If you still do not trust the domestic Croatian product of top semiconductor parts (ST, Philips, etc.), here are the main reasons why factory regulators fail:
- the small area of the ribs allows for good cooling only with a higher air flow, so these regulators suffer a lot of heating when the motorcycle is stationary or moving slowly while the machine has a high number of revolutions and when the outside temperature is high
- all three-phase regulators for high-volume machines have a parallel type of regulation that constantly takes all the current from the generator, whereby the generator gives more current the higher the number of revolutions of the machine
- la bad connection of the regulator to the battery or a bad battery can cause an increase in the voltage on the connections to the battery which can easily damage the electronics of the regulator
- with some Chinese manufacturers, replacement regulators do not have sufficient current capacity due to the installation of weaker parts
- the generally high operating temperature of the regulator indicates a high probability of a short lifetime
Here are the reasons why even a good factory regulator can keep your battery at less than 13.6V:
- When it is a parallel regulator, it must shut off charging by shorting the input wires when the voltage reaches 14.8V. However, the charging current of the battery creates a voltage drop on the wires, fuse and terminals on the way to the battery, and the regulator senses a higher voltage (in short peaks) and stops charging. Things get worse when the lights are turned on. A higher current is required, and it creates an even higher voltage drop on the wires. Instead of being charged, the battery is being discharged even more. Constantly keeping the lead battery at a voltage lower than 13.7 does not allow it to be fully charged and reduces its lifespan due to deeper discharge (by electric starter and lights). Our series regulator keeps the mean voltage on the terminals at the default with little dependence on the length of the wires. Of course, a higher voltage drop on the wires reduces the utilization of the generator, and the charging of the battery can be complete at higher and higher revolutions of the machine.
- Because of this, our regulators are larger and of a construction that creates heating proportionally with consumption, and not with the maximum power of the generator. The diodes and thyristors are from reputable global manufacturers and have significantly higher capacity than required. The diodes of the regulator are 6, and the thyristors are 2.5 times higher current capacity than nominally required. The control electronics have no components that age rapidly at elevated temperatures (e.g. electrolytic capacitors) and are resistant to possible increased voltage on the battery terminals. The fact that the total percentage of failures on the regulators is about 1% and is decreasing due to the increase in the quality of production (2080 regulators until January 29, 2024) speaks of the quality of the regulators. In the last 4 years, there were no cancellations of 620 regulators . Quality and reliability is on the 1st place.
Why do people install our charge controller?
- Because our serial regulators, thanks to the larger cooler and the serial way of regulating the charging of the battery, have less heating. In addition, they reduce the heating of the stator, the connecting wires of the stator and the stator connector , thereby significantly reducing the probability of battery charging system failure. So our regulator is a better choice than the original regulator.
- Because our sole goal is not to sell the regulator, but to solve the problem with charging the battery. Before agreeing on the sale of the regulator, we discuss with the buyer the problem he has and whether he has taken all the steps to confirm the error on the regulator so as not to order a new regulator unnecessarily. Of course, our series regulators have advantages compared to the original parallel regulators, we inform the customer about this. It is up to the customer to decide what he wants.
- Because we help people during installation by phone for free, to make the installation correctly and to perform the necessary checks by measuring the voltage to make sure that the battery charging will be good. Namely, many motorcycle electricians do not know what voltage must be reached on the battery in order for it to be full (recommended for lead batteries is 14.0-14.4V at 25°C). Battery charging voltage that is too low usually ends up destroying the battery. Changing the regulator will not always solve too low charging voltage. The regulator is only one of several possible causes of the same problem.
- Because people come to us with the most difficult problems and we solve them all successfully (99.5%), i.e. we find the cause. If there is a possibility that he will come by with a motorcycle, we will also perform defect detection and determine exactly what is the cause of the problem. Of course, you need to make an appointment before arriving.
- Because we know very well the operation of the regulator and the errors that can occur.
- Because our serial regulators are equipped with an LED indicator that speeds up the detection of battery charging problems. So with phone assistance and some measurements, the cause of the problem can be determined easily and quickly. And finding the cause of the problem is the first and most important step towards solving the battery charging problem.
What do you need to do to install the regulator?
- Check the correctness of the generator and installation (or with the instruction electrical_fault_finding.pdf )
- Contact us to determine the optimal solution with price and performance (send us the engine installation diagram)
- Buy a regulator (payment is also possible by cash on delivery)
- Test connect it without mechanical attachment to check operation
- Find a mounting location (in a draft where there is no splashing water)
- Drill holes through the ribs of the cooler and fix it ( Floor plans for A, B and AX cases.pdf M1:1 )
- Shorten the leads and connect them directly or via an existing connector.
- Ensure the watertightness of the wire connection !
- Check that the battery voltage at medium rpm is in the range of 13.9 to 14.4V.
LED charging indication
With an additional payment of 5.05€, you can get an LED charging indicator (-LD) on a 1.5m cable with every regulator. This LED diode lights up when the battery needs to be recharged. In the basic price, you get a control LED diode (-LI) integrated into the regulator itself. What is special about this LED indicator? This LED indicator lights up when the voltage on the battery drops below the regulated voltage (14V). If the voltage on the battery cannot be raised to the set value, the LED indicator lights up continuously and indicates a possible problem due to higher consumption than charging. The LED indicator turns off when the average voltage on the regulator's output terminals reaches 14.3V. The LED indicator is exclusively of diffuse red color. The LED indicator does not normally light up when the machine is not running. If this happens, it may be a sign that there has been a breakdown of the generator winding to the housing or some other connection of the generator wires to the ground.
From April 13, 2019, you can order an integrated LED indicator for serial regulators with an additional payment (2.55€). This indicator blinks when the regulator reaches the voltage. The advantage of the blinking indicator is that it provides a secure information that the regulator maintains the voltage and how we can assess the regulator's operation by the blinking rate. The blinking LED lights up every time the regulator raises the battery voltage to the set value.
The diagram below shows the operation of a single-phase serial regulator over time. After reaching the voltage, the pulses (half-waves) of the charging current are reduced, covering only the current consumption. The output and input currents of the serial regulator are the same. The diagram was obtained on a simulator, and the real diagram differs in the change of frequency and amplitude of the output current (depending on the engine operation) and in the time of reaching the set voltage.