Common Regulator Failures

Heating Regulator

Heat is by far the worst enemy of a regulator. A misplaced regulator can have its heat sink filled with mud, disabling its ability to evacuate internal heat. It can also be put in a zone with bad airflow, letting the heat build up around the regulator. A more aggressive driving style may also accelerate your regulator’s deterioration. To reduce heat and prevent burned regulators, we recommend changing your standard Shunt regulator for a Mosfet one. Watch a Shunt VS Mosfet explanatory video to learn more about the difference between both.

An overproducing stator, like a high output one, puts a larger load on the regulator. It needs to switch more current to the ground since more current is produced, thus add a lot more heat to this already hot component.

By reducing how much heat is produced, you can give many more life years to your regulator and that could save you a lot of money. When a regulator ages, it gets less and less reliable, making your voltage output vary a lot. That variation puts a big stress on your battery and all of your electrical components. The stator is particularly important to protect, since it takes more time to change, being tied to the engine itself and needing to take the engine apart.

When a regulator fails entirely, it can have 2 different effects. The first is it doesn’t produce enough voltage to keep the battery charged, slowly draining the battery. The second is the regulator rectifier is unable to lower the voltage when necessary, which simply boils the battery and burns electronics.

Take Care of your Regulator's connectors

Bad connections are the bane of any electrical component. The regulators are particularly affected by them since a bad connector will create additional heat in it.

Failing to properly seal the connectors will let moisture get in the connector and corrode it. Each time you unplug a connector, remember to put dielectric grease on it before plugging it back in. The grease will seal the connector, protecting it from moisture, or any other element that could disturb it.