Not sure the failed unit on my Sprint ST 1050 was OEM (do they have Triumph markings on them?) but it was putting out 16 volts when tested.
I did say "extremely rare"
(Left myself a little wiggle room there - never say never!!!)
Yes, that was definitely an over-charging fail for sure.
The Sparkbright would definitely have caught this - over 15.2V the LED would be flashing red/green alternately.
Incidentally if this situation was detected, the 'get you home' without destroying anything, would be to disconnect the R/R, pull the headlight fuse and head for home or to a safe spot within a reasonable distance (20-30 mins should be good) - the bike will run off the battery in that mode provided it has not already been compromised.
Thats is exactly what happened to my sons 2007 GSXR 750, the regulator failed in an over current conditioning then took out the bulbs, battery, and worst of all the ECU!!
Yes, as I had said, Suzuki R/R often fail in this mod - not good! Bulbs popping is the first clue when you get this happening.
I am surprised it took out the ECU however - that was an expensive failure!
Again, never say never, but the MOSFET R/R used on the Rocket is a very reliable device. If any failures occur on A rocket, it is much more likely to be the Stator which is unfortunate because a major operation to replace on an R3 - engine out!
For that reason I recommend a Series R/R (have written about this elsewhere on forum) - a Series R/R draws much less current (about half) from stator and therefor the stator runs cooler and is much less likely to fry itself.
Incidentally one minor nit-pick on the Sparkbright:
The LED used is actually a 2-colour LED (these devices are not a single 'chip' that changes colour, but 2 separate chips of those colours)
So for red or green, simply that particular device is operated (either solid or flashing depending on what the Controller is dictating)
For Orange, this is not another chip, both the red & green operate together to 'make' orange.
I would have to say it is easy to perceive that 'orange' for red - without another that is pure red to compare, it is difficult to differentiate the red from orange. .
But when you look at the output conditions, there is none for constant red, only constant orange;
So you can tell that if you have a constant hue - whether you perceive it to be red or orange - you know it is the condition that is dictated by constant orange is the range 12.45 to 13.2V
(When true red is displayed it will always be flashing, either alone, or alternating with green).
Of course for anyone with red/green colour-blindness, forget it! This one definitely NOT for you!