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Can the ignition switch contacts be cleaned?

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I have a 0.7V drop between the (new) battery and the main switched wire coming back from the ignition switch.

The + cable from the battery goes to the starter motor relay then to the fuse box then to the ignition switch.
All these connections have been replaced or cleaned (except the ign switch).

Is there a way to clean the ignition switch internally?

Is there anything else i might have overlooked?

Thanks guys!
 
psyguy,

Just did a 1100E switch. Comes apart easily. Just make sure you go slowly, do the disassembly over a clean rag, or something similar. Two small springs under the contact plates. Go slow so you don't send them flying.

Hope you get better results than I did though. Started out with a 1 volt loss where you have your .7 volt loss. After careful cleaning of switch and switch connector...still have the same loss.

Can you imagine the combined electrical FRUSTRATIONS of all of the members of this forum.
 
Dave R said:
Two small springs under the contact plates. Go slow so you don't send them flying.
Click to expand...

If you don't know exactly when/where the springs will be flying, try taking it apart inside a plastic bag.

Have you checked the kill switch for a voltage drop?
 
I took mine apart, and I quoted myself from another thread (Note: This is after removing the one screw from the rear of the switch cover after you remove the switch assy):

I found the sense wire I had connected from the fuse box (for my Honda R/R) was (still is) a half volt less than the battery. So I took the ignition switch out to ponder the possibility of taking it apart to clean it. For those who want to indulge in this, be forwarned: like most Suzuki switches, there are springs and a ball just waiting to explode all over your shop floor!! note however, that it is very easy to figure out what goes where, once you find all the parts!. There is a total of 4 springs, one ball, 3 little copper contacts similar to what you would find in the brake switches, and a white 'cap' (it makes the 'step' when you move the key to different positions). One ball, a spring, and the plastic 'cap' go together, and the other 3 springs and copper contacts go together. All in all, it was easy to remove everything and clean it, add Di-grease and put it all back together. In my case, I still have the .5v loss, but it was pretty cruddy in the switch, and I am satisfied that no other issues will come from there.
 
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Have you checked the kill switch for a voltage drop?
Click to expand...

I never put the meter on mine, but did disassemble and clean it because it was so cruddy looking. Once again...no change.

If I ever have the "eureka moment" on this thing I think I'll die of shock.
Won't be a Suzuki shock though... too low voltage.
 
You consider bypassing all 33 feet of old wire and all three switches and do the relay mod?
 
Consider spraying electrical contact cleaner in the switches. You don't have to disassemble them, just work the switch afterwards. Unhook the battery so it doesn't cycle power on and off.

Doing the coil relay mod won't help the rest of the bike, unless you want a relay for all of it. Most of the time it's a bad crimp on a connector in a plug somewhere. It's easier to fix a bad connector pin than work around it.

The pins are available from Digikey and Newark, replacing them is actually pretty easy. I'm going to look at their inventory and find the part numbers for replacements. They even have complete connectors both male and female so a melted connector can be replaced good as new.

The wires can be soldered or crimped into the pins. Removing the pins requires only a toothpick.
 
tkent02 said:
Have you checked the kill switch for a voltage drop?
Click to expand...

not sure if you're referring to me or the other guy, but the voltage drop is before the wire comes back to the fuse box for the first time (so, not going through the kill switch, yet)

i'll have to deal with other switches further down the line
 
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duaneage said:
Consider spraying electrical contact cleaner in the switches. You don't have to disassemble them, just work the switch afterwards. Unhook the battery so it doesn't cycle power on and off.
Click to expand...

thanks, will do this first and see if it helps.

the bugger is that if i have a 0.7V drop at the main switched wire i do not have any other better place to connect the rr sense wire to, as all the other switched wires are going to have an even bigger voltage drop :eek:
 
psyguy said:
thanks, will do this first and see if it helps.

the bugger is that if i have a 0.7V drop at the main switched wire i do not have any other better place to connect the rr sense wire to, as all the other switched wires are going to have an even bigger voltage drop :eek:
Click to expand...

I wouldn't get too riled about the drop just yet. Follow the hookup diagram I sent you and see what happens. BTW it's still acceptable to have 15 volts across the battery, according to the factory manual. In my opinion anything above 16 is a problem. A weak battery might pull a higher voltage from the regulator due to increased load too.

Take these things one at a time and be practical about it. It's really not that complicated so don't make it more so. I would bypass that bad section of wire with connectors and a new orange lead for now.
 
I ran two cans of WD-40 (about a quart total) through the switch on my old GS400 before crud stopped coming out the bottom. Spray a while (straw through the key hole), work the switch back and forth for a minute, spray some more, etc. Simple, yet messy.

It improved functioning considerably, although I was young and dumb back then and didn't really know about voltage drops. All I knew was that sometimes the dang thing wouldn't send enough voltage to the coils so I could start it (kick start only).
 
Guys, don't want to divert psyguy's thread...

I posted earlier about having a similar (voltage loss) problem.

Read my thread "15v... too much output from"


Found something strange, I think.
 
psyguy said:
thanks for all your replies :)

i'll let you know how i go
Click to expand...

Ignition switch for my project bike is on the workbench but I'm a little concern about opening up the electrical switch for fear of breaking the plastic tabs on the housing. Silly concern or actual risk?

Edit: just took it apart, no worry. Switch is filled with brown grease so going to clean it out and scrub the contacts with a small stainless brush. Before reassembly a good slathering of dielectric grease is in order. I'm not surprised this design leads to some voltage loss but the good news is that the contacts are accessable and easy to clean. Trying to flush out the switch with contact cleaner is a bad idea since it will do nothing more than flush the grease out...or most likely, just smear the grease around since there is no good flush path.
 
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Do you have full battery voltage at the wire(s) going into the switch? I read your post as the difference between the + terminal and ground and the switch exit wires and ground. What is the voltage at the wires going into the switch? I wouldn't bother cleaning the switch if the votage drop occurs prior.
 
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