Some uneccessary background. There are 2 types of voltage regulators (VR), Shunt and Series. Shunt VR (like the 630) short circuit the stator to stop the battery from getting overcharged. The newest type (usually aftermarket and some 2015 bikes) is the series VR. It open circuits the stator to stop the battery from overcharging. Whats the difference?? The shunt type short circuit causes extra heat in the stator since there is nowhere for the power to flow. It has been done this way on motorcycles since forever but on bikes with weak designed stators it will cause them to eventually fail. There are many bike models that suffer repeat stator failures. There are 2 types of shunt VRs. The old school one, like on the Husky, uses SCRs while the newer ones use MOSFETs. The MOSFETS have a much lower resistance than SCRs which allows the VR to operate at a much lower temperature. In many examples you dont even need a heat sink. The SCR type have one connection plug while the MOSFET type typically have 2. It is important to note that these VRs are virtually interchangeable with some wiring and the internet is full of great examples. Anyway enough technical crap. Here is how I modded my VR to keep it alive and well. 1. The enemy of the VR is heat - getting too much and not getting rid or it fast enough. The husky VR is bolted to a flat plate on the frame to absorb heat but on my bike the plate is not flat, not even close - no heat transfer happening. Look at my first attempt to add heat compound. Almost no contact. I'm surprised it hasn't already died. To fix this I build a flat aluminum heat sink plate that fit underneath the VR. The thickness of the plate made it necessary to make a separate ground lug. I sanded the surface of the heatsink on a piece of glass to make it nice and flat. Attached is a scale heatsink template. 2. Shitty ground. This was the fix on my old Fireblade. Run a #10 ground wire from the VR ground to the main engine ground or the battery - terminal. On the Husky, the stock VR ground has to make connection through the anodizing on the subframe and then through the bolted subframe connection to the main frame. It works but high resistance here shows up as heat in the VR. 3. Shitty power wire. The VR can put out 20-30A but the stock wiring is acceptable for about 8-10A. This is common. The fix is to cut the red wire and splice on a #10 wire and fuse direct to the battery + terminal. My charging voltage jumped up by .2 V when I did this. If you were to buy an aftermarket VR kit it would come with all three of these things. Here are some pics. Hope this helps someone. Cam.
Ground cable. I went to the engine ground but could have also gone to the battery - terminal. The #10 wire from the VR red wire to the battery + terminal. The fuse holder hides with th other fuses. I loosened the airbox and pulled the VR harness out the RH side of the bike and then added 3 layers of black tape to protect the wires from chafing. This is a common point of failure where the wires rub on the airbox and get frayed. I also crimped the VR connectors with a small flat screwdriver so that they fit the VR blades tighter. This is a common mode of failure where the connector pins are not a tight fit. Causes resistance, which causes heat and then the connector melts. Doing this will make my VR last longer and the red wire mod alone caused my charging voltage to jump from 14.2V to 14.4V. Next step would be to replace the VR with a MOSFET type from the FJ1300 or a series type from the 2015 Vstrom. Cam.
Holy shit just opened this thread out of interest, I've got a 2001 610, hope it doesn't have this problem. Anyway is your bike brand new from the factory? It sure as hell looks it. Good advice and a helpful guide for those this 630s.
Hi, KXCam My case, not only the red wire gets hot, also de yellow ones. Yesterday I touched them when the voltage tester indicated that VR was charging only at 12,20V! and they was really hot (also the VR, of course) The funny thing is that when I moved the wires a little bit, the voltage tester went from 12,2 V to more than 13,0 V. What do you think may can happen? On the other side, sorry I don’t understand where you connect the red wire. I assume you cut it to join at this point another wire which you connect to another point. To what point? Thanks
As I was not sure about the proper thick of the black wires but due I had them at home, I put two units that I’ll connect directly to the battery. BTW, red and yellow wires are covered with green tape to cover small fraying areas. The heat compound really “works” between VR and aluminum plate as both pieces get sort of stuck Hope it will decrease VR temperature…
I would suggest #10 gauge red wire from VR to battery (with inline 30A fuse) and #10 Black wire from VR to battery. Then it as good as you can make it. Inside the connector I squeezed the metal terminals to get a tighter fit onto the VR. Loose = resistance = heat = death to the connector. Cam.
Hi Cam. I was wondering if it is correct to put a wire directly from VR red wire connector to the battery (with a fuse in the middle, of course). According to the electric diagram, the red VR wire doesn’t go directly to the battery, and I wonder if there is a reason why. The red wire goes to the solenoid starter and to one of the fuses (and from there to a lot of places, but not directly to the battery) What do you think? I don't know how the VR "knows" the amount of voltage that have to put into the battery (according to the battery load), I mean, which wire (or wires) "informs" to the VR of this fact. If you wire directly to the battery, could the VR "get confused"? Thank you I also wonder why you don't have the fuse I show you...
Motraqui, In the OEM setup the red wire does go to the starter solenoid, thru a fuse and then to the battery. The optimum setup is to use the #10 wire from the VR to the battery (with an inline fuse), BUT, you leave the OEM wire that is connected to the battery in place. This connects the 12V from the battery to the starter solenoid, plus there is 2nd smaller red wire connected to the starter solenoid that feeds +12V somewhere. The direct VR to battery connection with the larger wire gives you the least voltage drop from VR to battery. You will end up with 2 ring terminals on the + side of the battery. Good eyes, In the pic I think I just had the fuse out. It is normally there. The VR has voltage sensing circuitry inside it that turns the SCRs in the VR on, when to charge/ not charge. Hope this helps. Cam.
Yes, Cam, you’re right The red wire from the VR goes to the “A” connection. “A” goes to “B” through the 20Amp fuse, and finally B goes right to the battery. So, make sense that if we connect VR red wire to the battery before it connects to the solenoid starter, we won’t damage a thing. A good research would be to know if I’m the only one that have had “A” connector burnt (please, see here: http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/should-i-change-the-voltage-regulator.83706/page-3 ) If I’m not the only one, then we could drive to the conclusion that “A” is a weak point in the charging system that "needs help" through another wire right to the battery (with an inline fuse), as Cam says.
On mine it was one of those fuses that caused my voltage drop issue. Possibly it might have burnt the thing if I had waited longer before finding it. I spent a couple of weeks in Madrid touring around. Had a blast. Cam.
I think my R/R is faulty, I may replace it with a new one and do this fix. I've noticed a slight drop in voltage when the throttle is opened up. When you do the power wire, it seems counterintuitive to splice the thin wire of the plug to a 10 gauge wire to the battery. Also I am not clear, do you simply reroute the positive and ground to the battery and lose the existing connections? Or do they have to still go to the relay to power something else, like the instrument panel? Also, I have a 610, does this fix apply to it or would it be a waste of time/money? Like does the less sophiscated carbed engine not draw as many amps?
