Zener Diode question

If the zener diode is faulty, is there any problem with disconnecting it and running the motorcycle for just a five minute period.?

Yellow_Cad said:

If the zener diode is faulty, is there any problem with disconnecting it and running the motorcycle for just a five minute period.?

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Not if you keep the revs down. Maybe turn the lights on as well?

Don't let it go over 16Volts if you have an electronic ignition?

To check your Zener, use a 12V battery, use a test lamp and a ground wire, or just touch the stud to one side of the battery, your test lamp to the spade tang. The test lamp should lite one way and not the other. If the lamp lights both ways or not at all the diode is bad.

Sometimes corosion or dirt over years will build up between the Zener and the heat sink then they will over heat and fail. You can buy a good rectifier/regulater for less than a pair of new Zener diodes.

Ken G.