Rectifier Agin???

skymaster · Post by **skymaster** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 2:06 pm

So I'm just getting to the point where the wires are all plugged in and I have my meter in my hand and everything is grounding out! So I trace the short to the rectifier and find that it is shorting the main + from the battery to the bolt it is mounted with! This is not the original rectifier, but is installed properly and was supposedly working properly before teardown. Should the battery be grounding out through the rectifier?

Thanks

_travis

kustommusic · Post by **kustommusic** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:20 pm

Travis, Are you saying that the battery+ cable is running to the mounting bolt of the rectifier???The mount bolt is attached to the frame,right? so it would be grounding the battery. It can't work that way. If I have your explaination wrong please try it again. Steve Greer

skymaster · Post by **skymaster** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:40 pm

No, I must have not explained very well. The + wire is not connected to a mounting bolt! There is simply a short in the rectifier somewhere and it is my understanding that there shouldn't be.

_travis

rbaselt · Post by **rbaselt** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:45 pm

I had this problem recently. There are 3 possibilities: your battery polarity is reversed; your rectifier polarity is reversed; or the rectifier is shorted ou. Check the rectifier with your ohmmeter, it should show no resistance in one direction and lots of resistance in the other. You want the AC voltage from the alternator to be flowing thru the rectifier, with the converted + DC going to the + battery terminal and the - DC going to ground. If you have a little doorbell transformer (produces about 18 v AC). you can hook it up to your rectifier and measure the DC output, confirming which rectifier terminal is the + DC. --Randall

skymaster · Post by **skymaster** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 10:16 pm

I looked further into the problem... First off the bike runs in its current state! Resistance should build on one side then the other. This is damping the AC ossilation. Any way I both the rectifier on ebay and will have it on this week. I just don't like that old one, I don't think it should ground out like that!

Thanks for the help

_travis