RR38 Regulator Rectifier - Where to buy

[bcware]

I'm looking for a suggestion about where to procure an rr38 regulator rectifier combo. Other part numbers include zj-rr38.

I cannot seem to find this for sale in the USA. There seem to be a lot of websites in the UK offering this item for sale, however.

Can anyone recommend a reputable european supplier that will ship to the USA or alternatively a source in the USA?

Thanks!

 

[BBS360]

I came across this store while looking into reg/recs a while ago:
http://www.regulatorrectifier.com/catalog/1971-1985-Yamaha-XS360-Regulator-Rectifier
Alternatively, straight from china:
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Voltage-Regulator-Rectifier-For-Yamaha-XS250-1971-1985-XS360-1971-1985-XS400-1971-1985/605149_606917714.html
or
http://www.dhgate.com/store/product/quality-guarantee-motorcycle-voltage-regulator/200663205.html
I've bought from from aliexpress and dhgate before but not motorcycle parts yet. The free shipping can take anywhere from 1-2 months.

 

[working class choppers]

I found this link while searching the forum last week:

http://www.amazon.com/REGULATOR-REC...xs400 regulator rectifier&tag=viglink21625-20

 

[bcware]

How do aliexpress and dhgate accept payments? I wanted to avoid giving them my credit card directly, but it doesn't look like they accept paypal.

I really don't want to pay a $100 markup.

The amazon reg/rec might work, but it looks like the harness would need to be modified; not a huge deal for such a low price. Any reports of people successfully using it?

My bike is a '78 2e by the way.

 

[arfstrom]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/REGULATOR-R...826230?hash=item43b4f5f2f6&vxp=mtr&rmvSB=true
This was from a TCI question earlier this month!

 

[bcware]

Yeah, not plug and play for me. Is this what you are running?

 

[BBS360]

Yeah, no paypal. I use my credit card. I'm 99.99% sure that the website processes the payment rather than the individual sellers.
I think my very first transaction got flagged as unusual by my credit company, but only because the transaction happened overseas. Not for anything suspicious or for the company having a bad record.
Haven't had any problems since.

 

[arfstrom]

http://www.xs400.com/forum/showpost.php?p=88162&postcount=72

I would think most of that is still available at your local car repair shop.

This is what I am doing, I had bought from amazon an Accel model not available since then, I either killed the VR, the rectifer is still working. but I think my old rec was just as good.

Accel 201430 Chrome Motorcycle Voltage Regulator for Yamaha XS400/500/650 -- I rmember I called the manufacture up, about the wires not pinned or color coded as my bike was,

 

[XSLeo]

I'm on XS650.com as well as here. Anything that works on the XS650 will work on the XS400. The main difference between the two systems is that the XS650 uses brushes, the XS400 doesn't.
I run a regulator for a 75 Dodge Dart. On my 75 XS650. It has a plug in with two wires. One brown one green. The green goes to one wire of your field coil, the other wire on the field coil goes to the brown from the old regulator plug on your bike. This brown wire from the plug needs to feed the brown wire of the new reg.
Ground the body of the new reg.
I'll post a pic of the reg I used with a wiring diagram.
This reg reads battery voltage on the brown wire. The brown wire also supplies power to the field coil. When the reg reads a low voltage it turns on by grounding the green wire, this lets current flow through the field coil. This powers the alternator to charge. When the charge reaches the preset of around 14.1 volts the reg turns off the current. The reg cycles on/off as needed to maintain 14.1 volts at the battery.
This reg is temperature sensitive also. What this means is when it's cold out the charge is a bit higher, very hot a bit less.
The one I bought at Advanced Auto a few years back was $13.99, with a very good warranty. I think it's life time but prorated, the older it gets the lees you get back. The first year is free replacement.
One thing though is to be sure you have the wires hooked up green to green, brown to brown, reverse them and as soon as you add power it will fry it. That's how I got the second. Hooked it up temp to test, worked well, rehooked it permanent and swapped the wires and poof. no worky.
Leo

 

[bcware]

What was your solution for a rectifier Leo?

 

[arfstrom]

Seems Leos, is similiar to the R296 that I got from OReillys. It looks very similiar to the pics from what I posted, (his pic is 1 off from what I had used)

 

[XSLeo]

Mine said RZ 296 or R 296 Z. Either way they work well.
For a rectifier, on mine I used a pair of rectifiers from Radio Shack. They are single phase and you need two. I'll post a wiring diagram. You can see that the two are linked at the outputs, Leaving one set of AC inputs unused.
With them having the issues they are having it's not such a good thing.
The last rectifiers I got were off Ebay. Search for three phase rectifiers. Get one with about a 25 amp rating, most are rated a minimum of 1000 volts. Any bigger is just more money spent. A bit easier to wire, no linking two together. The three whites hook to the three terminals with wavy lines. The red out put to the + terminal, Black to the - terminal.
I'll post a pic. In the pic you can see three terminals on one side, these are the AC inputs, the two on the other side are the DC outputs.
A bit less wiring. I think I paid around $3 or $4 each for the ones of Ebay, the Radio Shack ones were $3.58 each or $7.16.
So a bit cheaper and a bit easier to wire.
The Ebay ones I got Have a alloy body so you might not need to much of a heat sink. Just the one through hole for mounting, The Radio Shack ones need a heat sink, A scrap of alloy about 2x3 inches or so 1/8 inch thick. It won't hurt on the Ebay one.
I mounted the Radio shack rectifier on the plate with one bolt in the center to mount it on the original place on the battery box. The regulator I used one mount hole of the original then drilled the other through the battery box.
You need to ground the reg. The battery box if mounted in rubber won't be a ground. Run a wire from under one mount bolt to a good ground.
Leo

 

[XSLeo]

If you are careful you can solder wires to the rectifiers, I didn't. I can solder well but was afraid to damage the rectifiers. I used plug on terminals. This make changing easier.
To make them plug and play cut the wires of your old reg and rec to wire to the new components. This make them plug and play.
Leo

 

[BBS360]

Looks like TimmyT bought the aliexpress/baba RR38: http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12791&styleid=1 and http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12142.

 

[ScottLuke]

Is it safe to run a LiON battery with the RR38? why does the website say it is not recommended, just curious.

 

[bcware]

Lithium batteries are more sensitive to overcharging; my guess is that this reg/rect (and the stocker) might keep charging longer than these batteries are able to tolerate. People use lithium batteries on these bikes, however. I think it may just shorten the lifespan.

It's like leaving your laptop battery in while it is plugged in all the time. The constant charging shortens the battery life.

 

[DanD]

Mine said RZ 296 or R 296 Z. Either way they work well.
For a rectifier, on mine I used a pair of rectifiers from Radio Shack. They are single phase and you need two. I'll post a wiring diagram. You can see that the two are linked at the outputs, Leaving one set of AC inputs unused.
With them having the issues they are having it's not such a good thing.
The last rectifiers I got were off Ebay. Search for three phase rectifiers. Get one with about a 25 amp rating, most are rated a minimum of 1000 volts. Any bigger is just more money spent. A bit easier to wire, no linking two together. The three whites hook to the three terminals with wavy lines. The red out put to the + terminal, Black to the - terminal.
I'll post a pic. In the pic you can see three terminals on one side, these are the AC inputs, the two on the other side are the DC outputs.
A bit less wiring. I think I paid around $3 or $4 each for the ones of Ebay, the Radio Shack ones were $3.58 each or $7.16.
So a bit cheaper and a bit easier to wire.
The Ebay ones I got Have a alloy body so you might not need to much of a heat sink. Just the one through hole for mounting, The Radio Shack ones need a heat sink, A scrap of alloy about 2x3 inches or so 1/8 inch thick. It won't hurt on the Ebay one.
I mounted the Radio shack rectifier on the plate with one bolt in the center to mount it on the original place on the battery box. The regulator I used one mount hole of the original then drilled the other through the battery box.
You need to ground the reg. The battery box if mounted in rubber won't be a ground. Run a wire from under one mount bolt to a good ground.
Leo

You seem to know your stuff with rectifiers and regulators. I hope you don't mind some questions here.

I've had a similar problem to others about blown rectifiers/voltmeters. I started searching a voltage leak on connecting battery with the key off (I wrote about it here http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14611), discovered the rectifier lets current through every which way, and have started trying to source a new rectifier.

Anyway, with help from bcware and BBS360, and searching around I see lots of different aftermarket rectifiers/regulators from the US for different bikes. But from reading your post it appears that "any" rectifier will do, as long as it is 3 phase and in spec with amps...? (and can I run higher amps to make them more "heavy duty"?)

So what is the deal with these companies having so many available with slight variations in bike model number, but vastly different pricing??? I found one for my bike ('76 XS360 - mine is a XS360C) that is 135 dollars, but for the '78 XS400 it is 98 or so. But it looks like my connectors will match up with the XS400 - although the wires are different colours. (http://www.regulatorrectifier.com/catalog/Yamaha-57) - can there be slight variations in these that account for the different prices? Apparently I don't know enough about these things.

I found some on amazon that are 3 phase, and look like the ones you picture here. (http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_no...rh=i:aps,k:three phase rectifier&tag=vig07-20). Those little 30 amp ones look like they would wire in pretty easy, and that 40A 1600V one has a huge heat sink already, so that might be cooler.

Any light you (or anyone else) could shed on this would be appreciated.

Dan

 

[BBS360]

If you're wiring a DIY standalone rectifier then yes, as long as it's rated above 25A just about three phase rectifier will probably work. A higher amp rated unit will probably have a heatsink, run cooler, and last longer.

As far as I understand it regulators for bikes with permanent magnet alternators will not work with our bikes, which is why it's important to match models when getting rectifier/regulator combos.
I have a five-wire reg/rec from a CBR125 but I'm pretty sure it can't be made to work on our bikes.

Price variation could be a lot of things. Assuming the stores get them wholesale for close to the $40 aliexpress price they have a lot of leeway with pricing.
Being a less common bike with fewer aftermarket parts a seller might charge more for an "XS360" unit than they would for the exact same model marketed for XS400s. Less competition for XS360 parts means higher prices.
Just a thought.

 

[XSLeo]

If people will pay the price, then sellers will ask it. They even ask more to see just how much they will pay. Ever look on Ebay? Ever notice how some bike breakers ask totally way to much for some old items? Often more than going to a dealer and buying it.
Often these too high priced items are parts most people take off and throw away.
On these 3 phase rectifiers my buy more than you need. The amp rating of 25 is 56 % more than what your alternator puts out. It should never burn out.
Leo

 

[arfstrom]

discovered the rectifier lets current through every which way, and have started trying to source a new rectifier.

Correction, Electricity made in the stator is AC. That AC current is going "every which way" The Bike is a DC bike. So the first stop for the electrons is the rectifier. the recifier has 3 Diodes. A diode makes electricity goes one way only. 3 phase is the number of white wires coming off the stator. if for example someone put 6 wires on the stator, you would have 6 phase. (bogus example) The Rectifier is designed so that you one phase will provide X amount of AMP's. and if the Draw becomes too much, the 2nd diode will provided the additional AMP's. then if the Draw is Maxed, the 3 phase will cover the rest.

If you look at the diagram for the 80's model, you will see the white wires split off, (to the headlight) even after that split is a diode.

If you look at the Manuals, the engineers put in the current and draws of all the lights, for the calculations, They used that to give us the minimum needed stator, as well as turn signal canceling device. So it is about Math, and I am not good at that. So I gues in attempt to answer your question, the engineers, look at the current technology (1980) and what is it going to take to run all the lights, and keep the bike running. Can we save $$ by going going cheap? Where is the Need/Want spot at?

AC Alternating Current
DC Direct Current