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Anyone use a Radio Shack Regulator on Trump

5K views 34 replies 16 participants last post by  atomrotten 
#1 ·
I was wondering if anyone has used the regulators from Radio Shack on their Triumph chop wiring? How has it worked? Do you still use the Zener diode? Or just wire it up like a Pod-Tronics unit. I was thinking of giving it a try cause I'm cheap and I heard something about these a while ago. Oh and use it with a Boyer?
 
#9 · (Edited)
the Radio shack bridge rectifier is only the rectifier, you still need a regulator. The zenor diode is the regulator on a English bike and the zenor is more likely the weak link of the charging system.
Podtronics, Tympanium, Sparx, and Boyer all make charge units but, Sparx and Boyer make an all in one unit that has a capacitor in it so you don't need to run a battery.
 
#12 ·
The rectifier will keep a good constant 13.5 volts and a voltage regulator from a mid 70s ford will take care of the rest (if your looking for a cheap old school fix). If you can afford the Boyer or Podtronics, that would be the way to go. I'll try to find part numbers for the regulator and rectifier ( single and three phase rectifiers are avalable)
 
#13 ·
I had planned on replacing my 3 phase rectifier and zener this year with a tymp. unit. Its about $70 shipped. Which is a pretty good price but if radio shack has a $4 rectifier and a cheaper regulator can be found i'm listening. I like to make custom electrical stuff. I used to make home made bicycle LED head lights.
 
#14 ·
But Radio Shack does sell the parts to make a regulator circuit. Do a google search for voltage regulator circuits. Dive and take your first lesson on building electronics.
 
#16 ·
I got to thinking that just about any 12v regulator could work as long as it has a clesn output voltage and will charge to 13 14 volts. Now ya got me curious so I'm going home tonight to see if I can make an old VW regulator work. I did check ebay for " voltage regulator" under auto parts, charging system and found some as low as $3. I'll see what it takes to blow one up and report back.
 
#18 ·
What you guys are NUTS! tell me one time a LUCAS item is going to push anymore than the minimum it needs? I only run the Rectifier on all my bikes and have had no issues in 6 years ran them on both 2 phase and 3 phase lucas charging systems. Those things push 12.8 if your lucky and all the stars align.
 
#19 ·
72oif, do you run the rectifier alone or with any regulator at all? If I can get this down, my Norton may get an electrical makeover. I sort of like the idea of an open contact regulator so it doesn't load down the alternator by grounding like the old zeners. This could prove to be some new knowledge that I probably deperately need.
 
#20 · (Edited)
your un-regulated voltage will depend on a bunch of variables. like your strength of the magnet wheel the rpm of the engine and the load of your electrical system. if you run with headlight on and the high beam on and have a 65 watt halogen headlight all kinds of things ..So to say that everyone can just remove their voltage regulator and you'll be fine is not correct. I've had bikes the put out 16.5 volts just above idle when the zenor went out and fried the battery.
 
#21 ·
Your best bet is to shell out the $$$ for a Typanum or Sparks reg/rect. They are much easier on batteries, especially if you are using a maintenance free one.

Don't waste your time building one from Radio Shack components, you have close to a 100% chance of screwing up. Even if you know what you are doing it is not worth the time and effort.
Car reg/rectifiers wont work since they are not designed for PM alternators.
I have in the past used junk box regulators from late 70's GS Suzukis before they combined the regulator and rectifier into one unit.
 
#22 ·
Tony the Torch is right, unloaded voltage output can go high (16+ volts) but , as soon as you start applying a load (lights, ignition, air conditioning) voltage will drop as the load (amperes) goes up. Ohms law at work. I tried a little experiment last night using a single phase rectifier and an old GM adjustable regulator hooked up to my old pick up and charging a m/c battery from a project bike. When I increased the load, in this case lights, the voltage across the rectifier dropped accordingly as the current (for charging) went up and the regulator did its thing when I tried to add too many lights (opened the circuit to prevent amps flowing). I postulated ( great word huh?) that using a Radio Shack rectifier and a regulator from a small vehicle (Japanese, European etc) found in a wrecking yard or anyother place will do the job. I've found plenty of regulators on Ebay for $3 to $10. In short for those of us who dont have lots of $ this can be done cheaply and is sort of fun to set up. DON'T FORGET TO USE FUSE OR A CIRCUIT BREAKER...or both.
 
#23 ·
I never realized or thought about it that the zenor diode when it shunts power to ground it would load down the stator. I would be fun to do a rpm load test by grounding the rectifier load and see if it would actually be a loss of engine power from the load and thus RPM
 
#25 ·
Tony, it would seem that would be the case as the field woud be trying to put out max volts/amps and loading down the engine. Let me look at my Mythbusters handbook and see how to set up a test. Bet you could get a pretty significant RPM increase. Just a thought... disconnect the zener and hot wire the ignition to run and give it a rip (??).
 
#26 ·
I've heard the zener only works as you near 100mph. Its easy enough to test it, just plug a volt meter onto the blue/brown wire and wind the motor up. Last time I did this at idle I think it was reading 3v. I could probably do another test but my tach isnt working right now.

I think you guys are right, the $60-70 typanium is worth it. But it would be nice to have the cheapo rectifier in the tool bag as a spare. Anyone wired one of those into a 3 phase alternator('79)?
 
#27 ·
I've heard the zener only works as you near 100mph. Its easy enough to test it, just plug a volt meter onto the blue/brown wire and wind the motor up. Last time I did this at idle I think it was reading 3v. I could probably do another test but my tach isnt working right now.

I think you guys are right, the $60-70 typanium is worth it. But it would be nice to have the cheapo rectifier in the tool bag as a spare. Anyone wired one of those into a 3 phase alternator('79)?
you can't wire up a Radio shack bridge rictifier on a 3 phase system because it only has a 2 wire input,
And as for the zenor shunting it shunts at any voltage over 14.8 volts and the voltage will happen at different RPMs depending on how strong the magnets are.
 
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