Ducati Monster Forum

So my buddy who has an S4R, had the pleasure of being stranded in the not so friendly outskirts of eastern Cali, when he lived there.  Apparently the rectifier tends to get a might warm under the seat and fries itself.  Has this problem been fixed, or should I be concerned.  Alas I've had this happen to me with my CBR (and no they haven't updated, in the last 15years. [roll])  And I REALLY don't want it to, on the Duc.

I've always heard second and third hand about the under seat location of the rectifier being bad news

never seen one actually fail

TPO Parts makes a slick little kit to get it some air

radically over-priced if you even have rudimentory skills with a hacksaw and a drill motor

but the fit and finish more than make up for it IMO

Vic has one I think

I wouldn't say mine "failed" but the connectors did melt through - don't believe me you can ask Bible Boy, he helped me fix it.

It is now relocated.

fixed it for ya.

I so want to throw out a rectum joke but my little brain just can't make the connection . . .  [bang]

If you're not in the mood to go through relocation, getting more air, etc. you can just trace the wires from the rectifier down to the nearest juntion connectors.  Clean the terminals and put some dielectric grease on them.  This keeps them from corroding, keeps the electrical resistance down, and helps keep the temps down.

That said, under the seat with no airflow is a stupid spot to put something with cooling fins that tends to get hot.

Scott

Cooling fins, what?!  We don't need no sticking air flow to make those actually WORK do we?!  :P  I hear ya guys!  Not sure I want to part with a bunch of money on my Duc for a 'relocation' kit, when I can buy 'cooler' things. ;)  I'm thinking I'm going with Scott's idea for now. Hey Neikos, next time you ride or whatnot, can I check out your 'rectified' rectifier?

Effin' Ducatis and their bloody electrics.  [roll]

Ducatis are like Ford when it comes to electrical stuff: crappy connectors and weak wiring.

+1 to what Scott said about thoroughly cleaning the connectors and coating them with dielectric compound.  The connections on Chuck's bike had to be replaced because the OEM one had melted so badly the wires were coming loose (actually, one was completely disconnected when we got in there).

The headlight on my SS melted its connector last year.  That's okay, it gets better... when I hit the high beam, it's not shutting off the low beam filament.  I need to double-check the Ducati manual, but from what I understand of headlights, this ain't normal.  Running both filaments draws too much power and gets the bulb too hot.  So... the switch is probably bad.  I'd just not use the high beam, except that riding down Stafford Rd at 11pm is pitch-fricken-dark, and the low beam just doesn't cut it.

Anyway, Sabrina, if the rectifier is under the seat I'd put it on the priority list to get it relocated, whether you do it yourself, have one (or more) of us do it, or buy the kit.  Cleaning the connector is a stopgap measure.  It helps, but it's probably not the long-term fix.

Sure.

Dan, yeah, only one filament on at a time.  The exception is the passing trigger which flips on the high beam and does not dim the low beam.

Femme, you could also just cut off the connector and chuck it, solder the thin in place.  I think LT Snyder recommedns this as a fix in his manual because of the crappy connectors.  I like that guy's manual, he knows his doo-doo.

Scott

Hey now!  :o

I have the TPO relocator, it's a nice piece, and it is easy to install. [thumbsup]

How much is said TPO relocator?  Or dare I ask!?   :o

Damn electronics!!  *puts fist in the air, shaking angrily*

Jump starting your bike from a car (a running car) will fry your voltage rectifier/regulator too.

Good thing I haven't tried that yet then eh?  ;)  Thanks for the heads up!

But hooking up to a car battery with jumper cables is just fine so long as the car isn't running.  There's usuall plenty enough juice in a car battery without the alternator running to jump start your bike.

The long held belief that this is totally impossible seems to stem from the fact that people had tried to jump 6V bikes off 12V cars resulting in frying all kinds of things like starters and voltage regulators.  But 12V is 12V and just hooking to the battery without the car running is just fine.

Scott

Okay, the auto-nut in me must come out to do some myth-busting...

What Scott said is correct, I just want to expand on it...

First: RTFM.  When jump-starting a car OR motorcycle, read the manual.  What it says should supercede something you see posted on the interwebz (including what I say below).

Second: For most European cars and modern American cars (and presumably also for Asian imports) you do NOT want the engine running in the car with the good battery!!!  Once the dead engine roars to life, you now have two charging systems interfering with each other... bad juju.  If the alternator wasn't already bad, it may very well be after making this mistake.

Unless the donor jumper has a really weak battery, the vast majority of car batteries have plenty of juice to start the dead car, and then themselves.  If the donor car's battery is really that weak, find another car.  Seriously... been here, done this.  Dunno how many times people looked on incredulously when I insisted on shutting my VW off before jumping their car... then lo and behold, it had plenty of juice left to start itself (the VW manual is also explicitly clear about having the car with the good battery turned off when jumping).

This is especially true for motorcycles: they don't require nearly as much juice to start, and hooking up to a running car is VERY likely to fry the more delicate electrics of the motorcycle.  There is no reason to have the car running when jumping a bike... that big ol' car battery has WAY more reserve capacity than you'll need to start the bike, and unless you sit there and crank for ten minutes, it'll have plenty of energy to restart the car after disconnecting, as well.

Oh... the above applies to 12v electrical systems.  Don't try jumping a 6v vintage bike from a 12v car battery.  Modern bikes are 12v, so they can be hooked up to a modern car battery without any problems, just don't jump off a running car.

Okay, that was it.  Sounds like most here are already aware of these facts, just making sure it's been stated for those who might not have known.  [thumbsup]

$44.99

http://www.tpoparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=61_70&products_id=53&osCsid=ac99d08a13f1ef362d3b2621fbeadbf3 (http://www.tpoparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=61_70&products_id=53&osCsid=ac99d08a13f1ef362d3b2621fbeadbf3)

Also, while you might pull a cable off the battery on your running car to see if the lights dim, don't do it on your bike. At higher RPM, your alternator can spin out over 100v, which can destroy your now-isolated rectifier/regulator--it doesn't see a battery charge, so it ramps up charge voltage and unintentionally commits suicide.

It's best to just keep one of these in the back of your rig and jump start other vehicles across the starter terminals like a make the beast with two backsin' MAN.

(http://equipmentworldmagazine.com/newscontent/siteraw/27/28/221/images44559/center.jpg)

Just make sure you buy a 12v one and not a 24v one, cause that would be hilarious.

Or if you're a lamer who can't start his rig to afford some extra amps for the dead vehicle, flag down another one and string out the jumper cables in parallel. Just make sure it's parallel, because the alternative is getting 36v if you hook them up in series. Which would also be hilarious. Three fried cars. Hahahahaha. People and their cars. Hahahaha. Cute. Hauling people, and groceries.

Now can I say "Rectum?  Nearly killed 'im"?  [laugh]

Those are cool looking. where did you get those at? Petco Pape Cat?

While I greatly enjoy Petco, I've never been able to find these there. Halton Tractor, NC Machinery, Peterson Tractor, or Western States will all sell them to you, depending on where you are in the northwest. Pape is no longer a CAT dealer. They downgraded to Deere. [puke] But 12 volts of 2000 cranking amps will jumpstart a good deal of anything.

Cool The Petco was a lame joke. the batterys say Cat. Cat stuff...Petco...OK not very funny.  :-\

Consider the situation rectified... ha ha ha ha... I crack myself up.  [laugh]

I'm not sure next time I'm gonna ride.  Having some "issues" and well the weather and all so . . .

Would pics work?

You coming out tomorrow?

Always isolate your rectifier...  unless you're into that sorta thing...  Course now you have me all concerned about my rectifier and definitely don't want it singed... :P

After jump starting a bike with a car that was running... and seeing the smoke coming from the rectifier... I called my mechanic buddy.... and his response, "Yeah, it is never good to let the smoke out of the rectifier. The smoke is supposed to stay inside."

 [laugh]

This applies to all electronics.  Ask any electrical engineer.  Never let the magic blue smoke out!

Scott

What's going on tomorrow?  And where? :)

without telling the long story of being stranded in a cellular abyss, a winding mountain road, with the scorching California heat removing pounds of sweat per minute, when the thunder went to a puttering, humiliating silence...

I got about 16" of same gauge wiring, solder and a relocated the rectifier behind the license plate. just to protect the physical structure of the rectifier, i created a cage from an aluminum sheet (drilled and well ventilated) and wrapped and riveted it as a single piece. Once complete, I wrote an informative letter of recommendation to Ducati.