82 GS1100G relay mod

[salty_monk]

Losing a good 1/2 volt at the coils even after going through the whole loom so figured I’ll put in a relay.

Is there a way to break into the ORange white wire close to the battery? I can see it in the top of the connector that goes to the ignitor but assume I can’t just splice into it and put the relay connect in as it will then be being fed twice...

i wonder if if it goes into the fuse box and can be broken into or fed there...

I know posplayr did a lot of great work on this but last time I tried to understand his version of the relay mod I lost the will to live...

any thoughts?

[Brendan W]

Where is Jim's stuff?
I'd like to look at it. I reckon that if he made it a certain way that there was a good but maybe not obvious reason. You know the ones that bite you in the ass eventually.
Are you getting drops across the ign switch and or kill switch.
Half a volt would not get me out of bed in fairness.

[Steve]

Agreed, half a volt is pretty much "normal".

There are over a dozen connections/interfaces between the battery and the coils, so it's best to determine exactly where you are losing it.

To understand the concept of "interface", remember that at every connector that you see, there are THREE interfaces. One where the wire meets the metal terminal, a second where one metal terminal meets the other, the third where the second metal terminal meets its wire. Every single interface is an opportunity for corrosion, which is where voltage drops happen.

From the battery, the wire feeds the main fuse in the fuse box. At least one connector (3 interfaces) on the way. From the main fuse, power goes to the ignition switch (1 connector), through the ignition switch, back through another couple of connectors, back to the fuse box, where it goes through the ignition fuse. Back through a couple more connectors (6 interfaces) to the kill switch, then more connectors to the coils and ignitor. If you saw a mere 1/10 volt drop at each connector (not each interface), you would already be past your 1/2 volt drop.

If you take your voltmeter and check voltages on each side of every connector along the path I mentioned, you will see if you have a larger drop at one connector, you can concentrate your efforts at cleaning that connector.

Back to your question: If you take the orange/white wire that leaves the fusebox, you can cut it and re-route it to a relay. Since I have connectors and terminals, I prefer to make adapters, but you can easily cut and re-route. Take the wire from the fusebox, connect it to terminal #85 on the relay, connect terminal #86 to ground. Connect terminal #30 to the battery (through a fuse, of course) and connect terminal #87 to the other side of your initial cut wire. That will feed the ignition system directly from the battery.

.

[Nessism]

1/2 V loss is okay. It's not worth mucking with the wiring over that in my opinion.

[salty_monk]

Maybe I'll leave it be then, see how it runs first. Not sure where the voltage loss is but I have recently cleaned all the connectors & de-oxed everything whilst the loom was off the bike

[Chrisf]

Just did coil relay mod

I installed the Eastern Beaver fuse box and relay a couple of years ago and just expereinced the relay failing. (post for a new thread)

I decided that I was going to start doing the relay mods. I did the coil one yesterday and it wasn't too difficult to do. The hardest part was un-wrapping the loom where the coil connections come out and making the connection. I think it is definitely running better.

[Steve]

Any chance you measured voltage at the coils before deciding to do the mod?

With a new Eastern Beaver box, you should have had pretty much full voltage there already.

.

[Chrisf]

No, but I can since I'm taking the O/W as the trigger for the relay out of the harness. I'll try and remember to see what it is reading when I get home.

[salty_monk]

I found the losses are either through the Ignition switch or the kill switch...

[posplayr]

I found the losses are either through the Ignition switch or the kill switch...

Or fusebox.............

[Brendan W]

----or fusebox tail plug.
Cleaning the ign, kill, fusebox and tail and the coil supply plugs got me back from three or four revolution cranking to on the button first push.