I've been looking for a 3-phase regulator/rectifier which would work properly in a batteryless system because it seems that normal reg/rect. are not able to work without battery because they can not adjust the voltage proportianally. They are only able to be "on or off", which with a battery is ok, as soon as voltage goes down they turn on and when charged they are off. In a batteryless system this works as soon as stators power output is minimal and voltage stays below 14.4V or so. As soon as revs go up it stops outputting any power.

Now are there really any units which would work flawlessly in a batteryless system? Currently I use a small (about 1Ah) lifepo battery but I'm afraid some day it will go empty and die and would like to get rid of it. Also similar single phase reg/rect. would be nice.

Does anyone understand how they actually work?

One interesting thing would be a capacitor which would act as a buffer and the on-off switching frequency of the regulator would be rather high but that's ok. Has anyone tried this?

Edited by gravelfreak, 22 April 2012 - 01:17 PM.

The regulators need a filter, the battery provides that function but you can substitute a capacitor.  I did that on one bike and it works well.  TrailTech use to sell capacitors for this purpose, some have used Radio Shack capacitors.

The capacitor works great but they too, have a limited life as well as a minimal storage capacity. Expect the cap to not 'smooth' much at idle if the draw is equal to or greater than the wattage output Vs. draw. These days, the super light LiFePo batteries are so good, I suggest just using one of them.

You could run a capacitor in parallel to your 1AH LIFE battery.

I have the small TrailTech capacitor and with the engine off the horn only makes one short little toot.