electronic regulator

Help please.

A small cylindrical component has just come adrift from my electronic regulator.

It is silver, 5mm in diameter & 5mm in depth.It has to 2 'legs' on it. The top is marked 6P 47 6F & a section is black.

I just started the bike and it still charges but I assume this gizmo must do something or it wouldn't be there.

What is it? and what does it do?

Ron, Sounds like a capacitor came adrift from the regulator. It's meant to filter the electricity somewhere in the circuit, ie, take the rough edges off the power so a poor transistor or integrated circuit doesn't fail from being "roughed" up by power fluctuations. It would be nice if you could get it soldered back into place. Your parts would be happier with it in circuit. It is also polarity sensitive, so if you can find a place to solder it, if must go in plus to plus, minus to minus. Minus usually being ground.
The section that is black probably points to one of the legs, if so, this leg would be the "minus" leg.
The regulator may work for awhile, but will eventually fail from lack of the filtering it used to provide.
Good luck
DD

Thanks Dr. Dick. Knew you would come up with the answer.Bought a new capacitor from Maplin's Electronics ( similar to your Radio Shack) as the 'legs' were too short on mine. Even managed to solder it on without unsoldering everything else.I put some silicon round the base to prevent it vibrating and snapping again. Everything working fine now.

Glad to hear all worked out well, I'm curious what type of regulator you have that has components you can actually get at. Most are potted in goop to improve reliability and prevent repairs!
DD

It's from V-tronic. Go to http://www.v-tronic.com/cms/index.php?o ... &Itemid=54
for a picture. The underneath is covered in goop. What I did is about the limit to what I could repair.

Ron,

Where did you purchase the regulator?......and when?

Kurt

Kurt

It might have been from you originally, just over a year ago. I had some problems with it packing up through 'load dumps' and as I wasn't sure where I bought it the chap at V-tronic repaired it twice for me, The second time he put a 1500 watt absorber in which seems to have done the trick.You possibly know the chap at V-tronic and he might remember.

What went wrong this time was mechanical rather than electronic, the 'legs' on the capacitor broke. Could have happened whilst removing the cover. On the Big Twin you can't lift it straight up and it may have caught the capacitor.

If what you have is a capacitor you had better be careful. Capacitors hold electricity to give an initial boost when the circuit is completed the next time the appliance, etc., is turned on. For example, my large radial saw has two huge capacitors that help get the blade turning from a dead stop and not cause a huge line draw of current which could trip the the circuit breakers.

DO NOT TOUCH the poles of a capacitor because if it is charged you might just get the shock of your life, or end of your life as it may be. That is why most electrical equipment like televisons, radios, and amplifiers state on the back that you should not open the case because there are no user serviceable parts inside. They don't want you to stick you hands in there and get shocked or worse. Electrical repairmen know how to bleed off the stored electrical charge from capacitors. That must be done first BEFORE repairs are started.

The two capacitors in my saw are about as big as beer cans and can kill in a hurry if some fool ever touched them the wrong way.