Changing out a regulator for a regulator/rectifier...

[TallBoysWRF]

I want to turn my bike's electrical current into DC from AC but I'm wondering what I need for a rectifier? Are they basically all the same or do I need to look for certain features. So basically will most any 12V rectifier work? Thanks.

[simon@vic]

what bike?

[TallBoysWRF]

well I was wondering if there was a general rule or anything.... but my bike is a 99 WR400.

[simon@vic]

get the generic Honda one.

the guy at your local Honda shop should know the one. it is on about 100 Honda's.

cheap, reliable, easy to come by.

good luck!

[TallBoysWRF]

Any idea what they cost? I was looking at the rectifiers for the 450's and yamaha wants like $68 or something outrageous for them.

[WR450F_RDR]

you can get a generic one from Trailtech or from Bajadesigns. I just converted my WR over to all DC power for dual sport reasons. I purchased the Trailtech unit and it works great. There is a mod that needed to be done on my stator in order to convert it to straight DC power, I do not know if it would be the same for yours. I did the mod myself, pretty easy.

[Rip Wheeler]

1/2 wave or full wave? A rectifier is just a fancy name for a "diode", and diode inline on either side will convert your AC to DC, but this will only be a 1/2 wave setup and there would be a millisecond period during each cycle where the voltage will be zero, though, your probably never notice it. I recommend a full wave as your system is probably single phase. Moose sells a rectifier, it appears to be full wave. a full wave rectifier will have 4 wires, 2 will be your AC inputs, the remaining 2 will be your DC output, ie postivie and negative. Its mounted to an aluminin heat sink to dissapate the heat from the diodes. Do a search for "full wave rectifiers" to get you a real good idea what your up against. This is such an easy conversion. I found this online: http://www.technology.niagarac.on.ca/students/s/msciliberto/bridge.htm

[TallBoysWRF]

I've also read that I need to run a battery or a capacitor to "filter" the current. If I run a capacitor (I don't really need a battery) would the lights still dim at idle?

[jbrooks26]

There is a chance your lights may still dim with just the capacitor. If you want a constant light, you will need a regulator also. I am not familiar with this type of conversion, but I am an electronics technician. The capacitor is used to simulate a battery and it also acts as a filter to help smooth out the current. It will help prevent spikes, however the voltage output will still vary with the input to the rectifier. This is where the regulator comes in, it keeps the voltage from rising past a pre determined point. If that point is lower than the lowest output of the rectifier then your lighting will be constant. Hope this helps,

Josh

[creeky]

For my '00 XR250 I bought a battery from www.batteryspace.com, look under 12V robot batteries, and generic regulator/rectifier on E-Bay, works great. Total cost was $35.