can read details about the criticality of the connectors and how it can affect your performance, even without a component failure (meaning stator or R/R)in the reference thread and also in this thread, the beneficiary of the FH008 shown below. This is the direct connection method suggested above.

Here is the re-confgured FH008 with Metri-Pack connectors and fuse for direct connection to the battery:

A hearty welcome and a HUGE thank you there Ken for climbing on board with this forum and sharing your knowledge with us all. Means a lot to me as a non-technical kinda guy because you effectively demystified an R/R upgrade. Just at the end of riding season when I started using my heated vest, my battery started crapping out on me. I'm thinking it was just a matter of an old battery dying (6 years old) but still.... This year I will use my vest, install driving lights and a powerful horn so I'm thinking the FH008 just might be needed.

Interesting I found this post cos my R/R went bung on me when my bike wouldn't start in a town where there was only 1 bike shop and probably wouldn't have had a clue.

So I had NRMA (An Aussie Road Svc) of which I'm a member determine that my R/R was only charging at about 2 volts or something like that. Given I needed to find a Triumph dealer cos I was in the middle of no where in relation to home and still had another 700ks, the road svc bloke recharged my battery so that I could ride the 70k's north to a place called Tamworth where there was a Triumph Dealer.

Luckilly I got there and after testing they found my bike's regulator was allowing charge between 2 and 25volts. That's what he said anyway. Luckilly for me I was able to get an after market one sent overnight to arrive in the morning and I got away about Noon. All's been fine so far but I don't know what the R/R's make is. It works I guess and that's the main thing. I do know it looks similar to the pics above but until I crawl under my bike I won't know.

One thing seems quite apparent here though, the electrics on our bikes seem a little bit suspect at times. What with ignitors, the wiring itself being too thin and the regulator going after 40k klms. Maybe this stuff is normal but I'm going to make it my mission to over time, one by one start using info around here to tighten up whatever deficiencies there are.

Being stuck in the middle of no where with a bike that won't go and it being 38 degrees C isn't my idea of fun. Particularly if there is no mob phone svc given I'm parked 70k away from the "Black Stump"

In saying that, the country people out here will do anything for you if you get yourself into some bother. Not really a problem. Just time and eventually some money to fix it.

Also, a welcome to Ken and a big thanks for providing hia experience and info. Brillia nt

Hi DEcosse.

I was the guy on your RAT thread (Dunamis) asking you about the Mosfet for the America and I thought the people here would be interested in your upgrades.

FYI - unlike the Bonneville & T100 which have their R/R situated way up front, both the America and speedmaster site their R/R at the front of the swingarm almost directly under the battery.

I got the FH012 and it will just fit in that location with a fabbed bracket (a work in progress), but if the FH008 is smaller it will be an easier fit.