{"id":44297,"date":"2019-05-13T19:47:45","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T10:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/?p=44297"},"modified":"2026-09-24T13:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T04:45:16","slug":"vfr400r-charging-mosfet-regulator-led-bulb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/20190513\/everyday-events\/vfr400r-charging-mosfet-regulator-led-bulb","title":{"rendered":"VFR400R (NC30) Charging issue \u2014 MOSFET regulator installation \u2014 LED light bulb and more"},"content":{"rendered":"
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. <\/em>

The bike has a charging problem\u2014the battery dies while riding. That’s a bit scary, so let me check it out carefully. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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I didn’t just swap it out right away.
First, I
checked the generated voltage at the battery
checked the generated voltage at the regulator
verified the regulator ground is solid
checked the three-phase AC voltage from the generator across A-B, A-C, and B-C
checked for battery-side current leakage

The voltage regulation wasn’t working\u2014it was too low. So I temporarily installed a new regulator to check. It climbed to over 14 volts, so that was it! Problem solved. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The shape is a bit tricky. Space is tight on this bike. I really have to say, spot welding is amazing. This time I made it from grade 2 titanium (does it cool faster?).

It looks done all of a sudden, but the real work is taking the tail cowl on and off over and over. (That was the headache with the first one.) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I threaded the mounting plate beforehand. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Let me go with studs\u2014they’re easy to work with. Bolts and nuts won’t work because I can’t hold them from behind. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Installation is complete like this. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I managed to squeeze it in just barely. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Let’s go with LED bulbs for a bit of energy savings\u2014RACING style. The newer ones have a solid high\/low beam difference. I thought maybe it’ll pass inspection? (I’ll check it with a tester to be sure.) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Parts like this usually don’t fit. I punched out a nice clean circle. (Front and rear shots.) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A little extra care when installing aftermarket parts really makes the finish look so much better.
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cable ties (zip ties) go like this.
If you avoid using double-sided tape and cable ties on the frame as much as possible, you’ll get a really clean result. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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There was a nice boss to co-mount it to. It’s super clean and easy to remove. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I’m repainting the meter, and it’s surprisingly intricate. The damping is incredible. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I’m amazed at how well-engineered this era was. I’m saving photos so I don’t get confused. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The shape is so complex it’s hard to polish. But wow, what a shape. It looks tedious, and I’m sitting here thinking about it. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I painted it with gun coat and it’s baking now. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The rust is gone and it’s nice and black. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The carbon cover hides it, so you can’t really tell, but inside it’s amazing! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I made the voltmeter bracket from stainless steel too. Nice and simple. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I gun-coated the side stand, spring, base, and hook too. This side stand is really well-engineered. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Even after painting, it seems to touch the muffler slightly\u2014that was original.
I stripped it, built it up a bit with welding, installed it, ground it, installed it again, and ground it again.

Every day is a series of small tasks. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I managed to avoid it. These little details after customization are surprisingly noticeable. Let’s take care of them all. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The turn signal gets sooty, so I made a collar to push the silencer out a bit. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Aluminum corrosion looks pretty rough. I could tell how much the owner cares, so let’s make it nice and clean. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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It looks great right away. When it comes out like this, assembly is even more fun! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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That’s how it turned out. But honestly, even when it’s clean, only the owner and I really notice. Clean spots are a shame\u2014they go unappreciated. I’ve installed other parts too.

Now the owner can ride out with confidence!
That wraps up this job. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44262,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pochipp_cv_data":"","swell_btn_cv_data":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1924],"tags":[162,1928],"class_list":["post-44297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everyday-events","tag-electric","tag-vf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}