Podtronics overheating?

I'll never live this down. Bike died one block from the pub our local Norton crew was gathering at.



Bike died at a light, was super hot from bad traffic. I suspected overheating at first. Turns out the battery was completely depleted. only 7 volts once I got a meter on it.
Next day the battery holds a charge as it should and the charging system shows a healthy 13.65V @ 2000 RPM's. All connections are good.
I am suspecting the regulator rectifier of overheating. I admittedly mounted it in a bad airflow are, and next to the hot oil tank.

-Anyone know if it is possible to overheat a podtronics regulator/rectifier to the point of failure, resulting in the battery being depleted, and then have it work ok the next day?
- What do you think of the idea of mounting the podtronics unit inside the stock air filter? it would get a nice flow of cool air even at idol in there.

Mine is a 73, 850 & has been mounted in the back of the battery box for long time. I live in Southern California so I bet we have just as much if not more hi temp days here & the only time Mine did what yours did turned out to be a intermittent loose fuse that checked out OK when tested but was loose in actual use. I originally blamed the battery thinking it was to old to hold a charge so I needlessly reworked my battery box & replaced it with a new $$$ Shorai. It could lead to another set of problems but I hope having a charging system that seems to put out what they say is needed and monitoring it for any needed additional charging will prevent that. Oh well, good thing is now my battery area is much neater & I have a spare battery sitting around to use for things like tests and timing lights etc etc. Good luck & I hope you find the reason for your troubles.

I might thing that is a depleted/bad battery that would cause the Pods unit to over heat to failure, not the weather. Or a stator that does not match the pods unit. Trying to shove amps down the throat of a battery that just won't take it or driving too much current through a regulator that wasn't meant for it, is how I see it.

I think people do not keep balance in their system. Sticking a big battery on a 130 watt stator is all too common, expecting the regulator to make it all work. Or adding a 180 watt stator and running a 120 watt Pods unit is another common mistake. That will surely cause it to overheat and fail.

Which every system one chooses, there has to be balance. Two separate system are "130 watt stator / 120 watt Podtronics unit / 12 ah battery" or "180 watt stator / 200 watts Pods unit / 14 to 18 ah battery".

If Podtronic or other solid state potted rec/reg had over heated enough to stop functioning then it would not self recover. If battery was at fault it woulde not recover & hold a full charge so easy. Unless creeping too slow with head light on I'd suspect a poor connectiion from alternator ie earth returns developing at road temps or just too small a battery for your style of ridding that day. The charging system is not strained by feeding big current draws of lights, big battery or a dead resistive battery - but is strained if its output is not being used by a fully topped off battery and no lights on so watts must be dumped as heat somewhere else. Volt meter and a bit of glancing to stay more often in charge than discharge can allow 1.2 ah on high beam unless stop and go rpm stiffled.

Mounting a Podtronics voltage regulator inside your air box would just make servicing your air filter a whole lot harder. Also I think having electrical components and wires in an area not designed to get wet with fuel is not my idea of a good idea.

Peter Joe

Roadrash said:

Next day the battery holds a charge as it should and the charging system shows a healthy 13.65V @ 2000 RPM's. All connections are good.

Click to expand...

Holding a recharge and showing a healthy input from the system is one thing. Maintaining it under load is another. Load testing your battery may show hidden weakness.

How old is the battery and what size/type?

Glen