LTD rectifier wiring

[roondog]

I have ordered a new LTD rectifier from e-bay. Caltic is the brand. The one I have on now has the same color wires, 3 yellow, one black, 2 green, and 2 red. The way mine is set up now is that the 2 reds and 1 black are barreled tied together with one same gauge red coming out of that to a 30 amp fuse and then to the positive side of the battery. The 2 greens are barell tied together with a same gauge green coming out and going to the negative side of the battery. All wires have been hardwired form the stator to the R/R. No plugs
I looked on page 405 in the Clymers manual and it looks like it is showing the greens going to bike ground and direct ground. Can someone tell me where exactly each wire is supposed to go?
I have some 10 gauge red that I will tie into the 2 reds and 1 black and then runthat to the 30 am fuse, which BTW is big gauge green wire, inline 30 fuse that goes to the pos battery.
I have some 14 gauge green that I was thinking to butt connecting to separately and running one to frame ground and one to the neg post battery.
Any thoughts on this? Reason why I am messing with it is I can't get a reading of more than 13.3 @ 3000 RPM and the battery is brand new, full charge. I haven't checked stator voltage but bike running, I poked each yellow with multimeter set at DC 20 and got 6.2 each one.
When she idles down, I get roughly 12.1 so I guess it is doing something, just not what I want to see. Oh, checked without turning on accessories. Alot of extra lighting on this recent purchase.
Thanks for any feedback. I am slowly getting up to speedthanks to ya'll wonderful folks!

 

[Joep]

The reds are battery positive for charging the black is 12v + sense. The greens are grounds.. and can be tied to the frame negative lead mount. One of the reds normally on most 4 wire Hondas is tied to the large red/white lead and its run through the fuse along with the large red on the plug ... red/white is charging lead to battery and the red is power to the bike.. these are the plug wires I am talking about not the reg wires.. just correlating the wires from reg to the solenoid plug... if you are going to run the red to the battery you can do it at the solenoid bat post..

 

[roondog]

ok, will it hurt anything to run the red to the battery positive post? So it is okay that the black is wrapped with the 2 reds? I ran a 10 gauge red from the 2reds and 1 black to the 30 amp fuse and then that goes to the pos battery. I ran one of the greens to one of the bolts that hold the cruise and the other one I let alone to run to the battery. What do you think? I will put it all together tomorrow if I have time. Thanks. Any other thoughts?

 

[Joep]

The reason I suggested the solenoid post is you get a clean connection at the battery where you end up getting some corrosion from the battery out gassing if it is a lead acid liquid filed battery.. and a more secure connection less likely to vibrate loose. Same with the green to the other end ofc the negative cable... ring the 2 red and the black together is okay.. the sense wire on some systems cause the reg to turn off when charge is sufficient.. and kicks in when the voltage level is low...

 

[roncar]

My 2¢. First off I am not an engineer nor do I play one on TV. :hihihi: However the people that designed these systems were engineers and a lot smarter than I am. Most of my electrical experience is on 1000's, but I'm sure most of it applies to the 1100's and 1200's as well. As I see it:

1. If there is ANY discrepancy's between the Clymer and Honda manuals, I go with the Honda.

2. The 2 red and the green wires go to the same point on each side of the connector. My take on this is to spread the current flow thru 2 connections in the connector instead of one. They must have determined that one connection couldn't handle all the current. After ~30 years this is even more important now, unless the connector is eliminated and the wires soldered.

3. The black sense wire should not be connected to the red wires. As designed the black wire is connected to 'switched' power and only connected to power when the bike is on. Otherwise everything is connected to the regulator and it is 'ON' all the time. Power drain is probably minimal, but still those Honda engineers are smarter than I.

4. I would NOT connect one of the green wires from the regulator to the frame and the other to the battery. As they are connected internally in the regulator, this would create an alternate ground path between the frame and the battery. This is not a problem normally, but if there was a failure in the main battery ground cable, ALL current would (or at least would try) to go through this 'alternate' path, including the starter. 12 or 14 gauge wire will not handle the current of the starter.

5. While I have done it, try to avoid added connections at the battery terminals. Looks like PO work and adds failure points at a place you really don't want.

Of course this is all just my opinion, but I try to keep the wiring as close to how Honda intended. Makes using schematics a lot easier that way. If you don't, take good notes on what you do. Six months from now you won't remember (or at least I wouldn't. )

 

[roondog]

thanks. I will put on the solonoid. I just didn't think it would handle it. I guess I am old school that everything has to go to the battery. I am learning slowly. Far off from being an engineer. If I have time today, i will put it together and check it out. I still have another R/R from Catric on the way with the same wire configuration and I plan to hard wire.

 

[Ansimp]

If you look at the wiring diagram you will see the fuse protects the r/r from the battery if their was a fault in the r/r.

GW1100 solenoid, battery and wiring diagram

• Ansimp
• Feb 17, 2014
• 1

GW1100 solenoid, battery and wiring diagram

 

[roondog]

It looks like ther black sense wire is connecting to something, but what? Where would you suggest connecting the black sense wire to? Also, the 2 greens are connected somewhere else besides neg on battery. Where do they end up?
The 2 reds coming off the rectifier do look like they are joined together at one point and then to the pos side of the solonoid.
So.......if i understand this correctly, the black sense wire needs to go somewhere in the sysytem to see 12 volts to provide feedback to the R/R, the 2 greens are grounded somewhere on the frame, and the 2 reds go to the pos side of the solonoid, which in effect is also the same as puting them on the positive battery terminal.

 

[roondog]

I am not so keen on wiring and connection points, but I am sure learning. Thanks

 

[Ansimp]

The black sense wire can go to ignition or battery ( fused side of solenoid). If you go to ignition then you with raise the charging voltage which with old wiring may increase the overcharging effect on the battery. I prefer to use a relay mod circuit that raises the ignition voltage when the older wiring and switches show a significant voltage drop in the ignition circuit.

 

[roondog]

ok. One side of the solonoid has the cable to the positive terminal on the battery. o, the other side of the solonoid would be a good place for the black sense wire? It will still sense the voltage? I really don't know that much about where the wires are supposed to go. I may have a good R/R and the original owner might not have hardwired correctly. The guy I bought it from had it since last Oct. He didn't do anything. The guy in Maryland that he bought it from had the basic servicing done and any problems, he took it to a mech. He had no idea exactly what had been done electrically. Near as I can tell, this was the work of the original owner who did solder the connections, but also used barrel tie twist to joing 2 wires. All the wires are hardwired so I don't have a harness to look at to see exactly where wires go. The battery was dead when the guy from Va brought it to me and he got a new one before coming down. He had bought a new battery when he bought the bike and it was slow to start, like a dying battery. Maybe with that sense wire being tied into the 2 reds from the R/R, that was was draining the battery, the R/R seeing the voltage constant. I pretty much need to know what wire I can butt into with the black to see system voltage that even a novice like me will understand and find it. I am learning slowly. I know enough to be dangerous, not enough to be smart, yet.

 

[Joep]

a good keyed location would be off the acc + terminal... thou would need about a 16 gauge wire as the terminal is fused 5 amp and would not be carrying a lot of current. The opposite side of solenoid is the starter lead and only has power when starter button is pushed and the solenoid engages..

 

[roondog]

Well, I may as well show what I see. Boy oh boy, what a mess. I didn't do it so its not like I am telling on myself, just tring to un#### it.

 

[roondog]

There are some things I have no earthly idea what they do or where they go. I do see that there is a black and light green wire that looks like it is part of the original wiring from the R/R. Maybe I will mate the black sense wire to that since the schematic show it going to the fuse box

 

[roondog]

Your eyes don't deceive you. I go over to the darkside. 05 electroglide classic beside my recently purchased nightmare

 

[joedrum]

sheesh I would do it just like this till I figure everything out ....I guess the previous owner kind of gave up ...before final wiring of things ... id be cleaning up and going over all the wiring sheesh ...one thing for sure there is obvious signs to justify it

 

[Joep]

Okay just some opinion not advice here.. Replace the harness.. now that we can chase that elephant out of the room.. I would suggest that if the replaced wires are terminated with green or dark green wires on the other side of the plugs.. Replace that wire with green wires.. that way grounds are always the same color... run wires going from front towards the rear under frame cross members and away from semi sharp edges.. if you are thinking about replacing the main red wire from the main fuse.. 12 gauge will handle the full load voltage and current.. the main bike power wire is 14...

 

[roondog]

12 gauge sounds good, a little beefier. That 10 red I ran from the 2 reds coming off the R/R was a bit stiff. I was given advice that it helps when you ask questions and want to know about something, it is helpful to post pics and then if someone else has a similar problem, it makes more sense. Well, at least whhe someone sees the pics i posted, they will think their sysytem is not that bad after all

 

[roondog]

Well, I have replaced the R/R and cleaned up some wires, re-wired the stator wires to R/R. Got most of the positive battery post wires to the solonoid. She starts great, charges like it should except when she warms up. This is what I got.
The following is a parts list that I put together when I had my 1200 SEI, hopefully you can use this information to locate parts from the auto parts stores in your area.


I cleaned up the positive side best I could. Some still going to the post but more to the solonoid and I got rid of that big barrel cap and wired invidually. So.......Put the freshly re-charged battery back in and fired her up. Cold, initial readings fantastic, 14.6 @ 2750, a little higher about 14.8 at the batery. Idle at 14.1

Okay, so I let her run till she warmed up, cooling fan on. Battery ( B )checking post to post and voltmeter ( V )
B = 14.68
V = 13.9

Turned on accessory lights, no driving lights
B = 13.8
V = 13.0

Added the halogen driving lights
B = 12.7
V = 11.9

Driving lights off
B = 13.2
V = 12.4

All accessories off
B = 14.1
V = 13.5

After 20 to 30 minutes @ 2750 ALL accessories off
B = 13.2
V = 12.4

20 to 30 minutes at idle approx 1000 RPM
B = 12.25
V = 11.5

Holding @ 3000 RPM
B = 13.0
V = 12.2

The battery at rest after engine off and hooked up check in at 12.9

So........pretty extensive test? It seems something is definitely heating up as she warms up and holds @ 2750. I kept it there by applying a bungee cord and hooking that to a stationary point to hold the throttle at exactly 2750 the whole time.
Whats your thoughts?
The R/R is new, didn't get terribly hot, the sense wire is hooked to 12 volts on with the key on. all wires are hardwired.
Cranked her again when she cooled off. Idle at 1550 to warm up until she kicks down. 14.4 voltmter, 14.6 battery post. accesories on except driving lights took it to 14.1, then right back to 14.4 Turned on driving lights, took down to 14.1 and stayed. It is great at start up, but degrades getting warmer.

 

[slabghost]

Have you tried connecting the sensor wire directly to the battery? Old wires gain resistance as do old connectors and switches.