Rectifier gone bad?

Alright, my bike has developed a new problem. While running, one of the wires in the headlight started smoking. Pulled it apart, and found that it's the diode. Plugged another one in from the other bike, and it did the same thing. It seems to be one of the white wires coming from the diode, which from what I can gather on the wiring diagram either comes from the generator or the rectifier. Also, it will only smoke when the bike is running, not with the key on/engine off. So I'm thinking it's definetly something with the generator. I just don't know exactly what the rectifier is, is it just basically a voltage regulator? Could that be causing the problem? I'm going to do some more troubleshooting tomorrow, hopefully I can swap the rectifier from one of the other bikes and fix it, just wanted to get some suggestions beforehand.

Man, I'm so close to having this bike on the road, I can taste the bugs in my teeth! :lol: Got a new front tire on today, need to put new wheel bearings in the front, fix this wiring problem, get my blinkers, brake light, and horn working, and we're ready to roll!!!

 

I bet someone here knows exactly what that white wire is and what to check so I'll leave that to them. I can tell you what a Rectifier is. The bike runs off of 12 volts DC power. The generator produces AC power. The rectifier uses a set of diodes to change the AC to DC and keep everything below 14.8 volts. This would be the regulator portion of the regulator/rectifier or R/R.

 

hum.. maybe check your fuses makeing sure you dont have one with to high an amp rateing?

to test the regulator/rectifier:

when i tested mine, i used two voltmeters
voltmeter #1
negative connects to the black wire
posative connects to the green wire
negative also conects to the negative of voltmeter #2
voltmeter #2
posative connects to the brown wire

when you turn the ignition swich on the
#2 should read 1.8 volts or less

when you start the bike
#1 should go to between 14 and 15 volts
#2 should go between 9 and 11 volts

blah i just re-read your post and saw that you have an xj650... while i have an xj550, so this might not be the same for your bike.. maybe somoene will know on here?

 

got any pics of this diode thingymabob? ....

 

Here it is:



I'll be replacing the rectifier later this afternoon, I'll let you all know what I find. Hoping with any luck we'll get all the wiring stuff finished up tonight.

 

Don't forget about the XJ electrical website! I believe there is something in there about connections in the harness corroding and causing higher amps to the headlight. But don't listen to me, take it from the horse's mouth:

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/7795/

I have learned to look for the simple answer! Maybe you could check connections for corrosion before replacing stuff.

 

Sweet! Thanks for that link, somehow I hadn't come across that one yet. Just after glancing through it for 2 minutes, I found this:

I'll read some more before I delve any deeper into this one...

 

ok on pic , but looks like 750rh's do not have that gizmo [as mine ain't]....

but if its a diode there should be a way to test it with a multimeter to see if its ok....or not....

 

Checked both diodes that I have, one was bad, one was good. Swapped rectifiers from another bike of mine, and it seems to have fixed the problem. Now on to turn signals and brake lights!!!

 

yea , rip into it....