Another alternator hits the dust and not under warranty

Thanks Joel ...
I will report back with results ................ when I have them!

I am still looking for a dead or surplus stock R/R from which to salavage an extra set of connectors so that I can quickly swap in and out the OEM vs. Series units for A-B-A testing when I see something that makes me say WTF ... :huh
I am 200% sure that will happen ..........

SO... I'm looking for an OEM R/R or OEM R/R harness contribution here is someone has a spare ...!!! (please)

While I agree that realtime digital control systems can have trouble with transients, I am not that worried about this regulator - I think it pales in comparison to a HID system, especially a cheap one, as a source of spikes and emi. It would also surprise me if Bosch (or whomever makes the electronics for BMW) didn't clean up the input power on a system designed to operate in the vicinity of spark ignitions and injector drivers etc.

I will report here any troubles I may encounter, but do not expect any. That said, it would be very enlightening, however, to see a scope trace of the AC component present at the battery should anyone post one here. If I had access to a sampling oscilloscope I would.

The Hella ECU used on the 650 single uses a motorola 68000 CMOS processor running at 5v and has a sophisticated power regulator system protecting it, it is only the output peripheral system running at 12v, you may get some high frequency noise on the sensor inputs but not the processor. Have not had a Bosch unit apart but would expect them to be similar and I am told they are also a 68000 processor but those who have had one apart may wish to correct me on that

Soon, I hope I'll have some to post....

Someone send me a stock R/R so I can have the plugs .... please?

JR, have started a thread at f650 asking if anyone over there can send you a faulty VR to recover connectors, there are a few over there who have had failures, I recall one recently, I included a link to your last post, let us see if anyone steps up, I am a little out of the way here in Oz

Thanks Wayne!

OZ is a quite a shipping distance from North Carolina

I will post back when (... power of positive thinking ...) someone sends me one out of their dead parts bin!

JR,

I've got a bad VR that recently failed on my wife's 2007 F650GS. Do you want the whole thing or just the cables? I can mail it or if you're going to be at the BMWRA Rally in Asheville next month I can hand it to you.

Ed

Ed:

THANKS! I think the connectors are the same!
Would you be so kind as to mail me just the connectors ... with some lead wire attached?

I'll PM you my address....
I'm thinking I'll not make the BMWRA rally as I've got to help my daughter move that weekend ... unless I can work something else out..........

Jim

Ed has also posted a pic which shows the difference in Mfr part No on the new spares stock of VR's which confirms what Joel was saying, new one at the top

Hmmmmmmm I missed that thread somehow, but did remember Joel's comments ... "presumably" the Cycle Electric and CompuFire series-style units both regulate at the higher more desirable voltage...

Sorry JR, I was not too clear, posted in a hurry, Ed put the info in a thread at f650 so I have posted the pic here for ya all, his results in service on his wife's bike dont show too much improvement at low rpm but better at high, cant take one instance though as absolute, battery condition affects results.

Look forward to seeing the results of your tests, the series pass VR's are what interest me

I have the Compufire regulator on my F8 for ~20,000km with no ill effects.
The only discernible difference is that the voltage now sits on 14.1 - 14.2 instead of 13.8.
The RH engine case now seems to be the same temp as the left whereas before it was much hotter.
Scientific I know.
So it's all upside so far.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh ... Got it figured out now!
Need to order the R/R on Monday!

Checking in after a week and 2 tanks of gas only. ABS works as before, except actually way better than before over washboard gravel roads, but that is due to my Traxxion-fitted forks. Can't give any ABS data vs. state of charge, which is fortunately always 100% :)
The r/r never even gets warm.
There is no noticeable drain on the battery while the bike is sitting, but it hasn't sat for more than 8 hrs since installing the new r/r.
Everything nominal here.

Ed:

Thanks! Your dead regulator arrived today!

I have the series style CE 605 SB on order... when it arrives I'll spice in the donor harness from your dead unit, and ply my Electrical Engineer buddy with the promise of beer and clever conversation in return for his clever assistance with the O-scope.

Jim

Hey Jim,

Why did you go with the CE and not the Compufire? Or are you going to test both?

Cheers,
Lukas

Happy Sleuthing!

Lukas:
There is "some" explanation for the choice .... but not a strong argument...

the CE is widely used on the Buell bikes that use a Rotax derived engine with similar setup to ours ...
which probably does matter

The CE does have a 2 year warranty. The CompuFire is sold for use on HD bikes, the warranty is one year, and it says on their website that "Compu-Fire shall have no warranty obligation if used in any other application."

I read a few comments in some other threads in which Compufire tech. support was not particularly interested in supporting "alternative uses"

Since price was about equal I just went with the CE

If the CE works, I likely will not test the CompuFire.

Jim

PS: Not a big deal, but the CE is ~$25 cheaper, comes with a nice lead set, and a self-resetting circuit breaker....

JR, for some reason (I cant recall why) I had the impression the two were the same product under different badges, correct me if I am wrong, if they do appear to be the same perhaps we should look for the manufacturer to see about a revised product specifically for the 400 watt stators on the F twins and singles with a little more head room on the spec

I do not think they are the same unit ... AFAIK...

The CE is rated at 50A there is a picture here:

http://www.roadstercycle.com/Roadstercycle%20Series%20Regulators.htm

and is $172 including shipping a nice lead set and a self-resetting circuit breaker

The CompuFire 55402 (which is the one I think everyone is using?)
I think is rated at 40A is $203 comes with an in-line fuse and looks different:
http://www.compufire.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=15