Further reasons to check your electrical system

[TheCafeKid]

As much as I HATE, and I do mean H A T E, messing with wiring harnesses, I found yet another reason to make sure you clean and dress your connections, including the ones in your fuse block. The other evening I was helping a fellow member replace his RR, and rewire the charging system with new connections and eliminating the BS headlamp loop from the charging system. I installed the "sense" wire to the tail lamp connector and found that the RR was allowing as much as 16volts. Knowing this was no good, I consulted Steve over the phone on possible other locations to install the sense wire, as after testing we found a near 3 volt drop from the battery to there. I didn't have time to go through the whole system looking for bad connections at the moment, so for the meantime, we simply connected it to the battery. Not enough voltage seep there since the bike was ridden every day, and it kept the RR at a steady 14.5V. We decided to go through the system soon enough but this will work for now. But I was curious and started poking around with the VOM to see just how much voltage loss was happening at various points in the harness. I found a +/-3 volt loss at various points, including the main ignition feed, and the supply to the fuse block. I also found that it was most definately resistance caused, as one of the fuses was hot enough that when I grabbed the end it left a fuse end shaped BRAND in the tip of my thumb.... It hurt. And I cussed. A lot. So, the moral here is, check those electrical bits folks! Or you might get burned in more ways than one.

 

[bwringer]

Amen and dittos!

 

[posplayr]

Yes, but first line of defense is to convert your ignition circuit to being coil powered (slight mod to the coil relay mod).

Once you have that connect the Honda R/R sense wire to the relay output (another problem solved).

Doing what you can to clean the inside of your:

Ignition switch
Start switch
Fuse box

and then protecting with dielectric grease helps alot.

I have also opened up my harness to get to the infamous Red "T" which splits between R/R and battery. Soldered that crimp on connector with a few more inside the harness by the time you get to the "T"

P.S. it is not so much the voltage drop in the wire (even though it runs the length of the bike a bout 3 time) it is the corrosion in the crimp connectors or the crap bullet connections that causes voltage drops when alot of current is flowing.

 

[Steve]

... It hurt.

And I cussed.

A lot.

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Yep, he's not kidding.

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[koolaid_kid]

Amen and dittos!

Are you volunteering?

 

[Sandy]

Do the relay mod at least for the R/R and electronic ignition. Even after throughly cleaning all connnectors and switches as good as possible I still had a .5 volt drop in my system. I think that is about as good as it will ever get and probably as good or better than it came from the factory. That was still enough of a drop for R/R with the voltage sense wire to over charge even a bit. Mine was charging at about 15.2 volts max which was enough to boil the battery dry after a while, about 3,000 miles a lot of which was high speed cruising at 95F+ temps. After installing the relay mod for my R/R sense wire, Dyna and a volt meter the level in the battery has remained unchanged for an entire riding season and the max charge voltage is now around 14.7. I was going to do the coils too but decided with such a small voltage drop it wouldn't really buy me much, especially for a stock bike.

 

[GabrielGoes]

Do the relay mod at least for the R/R and electronic ignition.

is this in the stator papers? i want to know how to do this "relay mod" if anyone can direct me that would be great as i bought a new electrosport R/R and hooked it up EXACTLY as the old one was... how do you check the voltage on the R/R? sorry i am big noob i just learned how to do most mechanical things on my bike and now i have to work on my electrical side of things (HATE)

 

[posplayr]

is this in the stator papers? i want to know how to do this "relay mod" if anyone can direct me that would be great as i bought a new electrosport R/R and hooked it up EXACTLY as the old one was... how do you check the voltage on the R/R? sorry i am big noob i just learned how to do most mechanical things on my bike and now i have to work on my electrical side of things (HATE)

this is not the coil relay mod
http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=152769

 

[GabrielGoes]

that thread has LOADS of info i favorited them and am going to have to study it for a couple hours then try to take some action... thank you very much for showing me that thread

 

[duaneage]

Once a year I spray critical connectors with De-Oxit which improves conduction and helps prevent corrosion. I get almost 0 drop across major components.

Any resistance in a connector will create heat that melts the plug. Can also start fires too.

 

[posplayr]

Once a year I spray critical connectors with De-Oxit which improves conduction and helps prevent corrosion. I get almost 0 drop across major components.

Any resistance in a connector will create heat that melts the plug. Can also start fires too.

OK So the secret is out

But which one?
http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f

DeoxIT? - Contact Cleaner & Rejuvenator - Brings Old Systems Back to Life!

DeoxIT? GOLD (formerly ProGold) - Contact Conditioner & Protector - Maximizes New System Performance!

DeoxIT? SHIELD (formerly PreservIT) - Contact Protector - Maintains New System Performance in Severe Environments

 

[Dogma]

According to the product selection .pdf, regular Deoxit has the most deoxidizing/cleaning properties (whatever 20% properties means).

Where do folks get this stuff? What's a good local source? I haven't seen it at AutoZone.

 

[TheCafeKid]

I was given a tip to brush muriatic acid on the conectors, which will strip all corrosion off and actually will have a bit of a fluxing action and get the corosion that might be on the wire itself going into the connector, then dip it in water to render it innert and then use dielectric grease. This would obviously be easier with the harness out of the bike.... Think I'm gonna give it a shot over the winter.

 

[posplayr]

I was given a tip to brush muriatic acid on the conectors, which will strip all corrosion off and actually will have a bit of a fluxing action and get the corosion that might be on the wire itself going into the connector, then dip it in water to render it innert and then use dielectric grease. This would obviously be easier with the harness out of the bike.... Think I'm gonna give it a shot over the winter.

Navel jelly will also cut the corrosion as i have mentioned many times. A bit less caustic than muriatic acid. Also washes off with water.

 

[almarconi]

I was given a tip to brush muriatic acid on the conectors, which will strip all corrosion off and actually will have a bit of a fluxing action and get the corosion that might be on the wire itself going into the connector, then dip it in water to render it innert and then use dielectric grease.

First off..muriatic acid is the same as hydrochloric acid. Stuff is nasty and highly corrosive. You don't want to put that on your electrical connections. Plain water will not neutralize it, if you must use something, use a solution of baking soda and water. Use a product like DeOxit for cleaning your electrical connections and then some dielectric grease. I don't know who would have given you a tip like that but its simply bad advice.

 

[bwringer]

Agreed -- the acid dip tip is just kooky.


Any decent electronics store (Hint: Radio Shack is not a decent electronics store) should have Deoxit. I got mine at Frys.

I believe Deoxit is also well-known amongst audiophiles, so it might show up if there's a shop that installs or builds high-end sound systems or PA equipment.

Deoxit is great stuff!

 

[posplayr]

First off..muriatic acid is the same as hydrochloric acid. Stuff is nasty and highly corrosive. You don't want to put that on your electrical connections. Plain water will not neutralize it, if you must use something, use a solution of baking soda and water. Use a product like DeOxit for cleaning your electrical connections and then some dielectric grease. I don't know who would have given you a tip like that but its simply bad advice.

I have used milder acids (like Naval Jelley) to clean up corrosion and make the brass/copper bright again. It gets into and eats corrosion out of crimps , after washing I solder the crimp to keep out further corrosion.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphoric_acid

Rust removal
Phosphoric acid may be used as a "rust converter", by direct application to rusted iron, steel tools, or surfaces. The phosphoric acid converts reddish-brown iron(III) oxide (rust) to black ferric phosphate, FePO4.
"Rust converter" is sometimes a greenish liquid suitable for dipping (in the same sort of acid bath as is used for pickling metal), but it is more often formulated as a gel, commonly called naval jelly. It is sometimes sold under other names, such as "rust remover" or "rust killer". As a thick gel, it may be applied to sloping, vertical, or even overhead surfaces.

 

[almarconi]

Phosphoric acid is useful for removing rust and corrosion. It also has the benefit of leaving a phosphate coating. Its great for cleaning fuel tanks,rusty fasteners..etc. Make sure to thoroughly neutralize it after you are done using it.