Replacement Regulator

[Kiwi_Roy]

Much as I like the original Ducati Energia regulator it has its faults and the design is about 20 years old.

 

I was looking on the Electrosport website, they make regulators for every sort of bike imaginable.

They have a pull down menu for selecting the replacement regulator, however this will suggest a direct replacement for the OEM Ducati.

The ESR515 in the case of my 01 V11 Sport

http://www.electrosport.com/regulatorrectifier-ducati-1-phase-charge-light-output.html

This regulator is not exactly like the Ducati, it has modern electronics however it still relies on grounding through the case and uses the bikes

original wiring through the 35 Amp fuse.

 

I would like to suggest a different regulator for the single phase Guzzis - The ESR510

http://www.electrosport.com/ducati-single-phase-regulatorrectifier.html

This regulator connects directly to the battery positive and negative similar to the later model Guzzis eliminating the problem with bad grounding and Voltage drop across the headlight relay. It also still uses the bikes Charge Light

 

I have engaged in a discussion with Electrosport on this, they agreed the ESR510 is a superior regulator but mentioned some owners are reluctant to do the wiring change.

 

Just one thing I must mention, I have not actually installed one of these yet but with a 1 year warranty, what's to loose?

 

I notice that for some Guzzi models the site recommends a regulator with Molex connectors and what appears to be a 3 phase regulator, As far as I'm aware the V11 Sport and V11Lemans all use the same single phase alternators, perhaps you could give me some feedback on that.

Thanks

Roy

[fotoguzzi]

I thought molex connectors went out in the 80's.. I know the T's, G5's and Verts had molex everywhere.

[Craig]

...however it still relies on grounding through the case and uses the bikes

original wiring through the 35 Amp fuse.

 

Why are those two things bad?

[Kiwi_Roy]

...however it still relies on grounding through the case and uses the bikes

original wiring through the 35 Amp fuse.

 

Why are those two things bad?

They aren't bad at all if properly done.

We know that bad charging is a common issue with the V11s, the ground is almost non existant and the 30 Amp fuse suffers from melt down. Not that these cannot be fixed.

What I really find problematic is the way the Ducati Energia senses the battery Voltage downstream of the headlight relay relying on a certain amount of Voltage drop to set the battery Voltage.. After market headlight relays, loose relay socket or additional load play havoc with the Voltage at that point causing the regulator diodes to fry.

Connecting the regulator direct to the battery takes a whole lot of variables out of the mix.

 

If you look at the more modern Guzzis this is what they do.

http://www.thisoldtractor.com/guzzi007/schematics/2008_California_Vintage.gif

This one still shows a fuse, others have eliminated that.

http://www.thisoldtractor.com/guzzi007/schematics/2008_Bellagio_940.gif

 

The ESR10 does come with lugs to bolt directly to the battery and an in-line fuse but one could elect to discard it and use the bikes own, just make sure it's in good order first.

[felix42o]

I installed an Electrosport regulator on mine about 7 years ago, and have had zero problems. I don't know which one off hand but it connects directly to the battery, and the charging light still works as well.

[Kiwi_Roy]

I installed an Electrosport regulator on mine about 7 years ago, and have had zero problems. I don't know which one off hand but it connects directly to the battery, and the charging light still works as well.

 

Thanks for the positive feedback, I should mention that I first became aware of it when I came across an old thread from dlaing from December 2005.

I have no interest in promoting the Electrosport just trying to help out.

[felix42o]

I installed an Electrosport regulator on mine about 7 years ago, and have had zero problems. I don't know which one off hand but it connects directly to the battery, and the charging light still works as well.

 

Thanks for the positive feedback, I should mention that I first became aware of it when I came across an old thread from dlaing from December 2005.

I have no interest in promoting the Electrosport just trying to help out.

 

No problem. In hindsight what I had thought was a bad regulator was in fact an out-of-round rotor that would intermittantly contact the stator once hot (weird, huh??) so I'm lucky I didn't kill the new electrosport one since I didn't find the problem until after I installed the new one. Regardless, it's held up well. I'm planning on using one of their kits on my airhead here soon as well.

[moto fugazzi]

I just installed the ESR510 last weekend, and everything is good so far. I don't have molex connectors on my 2001 V11S.

 

I did not have a 30anp inline fuse on my new regulator, nor did I add one. I will also mention that the supplied wires are too short to reach from the regulator to the battery. I added a length of 12 gauge wire and used bullet connectors. I did remove the tank and used wire loom, and zip tied the wires to the frame.

 

Electrosport also told me that the white wire can be capped off if you don't want to use the warning light. I capped mine off, as I'm unsure where to connect the wire to the warning light at this point. I do also have a voltmeter added to my bike.

Ken

[The Monkey]

I installed a 510 a year ago and have had no issues at all. Bypassing the stock harness seems to be what my regulator needed.

[moto fugazzi]

I installed a 510 a year ago and have had no issues at all. Bypassing the stock harness seems to be what my regulator needed.

 

Any idea how much voltage the new regulator is putting out?

Ken

[The Monkey]

I installed a 510 a year ago and have had no issues at all. Bypassing the stock harness seems to be what my regulator needed.

 

Any idea how much voltage the new regulator is putting out?

en

 

 

Mid 13 volt as I recall (healthy battery). The most I measured coming from the old style (through the harness) was a high 12. I tried to locate the reason following the instructions posted here but this bikes loom would not show a voltage drop. The only indicator is this new direct connection reg getting another half volt or so to the battery.

[The Monkey]

Just fired her up got a 13.99 volt reading. Battery was down. Regulator is positively happy

[moto fugazzi]

Does anybody know which wires to connect for the charging light? I have 1 white wire from the regulator, and from the original harness, I have a 2 wire connector (1 red w/blackstripe (labeled R-N), 1 blue wire (labeled AZ)) and one other single wire that is green/red.

I'm guessing the white wire from the regulator goes to the blue (AZ) wire, and a ground wire to the red/black (R-N) wire.

Ken

 

Edit: Here's a note from Kyle at Electrosport.

The white wire acts as a switched ground.  When the voltage is above about 13 volts, internally the reg/rect breaks the white wires connection to ground, and when voltage is below about 13 it connects the white wire internally to ground.  You should have a single ground wire for your warning light in your harness, this wire needs to be connected to my units white wire.  Once attached the light will be switch on/off of ground appropriately, and the light will work as it should.

 

Anybody know which is the ground wire?

V11regdiagra.pdf

[moto fugazzi]

Thanks to Kyle at Electrosport, I was able to connect the Gen. light back up. The white wire (female connector) goes to the male connector on the 2 wire connector. The problem is, the Gen light goes on faintly at 13.3V and get brighter as the voltage drops. So the light stays on for just about all congested city driving.

Anybody know of a way to change the point of when the light goes on? Perhaps adding a resistor or diode inline? Worst case, I can just disable the Gen light at this point.

Ken 

[Kiwi_Roy]

Thanks to Kyle at Electrosport, I was able to connect the Gen. light back up. The white wire (female connector) goes to the male connector on the 2 wire connector. The problem is, the Gen light goes on faintly at 13.3V and get brighter as the voltage drops. So the light stays on for just about all congested city driving.

Anybody know of a way to change the point of when the light goes on? Perhaps adding a resistor or diode inline? Worst case, I can just disable the Gen light at this point.

Ken 

I noticed that too, any time you are less than about 2000 revs it's probably loosing ground so the lights telling the truth, 13.3 Volts is less than fully charged.

The alternator puts out a high frequency, (7 x rpm/60) or 466 Hz at 4000 revs, at around 13 Volts the lights switching on and off so rapidly it appears to just glow.

 

I asked Electrosport if they would share the schematic with me but they declined, I was curious to see how it differs from the Ducati

 

The new regulator doesn't have a ground as such but the battery negative is the same thing. One side of the bikes charge light is positive and the white wire pulls the other side to ground (battery negative).