How to: up the reliability of your Regulator Rectifier
 

This was a pretty simple mod I decided to do in the midst of rebuilding my bike. I know most regulator rectifiers fail because of heat. So I had some leftover silicone paste thats normally used on computer cpus for better cooling and applied that to the back side of the r/r (bought at any best buy or radioshack). The r/r is bolted to an aluminum plate that is bolted to the frame. All sit flush together. The point of the silicone paste is to promote the travel of heat from the r/r to the rest of the bike frame therefore keeping the r/r cooler. Not sure how much it will help but hey its easy and cheap and makes sense (at least to me). Sounds like good insurance to me.


I applied the silicone to the areas marked in red.
Attachment 42376



The r/r sits flush with the aluminum plates like so...
Attachment 42377

+2¢:
i'd grind down to the bare metal on the r/r before sandwiching it on to the aluma plate.

The r/r you have, has the finned heat-sink, so it's probably also a mosfet-type rectifier.
Those shouldn't give you any trouble. The problem ones had no heat-sink (other than
the frame mount) and were the older switching type electronics. You'll probably not
have any issues with the one you showed in the pictures.

Ern

regenerated thats a good idea.

maddhattr - i actually only did this write up because i had to replace my r/r because it fails after it heats up. so i got the one off my parts bike and did this extra measure to try to prevent the problem again. either way i see it as an insurance. nothing wrong with making something better right?

Absolutely not! That's what these forums are all about. Information exchange and tweaking our little beasties.

Thanks for sharing, Ern

Have you checked the output of the stator as well as checked it for resistance & shorts to ground? Seen people replace RRs when it wasn't actually the problem. As MadHattr059 said, the RR is cooled by the fins. Any extra assurance is a good idea though.

Stators checking good. New battery bout a year ago.

Just thought I would throw that out there. Reg/Rec has 12 checks & the stator has 9.

I wonder if wiring in a thin 12v (for computer use) fan would do any good. Looks like that area is deprived of air flow.

That's an amazing idea. I'm on that 1. Ill post pics as soon as the rectifier comes in. I have 2 of those fans and i never knew what I was gonna use em for.
I'm thinking right to the battery with a switch. Any ideas.