Re: I tested rectifier
As 4runneradam explained it is not only possible but common for a cheap meter to give false readings on diode. regarding which one to use ... I happen to be a degreed electrical engineer from the top elect engineering college in the nation, so I feel pretty confident in saying that the $130 voltage regulator is $5 worth of product and $125 of profit. Your stator puts out AC voltage and it needs to get turned into DC. Whether you are powering a $3 toy or a $50,000 computer there is only one device that does that job - a rectifier made from diodes. AC goes from positive to negative. The diodes flip polarity the instant voltage goes negative so that the result at battery is positive. As soon as stator output goes positive again the diodes flip back. You end up with a series of positive voltage spikes. The difference between rectifier and voltage regulator is in the spikes. A voltage regulator smooths out the spikes and limits them to 13.5V maximum. You end up with a nice steady charging voltage. A rectifier just leaves the spikes as they are and lets the battery act as the regulator. If you disconnect the battery then the spikes come back and you can fry your fish finder, radio, etc.
If you want to throw extra money into your boat then get a voltage regulator from an automobile. Then you won't fry your electronics if the battery goes bad or gets disconnected. It's better to actually get something for your money than to line mercury's pockets.
RRitt, What is the "best electical engineering college in the nation"? Just curious because I too am an EE, and I may want to argue this with ya, lol.
Now, RE: rectifiers, etc. : All of my quads (which i realize aren't the same, but they are simple IC engines using very similar hardware) use bridge rectifiers and a shunt regulator in the same package. Without the shunt regulator, the voltage generated would either never be high enough to charge, except at near max RPM; or if designed to charge at lower RPM, it would way overcharge at high RPM's.
I am not yet familiar with the Force charge circuit, but I intend to be shortly. Do they have a regulator on board or do they just depend on resistance in the stator windings to limit the current (an old fashined way designed before the advent of solid state regulators)?
Several of my quads have 2 phase outputs, so only require a standard 4 diode bridge. One of them, however is 3 phase, and uses a 6 diode bridge. Since MY Force 90 only has 4 posts on it's 'rectifier', I assume the stator is a 2 phase device. Do you know whether the Force has a regulator in the same package, or separately somewhere in the circuit, or none at all? If there is no regulator, then virtually ANY bridge rectifier, of sufficient current handling capacity, will work just fine as a replacement. If there is a regulator, then replacing with an off the shelf bridge and an off the shelf series shunt regulator would do the trick readily too, I believe. What do you think?
At $130, maybe we're in the wrong business. Repackaging $7 worth of parts and reselling to boaters with bad rectifiers/regulators will make us rich, lol.
