magic smoke

[docc]

And, once again, the [smoke was flowing] on greased groves."

 

[The Monkey]

Hi Andy, I have had success with the Electrosport direct wired to the battery bypassing the loom altogether, I have been through a lot of regulators and one stator on this ride. If my white faced Vaglia stops working I know my reg is out. 12.4 don't cut it, you need high 13volts. I relayed my headlight got the reg out of Colorado that direct connected to the battery. No issue since though I am riding less and working more these days. This year I am going to sort the warm start issue I am having. I too miss the adjustable regulator, at least there was some metal in there! good news is there are a lot of choices out there its just that todays electronics don't have 40 years of service in mind. Cheers

[andy york]

hey monkey,

thats the one I thought I would try next.

as an side note ,I did not have the reg grounded, it was just plugged and hanging.Then this morning I moved it and touch some metal and got an arc.

Now I'm really wodering whats going on     lol

[docc]

Time for that big ground strap from the regulator case to the timing chest and one from there to the spine. Make certain your primary battery ground to the gearbox is in good stead.

[andy york]

ya ya ground strap was cleaned and reattached    new reg actually has a boss to tap and put a good ground on it

but I don't believe I should see sparks fly when trying to hook up the reg. If you get bored...............

[Kiwi_Roy]

I agree with the Monkey, the Electrosport ESR-510 works well.

 

I finally gave up on the Ducati Energia although I think it's a good design but let's face it 15 years old.

The main problem as I see it is the way it senses the battery Voltage, downstream of the headlight relay. I believe it's wired that way so with the key off it draws zero current from the battery, however it's effected by Voltage drop through the headlight circuit, adding headlight relays (bypassing the headlight circuit) or extra lights also messes with the Voltage. I suspect it's this sensing point that causes most of the charging problems that occur

 

Charging also relies on a good connection between the regulator case and the chassis, The current that flows through the red wire to the battery has to get back to the alternator. Adding a short jumper from the case to engine improves it's chances.

 

A direct connected regulator on the other hand senses the battery Voltage through the same wires that it uses to charge the battery, it doesn't have or need a connection to the chassis.

 

 

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17802&hl=electrosport

 

 

The Ducati regulator when connected draws about 15 milliamps

The Electrosport draws less than 0.3 milliamps

 

[Kiwi_Roy]

ya ya ground strap was cleaned and reattached    new reg actually has a boss to tap and put a good ground on it

but I don't believe I should see sparks fly when trying to hook up the reg. If you get bored...............

If you don't have the regulator grounded the full alternator Voltage will appear between the regulator case and chassis, depending on the revs this could be 60 Volts or more and it's DC which will draw a nice arc. The same amps flowing out thru the red wire and 30 Amp fuse has to get back somehow.

The ground connection has more effect on charging than the positive connection.

 

Note the waveform at the top RH side, the full output of the alternator I suspect over 30 Amps, flows each half cycle until the black wire sees ~13.8 Volts in relation to the case.

[andy york]

I pulled the 30 amp main fuse to to hook up "ricks" brand reg. good ground . etc.....Blows the 30amp fuse when I reinstall fuse.

Guess I'll have to what for tomorrow till I can call Ricks. Must be wired differently.....

I think we need a frowny face with tears runnibg down its cheeks...-(

[Kiwi_Roy]

Perhaps disconnect the regulator, try another fuse (any small size) with the regulator out of circuit i.e. just the red wire alive, if it still blows fuses then it can't be the regulator probably the loom. Please mention the Ricks regulator model, I took a look at their website but it doesn't list a Guzzi

 

For some reason I'm starting to think loose main ground may have caused this.

[andy york]

Hi Roy,

Reg model #10-00. Its a single phase reg that appears to be wired like our ducati energia regs ie. 2-yellow, double red wire in one connector, a black and a white wire.

When I first had it hooked up it was just hanging and not grounded and was putting out about 12.3-12.5 volts. I thought if nothing else it would at least allow me to ride

a little each day. Then as I was moving it,still connected, it slipped and touched the header and arced. 

Thats where  I'm at right now .....going to call Ricks in the morning

Thanks for chiming in on this   

[Kiwi_Roy]

The arcing you got seems normal to me, you were attaching the missing link

 

I'm pretty sure this will apply to your after market regulator also

 

Look for a PM

 

Roy

[andy york]

OK The moral of this story is ...............

Bad voltage Regulator.  Thats the 3rd one so I guess I'm averaging about 34,000 miles per regulator. This one 

is a Rick's motorsports Regulator.

DISCLAIMER : This is NOT a bolt on replacement for Moto Guzzi.

They do not list a Moto Guzzi  but they do have a Ducati single phase regulator for a 998 or 748.

The case is a little narrower, and doesn't mount up like stock, but I made a bracket. It has a neat little boss that

has already been drilled for a ground wire. And the black and white wires are backwards for our application.

Hopefully a test ride this week and I'll be good to go ....for another 34,000 mile lol

Thanks Roy