Indicator problem

keymandave

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Please help.

2005 r1200gs

I went to set off on bike today.
The right indicator was not working, no flashers or dash warning.

The right and cancel were fine at first.

I then tried a battery reset and the left flashers work but no dash lights.


I've just come back from a wet weekend in Scotland. I thought the hazards came on by themselves twice but I convinced myself it was my gloves.


Any help appreciated.

Dave
 
What is the battery voltage with engine switched off? Should not be below 12V (12.5 when totally topped up). It will drop to 11V with starter cranking.
 
Bendy toy said:
What is the battery voltage with engine switched off? Should not be below 12V (12.5 when totally topped up). It will drop to 11V with starter cranking.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply. I will check the voltage in the morning.

It is kept on the optimate though which was showing full green. Anyway, I will still check. Thanks again.
 
keymandave said:
Please help.

2005 r1200gs

I went to set off on bike today.
The right indicator was not working, no flashers or dash warning.

The right and cancel were fine at first.

I then tried a battery reset and the left flashers work but no dash lights.


I've just come back from a wet weekend in Scotland. I thought the hazards came on by themselves twice but I convinced myself it was my gloves.


Any help appreciated.

Dave
Click to expand...

Water can get into the switches as the waterproof membranes covering them perish over time (or perhaps if WD40 has been used on them) - this happened on my 2005 GS years ago after rain in France, the indicators either stopped working or had a mind of their own.
 
Hi,
I'm sorry for the delay on this. I only managed to get back to the bike today.

My battery voltage is as follows
13.14 whilst sat there
14.47 whilst bike is running
and went down to 10.74 whilst starting.

The strange thing is, I went to the bike today and the indicators are working. I've still got to try to figure out why though.

Thanks
 
It's most likely the indicator micro-switch inside the switch block. It sends a pulse into the canbus which does the rest by magic. :)
 
Bendy toy said:
It's most likely the indicator micro-switch inside the switch block. It sends a pulse into the canbus which does the rest by magic. :)
Click to expand...


Thanks again for your reply. By switch block do you mean the right hand switch gear ( on the bars ).

Thanks
 
I do.

The switch housing ("block" in my words) contains micro switches. They just send a pulse into the Canbus system which then sorts out what to do.
 
Crap design switchgear like a lot of other details that are far too fussy with no thought about the realities of use and ageing. For a real treat of reinventing the wheel to no net gain for anyone just look at the clutch.

But I'm not convinced WD40 is the switch killer. Ive used it ever since I started doing anything. It's never damaged rubber or plastic stuff.

I've also never left anything soaking in it to "prove" the point so there's always a chance. Nobody can prove nothing happens.
 
Thanks for all the help.

The other day when it didn't work I removed the switch and blasted it through with wd-40 but I didn't have the small torx bits to strip it completely.

When I went back to the bike days later, the indicators had started working normally. I'm not sure why but I've ordered a small torx set and I will investigate properly.

Thanks Engineer for your link to a previous thread. this is very interesting and helpful for my future strip down.
 
Bendy toy said:
Crap design switchgear like a lot of other details that are far too fussy with no thought about the realities of use and ageing. For a real treat of reinventing the wheel to no net gain for anyone just look at the clutch.

But I'm not convinced WD40 is the switch killer. Ive used it ever since I started doing anything. It's never damaged rubber or plastic stuff.

I've also never left anything soaking in it to "prove" the point so there's always a chance. Nobody can prove nothing happens.
Click to expand...

If you do an internet search you will find lots of anecdotal evidence of WD40 causing problems with plastics and rubbers. I haven't done a controlled experiment but something perished the rubbers in my switches and the only lubricant I used was WD40 - maybe the bike wash I was using at the time contributed ???
 
Just as likely the materials are not WD40 proof or the formulation has changed. It's never caused me any harm but I've not sprayed my switch gear with it. I now certainly won't be spraying them.

Moldex rockets ear plugs. They clean well with IPA alcohol. I ran out so used some spray contact cleaner. Obviously I wasnt about to use the ear plugs ;) So leave it to dry out properly and what can go wrong? The silicone ear plugs literally fell apart on contact with the cleaning spray. :eek:

But at least it killed any bugs on there.
 
I'd just like to say thank you to all those that helped me with this probem.

When I stripped the right switchgear down, like Engineer I found all the protective switch covers to be knackered.
I managed to get some acf 50 into micro switch and it seems to be working fine. I covered all the switches in Vaseline and cut the finger tips off latex gloves to make new protective covers.

Job done and hopefully will last a while.
 
I used wd40 for a while on fish processing machinery the switches were LeGrand rated at ip 67 with neoprene boots and yes wd40 softened them I took a hint from an old guy I used to disregard ( I should listen to experience) and used Vaseline it certainly seemed to stop corrosion.not sure how that would work on modern stuff.
 
I believe it is mineral oil that affects rubber, causing it to expand. According to Wikipedia WD40 is thought to contain mineral oil, less than 25%, so there is a possibility that it will affect rubber over a long period of time. I remember reading something about WD40 having caused rubber seals to fail on another forum, but unfortunately I can't find the thread at the moment, if I do I'll post a link here.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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