Homelite Charging System Upgrade

[davriker]

So I was noticing that at full throttle, my electrical system was putting out almost 16 volts, which I figure is enough to fry a battery in short order. I did some further research, and realized most of these old outboards were not equipped with voltage regulators... on all but the oldest Homelite/Bearcats, they were optional. The stator generates three pulses of AC current, and sends it to the rectifier to be converted to DC. A hi/low switch cuts one of the pulses from the stator out for lower load conditions, but still it is designed such that the battery is where all the excess power goes, and it will boil if too much power is available. I suppose that was considered no big deal back in the day, but it is not compatible with maintenance free batteries.

Long story short, I realized that the stator/rectifier/regulator style charging system in a motorcycle is very similar to that on the Homelite, and purchased a modern Mosfet chip controlled recifier/regulator combination made for a Suzuki motorcycle. It has a 50 amp peak capacity with a 30 amp rating. About the most the Homelite will put out is in the 20-30 amp range. Installation was simple, remove the old rectifier, splice the three wires from the stator to the yellow wires feeding the new regulator, hook one of the green wires to ground (the regulator has two) and one of the red wires (again, there are two) to the positive post on the starter relay.

Initial testing shows the system working as predicted, which should protect the Petronix unit from high voltage, result in more accurate gauge readings, and improve the battery longevity.

Dave

Homelite Regulator.jpg

[Helmar]

Nice work for sure.
Looks as you nailed it...

[Super Sportster]

About the most the Homelite will put out is in the 20-30 amp range.

The 1965 Brochure shows 15amp for the Deluxe and 20amp for the Grand Prix.

broch26.jpg

[Helmar]

So far mine hasn't over cooked a battery but again, I never had volt meter on it either. I think I did do a Amp meter at one time is all.
Nice looking upgrade that folks can do to them.

[Super Sportster]

Very cool, been going to do the same thing for a long time now but haven't got to it. Mine spends a lot of time idling and I forget to flip the switch. Several hrs later with electronics on and on "low" if I kill the engine I'm rope starting it! Hmm, I think I have a unit off the '85 Shadow, it might have a new home.

[Kelly]

I'm getting ready to do this procedure on my Bearcat. After only 2 years my battery has died but before it did I noticed it was dying a slow painful death. I put my multimeter on it before it died and at WOT the voltage would jump to around 16. I'd rather have a better regulated system and this looks like the trick.

[Kelly]

What part number did you use for the Mosfet regulator?

[Kelly]

bump...any particular part number you used?

[davriker]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Voltage-Regu...item4d271655d9

[Kelly]

Awesome thanks!

[Kelly]

After researching the part on ebay (link above) I found a major recall on this part. Can someone else look to make sure I'm not seeing it wrong...
http://www.asphaltandrubber.com
"According to the recall, rectifiers/regulators on bikes built between July 2007 and September 2009 have an inadequate amount of adhesion between the power module and the case, which results in the unit not sufficiently being cooled by its heat sink (affected Suzuki part numbers are: 32800-41F11, 32800-15H10, 32800-05H11, 32800-41G10, 32800-15H00, 32800-18H00, 32800-05G10, 32800-10G10, 32800-05H20, OR 32800-06G01). As a result the unit’s circuit board could warp, and become dislodged from its casing."

[davriker]

I would guess that would apply to oem units installed on the motorcycles from the factory, although it would follow that if it is an inherent design flaw, that the aftermarket part would have the same defect... hmmm.

[Super Sportster]

I finally installed one of these, had to due to installing a blue top Optima battery. I'm hearing the AGM type batteries do not like amounts of higher voltage. At 2K rpm I have 13volts.

[Super Sportster]

I wasn't quite happy with the 13 volts and decided to dig into this a little deeper. I cleaned all my connections, soldered connections etc. I also was given a Harbor Freight charging and battery checker. So lit it off again and it still showed 13 volts at 2K and only 3 of the 4 lights lit on the HF checker, 3.5K no difference. I decided to check the magnets on the flywheel against a few spares. It seemed fine. I dug out three stators, one noticeably larger than the rest. It even required longer screws. Problem is now solved. Fully charging at 800 rpm now at 13.8 to 14 volts. I just ordered 2 more reg/rectifiers and am hoping my "F" engine has the larger stator. Also have a few more boxes of parts to look through which might reveal another!