Best possible relay for coil relay mod?

[GabrielGoes]

There is another issue with the coil relay mod that needs to be pointed out. Yes, giving the coils full voltage will, indeed, make the bike run better. Now that it's running better, you might enjoy riding it more, you might even stay out after dark. Then you will realize that your LIGHTS are not getting full voltage, either. Why not install the headlight relay mod, too? Oh, yeah, there is a third fuse in the panel, might as well install another relay for that one, too.

Or, ... you can install a single relay that will be triggered by the ignition key that will provide full power to the ENTIRE bike. The ignition switch is often the major culprit regarding voltage loss, so if you bypass IT, you won't need relays for all the individual stuff. Unless you add things like grip heaters, outlets for heated clothing, microwave ovens, etc.

Interesting, we'll form a relay christmas tree under and around the tank!!

[timebombprod]

wait am i really losing voltage to my headlight from having a coil relay mod? if so howmuch is it usually? i can see at night pretty well but i always wished it was a bit brighter.

[GabrielGoes]

wait am i really losing voltage to my headlight from having a coil relay mod? if so howmuch is it usually? i can see at night pretty well but i always wished it was a bit brighter.

No you are not. This can be tested with a volt meter.

[sam000lee]

I did the coil relay mod to my GS750 when I first got it in 2016 with a generic four pin relay from advanced auto or something similar. Five years and 25,000 miles later, it failed this summer, which took about a minute to diagnose when I didn't hear the relay clicking when toggling the kill switch. Took another 5 minutes to splice a couple of wires together to get home (I know this is potentially dangerous). I bought another two-pack of relays, swapped it out and now just keep the extra on the bike for when it fails in another ~2-?? years.

Funnily enough, I had a couple of those eastern beaver relays I had bought a couple of years ago since and couldn't find it in the shed when this all happened!

[GabrielGoes]

I did the coil relay mod to my GS750 when I first got it in 2016 with a generic four pin relay from advanced auto or something similar. Five years and 25,000 miles later, it failed this summer, which took about a minute to diagnose when I didn't hear the relay clicking when toggling the kill switch. Took another 5 minutes to splice a couple of wires together to get home (I know this is potentially dangerous). I bought another two-pack of relays, swapped it out and now just keep the extra on the bike for when it fails in another ~2-?? years.

Funnily enough, I had a couple of those eastern beaver relays I had bought a couple of years ago since and couldn't find it in the shed when this all happened!

Wow good data! So i am assuming it was a no name Chinese brand relay that failed?

[salty_monk]

I've only ever used no name brand from Ebay/Amazon... maybe I got lucky. It's not difficult to wire one relay to do all the circuits but you do need to put a new main fuse in the pin 30 line (20amp) & T the RR back into that line. The Orange wire then basically becomes the relay switch wire & pin 87 supplies the OW/OG/OR from memory. Easy enough to figure out with a diag.

[phydeauxmutt]

wait am i really losing voltage to my headlight from having a coil relay mod?

Hopefully you are being facetious, but I suspect you are not.

You are not losing voltage to your headlight because of your coil relay. You are losing voltage to your headlight because of the same reason you were losing voltage to your coils. The voltage to the fusebox (which feeds the coils and the lights) is often hampered by dodgy connections in and around the ignition switch.

If you turn on your reading comprehension and re-read post #15, there is nothing there that suggests that the coil relay robs voltage from the headlight. It says "your LIGHTS are not getting full voltage, either", meaning that they were not getting full voltage all along. The coil relay mod restores power to the coils, but does nothing (positive OR negative) to the lights.

The point is: rather than apply a band-aid to each circuit, just fix the main problem.

[timebombprod]

my bad must have not read it correctly.

[free99]

Just to chime in: I use Solid-state relays at my job, they're quite reliable even with all the vibration. Sand doesn't have contact points, so it just keeps kicking no matter how hostile the environment.

However, they are not forgiving; even an amp over the nameplate capacity and that's that. You'll also need to attach the relay to a flat metal surface for cooling. But, you've accounted for failure with that jumper.
Here's an example of one: <fake link removed by free99> but I'm sure you can find others. Just be sure to specify that it's a DC SSR (solid state relay), the technology within is a bit different to that of AC SSRs.

I wonder how many amps our coils actually draw at peak? Hmm..

[Grimly]

Just to chime in: I use Solid-state relays at my job, they're quite reliable even with all the vibration. Sand doesn't have contact points, so it just keeps kicking no matter how hostile the environment.

However, they are not forgiving; even an amp over the nameplate capacity and that's that. You'll also need to attach the relay to a flat metal surface for cooling. But, you've accounted for failure with that jumper.
Here's an example of one: https://www.amazon.com/SSR-100DD-Sol...dp/B07PFDJQLV/ but I'm sure you can find others. Just be sure to specify that it's a DC SSR (solid state relay), the technology within is a bit different to that of AC SSRs.

I wonder how many amps our coils actually draw at peak? Hmm..

Poor example, that one. Nearly every reviewer called it a fake.

[free99]

Yep, thanks for that. Those are the type I've used inside an oven I pulse rapidly on/off to get a particular temperature, but that link I'd pasted was a bad one for sure. D'oh.

Here's a legitimate one, rated up to 17A: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/...D1-17A/6490745