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another coil relay gone bad prematurely

  • Thread starter Thread starter don_gibb6512
  • Start date Start date
GQROD said:
Another thing to consider with the cheap relays especially from Bosch is that they are sensitive to humidity!, in my experience with Porsches these relays would go bad all the time because the humid air inside the car would condense at night, since the ventilation system on these cars was never good and this moisture created shorts which fried the plastic parts inside them.

Since these relays are not water proof they are definetly not going to last too long a motorcycle unless shielded from the elements somehow.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

That's the reason I have advocated using silicone sealant to prevent moisture from getting into the relays. My personal choice would be high temp "gasket maker" because it'll seal just like regular silicone, but will resist any heat buildup that could occur near the contacts.

If one wanted to take it a step further they could use sealant on the contacts themselves (after connecting them, of course) but that would make changing them out a royal pita - not worth it in my opinion.

Regards,
 
Being right next to the battery I very much doubt mine would ever get damp enough to create a problem... :)
 
The silicone makes a lot of sense I will have to try it when i do my coil relay mod.
 
p_s said:
The three of mine that failed were by the battery box. I tore apart all 3 and on all 3 the tiny wire connecting the coil to the terminal had broken. Vibration killed them. So I spent $100 on a new ignition switch and don't worry about it anymore. And BTW for most models (but not mine) there are cheaper aftermarket ignition switches. I think ~ $30. Might be worth a shot.
Click to expand...

My experience in failure analysis of aerospace relays is that vibration is the number 1 killer of mechanical relays. Failure mechanism is usually vibration induced mechanical miss-alignment of the armature, contact wear, fod in the contacts, and failure of the coil wires due to improper strain relief during manufacture.
BTW mine is socketed and I carry a spare. I have not hard mounted mine either. Just a tie wrap through the mounting hole.
 
Turned out not to be the relay after all. My first test was to swap it out with a good one and the bike started. I swapped it again with what I thought was the bad relay and the bike wouldn't start, so my conclusion was the relay was bad. It was coincidence. Had I tested one more time, the bike wouldn't have started. I disassembled the relay and have attached a couple of pictures. It tested fine and by the looks of it, is very well made. I now doubt that unless these are mounted directly on the engine, they are not going to be effected by heat and it would take a lot of vibration to damage these. The case was very tight and the odds of water getting in is slim to none. IMHO, the relays that are malfunctioning prematurely are most likely manufacturing defects in the relay itself. My problem was (I hope) just corroded contacts on the starter.

View attachment 4588
 
srsupertrap said:
I mounted my Parts Express relay on the Electrical Panel, I guess I better buy a Spare

EPanel.jpg
Click to expand...

Sorry for the slight hijack :-)
Curious???? Whats the switch for behind the pod filter next to the frame rail.
 
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