TOPIC:

I put together the DIY Rectifier (Thanks Lou) and here's how it looks.


I mounted it to the aluminum plate (w/ heatsink gel) of a RS project enclosure box and plan on mounting it upside down under the battery box. My question is this, do you think the alumimum plate will be able to dissipate the heat efficiently if the rectifier is enclosed in the plastic box right under the batt. box? Has anyone else done this?

Post edited by: 77Davo650, at: 2006/06/16 12:05

Post edited by: 77Davo650, at: 2006/06/16 12:22

Seems to me that the plastic cover will negate the usual air cooling you get from moving, & the heat will have nowhere to go but up. Putting it under the battery box will pretty much send all the heat to the battery. Personally, I would look for somewhere else to mount it, & consider leaving the cover off. (If you're worried about water, maybe some of that liquid rubber tool-dip stuff from the hardware store would work. Seems like the rectifiers I've seen have been coated with something similar.)

HTH

I just built one myself for an RD400. I used a thicker plate with a heat sink bolted on. It gets a little warm. The box may cause a heat issue.

When a rectifier fails, it fails one of two ways. It can "short out" or it can "open". If it "opens", your battery will drain and the bike will eventually stall... no big deal. If it shorts, stuff smokes and melts... big deal. If you want to try your rectifier to see if it will work, put in the two fuses I drew in the diagram. That will protect from a short in case the rectifier gets too hot. Run it for a half hour in hot weather and see if you can touch the aluminum plate. If it's way too hot to touch, it's not getting enough cooling.

PS, I hope you don't get the wires confused!

Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2006/06/17 22:33