I fried the rectifier in my '96 F3 the other day, researched replacements on the "interweb" and bought a used one from cycle salvage for $60 - from a 2000 Yamaha R1. I wired it into the bike and now I'm blowing main fuses. Any ideas? Does the aluminum plate have to be mounted between the rectifier and the frame (OEM)? Can the ground strap that fastens to and through said plate be touching the rectifier? I'm gonna pick up a pack of 30-amp fuses tomorrow and look at it all again when I have time (and daylight).

Thanks!

EDIT: I looked at a wiring diagram and think I have the positive and negative wires attached correctly, but if I don't, could that be the problem? Maybe just swapping those two wires will be enough...

 

is the rr off of a r1 the same? and your couldnt find one for our bikes specifically? and that plate should deff be mounted between the frame and the rr. and be carefull with those 2 wires

 

3 yellow can be attached to any of the other 3 (they will all be the same color, and in any order)

the other 2 should be red/+ and black(or green maybe?)/-

 

That's how I did it, Spicy, but she's blowin' main fuses like nothing. Maybe I'll swap the pos and neg wires today and see what I get. Could my "new" rectifier be bad?

 

if you bought it used, then yes.
however, its possible since the r/r went out, the wireharness has some frayed or burned wires which are causing the short.

 

Well, I got it! Like I eluded to in my first post, I just needed more time and more light (and more room to work) to figure it out. When I started this thread last night, the only light I had was a flashlight! It was getting late and I was getting frustrated. Anyway, I picked up a 5-pack of fuses on the way home this afternoon, left the car in the driveway and tried different wiring combos until I got it to work. Not only did I test the charging system with a voltmeter, but when I rev the throttle, the lights get brighter than they did before! I ended up not using the aluminum plate behind the rectifier (allowing more cooling air to get at the thing, theoretically), I ran the ground strap that was attached to that aluminum plate to the frame, under the throttle side battery cover tang, I attached the bottom of the rectifier to the frame with a heavy-duty ziptie and I used a locking washer on the bolt I used to anchor the R/R to the top mounting hole.

Thanks for the help, Spicy! I sure didn't want to have to try and get my money back on this thing from the salvage yard, after telling the guy outright this wasn't the right R/R for my bike!

F3LUV, probably 95-percent of what I read online recommended using anything but another F3 rectifier. The R1 R/R is probably twice the size of the OEM R/R and is covered with cooling fins (heatsink)!

 

nice good insight cbarrgghh. ill keep that in mind. i wasnt trying to give false info i was jw myself. i havent had rr issues on my own bike yet. just my buddies and i got him a oem one that has worked fine for a long time now. but when i have issues with my rr <------(notice i said when and not if lol) ill look into an r1 rr.but when i read this post i was actually looking at the diagram for the rr in my book

 

No problem, dude. Good luck with your swap - if and when you need it!