Electrical question

[Jacko]

There are three white wires from the generator, 3 phase AC,  to the regulator / rectifier.
Does it matter in which order these are connected.
Also whats the amperage from the generator AC. I think the RR gives out 18 amps DC
but wondering about the input.


Oh yeah, '98   600

[Jules-C]

It doesn't matter what order the three wires are connected in which is why they are all the same colour.

Because the input to the RR is AC not DC and the open circuit output from the alternator is 50v or more the comparison of input and output isn't simple but the RR must be able to cope with more output than the alternator can provide or it will get fried

[Jacko]

Thanks that makes sense. Can I measure the output of the generator before the RR then the RR output to see if both are OK.

[crickleymal]

You can. You should be able to measure between each of the wires coming from the alternator  (with it disconnected although it shouldn't matter if it is connected). So that's 3 AC voltage measurements.  They should all read the same (to within a couple of volts). How you test the current output is a little more tricky unless you have some high powered resistors available. What I would do is to (with the alternator connected) put the lights on and then check the 3 AC voltage readings. Again they should all be the same. If one is significantly lower then that alternator coil is suspect.
The regulator should give a maximum output voltage of some 14.4 volts DC (I'm not fully conversant with these on bikes so I'm winging it a bit here). I would also switch the voltmeter to AC and see what ripple there is. I wouldn't expect there to be more than a couple of volts ripple when connected to the battery with the motor running at at least 2-3000 rpm. Switch the lights on and off and see what that does to the voltage. It shouldn't fall very much.

[crickleymal]

Any results?

[Jacko]

Hi yes, all checked out ok as far as my analogue meter was reading.
I've put a new battery on and put a HID in dip beam for less current use.
It's cured what was bothering me which was that the lights dimmed when braking or indicating.

I had suspected not enough output but battery seems to have been on way out.