Ide to Fix Turn Signal Canceller

[Radioguylogs]

Many or most of us have trouble with the turn signal cancel circuit.

All four of my XS do.

The previous posts on the topic suggest the reed switch in the speedometer is the culprit.

I have been mulling an idea for the past several weeks.

I have a tool for fixing the pesky miniature Christmas light strings. The principle is that each bulb has a shorting bar to keep the string lighted if the filament in that bulb burns out. However, after a period of time, the shorting bar can get corroded, and then a single bulb can take out the whole string. The tool is a piezoelectric gun that introduces a high voltage surge to wet the corroded contacts. This tool does not always work, but it works often enough to make it worthwhile.

So, if the problem with the turn signal canceller is actually the reed switch, maybe I can rig a fixture with my Christmas light tool to clean the contact in the speedometer reed switch. Seems like a magnet would be necessary to close the switch (is it Normally Open?)

Seem like a possible solution?

[3Phase]

Yes, there is a magnet in the speedometer that works the reed switch when the front wheel is turning.

Before you try to hit the poor thing with a stunner raise the front wheel off the ground and disconnect the flasher self-cancel plug under the seat.

Put a Ohm meter on the Green/White wire and ground while someone spins the front wheel. It doesn't matter which direction, just spin the front wheel.

If you get a pulse then the reed switch isn't the problem with the self-cancel.

If there's no pulse then the speedometer isn't working, the connector in the headlight shell is dirty, or the reed switch is bad. Bummer.

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[Radioguylogs]

Thank for input...

Scott:

I appreciate your helpful troubleshooting tip.

I laughed at your colorful description of my idea!

While I have the Bagger apart, I'm going to try the measurement you suggested. The "pulse" you described is a dip to ground or a 12 Volt blip?

BTW: I have one NOS reed switch to play with.

[3Phase]

It's good to laugh while you work on stuff, this is supposed to be fun!


I goofed on the wire color too. One side of the reed switch goes to the Black system ground wire in the harness, the other side is the White/Green wire that runs to the self-cancel module under the seat.

Using the Ohm meter on the White/Green wire and ground you would see a pulse between 0 and infinity, open circuit.

Putting a powered test light to the White/Green wire would make it blink on and off as the switch closed and opened.

Trying to put 12V on it would immediately pop the fuse, destroy the reed switch or both. Don't do that.

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[Radioguylogs]

Normal or Abby-Normal?

I measured it today.

When the pulse happens, resistance goes from infinite to 83 Ohms- consistently.

[3Phase]

I measured it today.

When the pulse happens, resistance goes from infinite to 83 Ohms- consistently.

Is that with a digital or analog meter?

It shouldn't matter at all but what reading do you get when you put the meter on the White/Green wire and the Black wire in the 6-pole harness side of the Self-Cancel connector?

I'm fishing for a bad/dirty connection so I just checked the reed switch in my speedometer directly across the White/Green and Black/White wires coming out of the speedometer to its 4-pole connector.

My digital meter said it was between Infinity and ~200K Ohms while spinning the speedometer with a drill.

The meter showed only 1.2 Ohms across the White/Green and Black/White wires when I slowly turned the cable by hand until the magnet closed the switch, then stopped.

.

[Radioguylogs]

Darn- it works!

Scott:

Sorry I didn't respond.

I forget to measure the resistance between the White/Green and the Black wire before I put things back together.

However, I can report that the self-cancellation feature works perfectly on this bike.

I did clean those two connectors under the IGN coils before I put things back to together. I didn't notice them when I was cleaning the other connectors before.

My gut feeling is that cleaning those two connectors did not change my results.

I expected this self cancellation wouldn't work- same as my other 3 bikes, and actually it works great.

So, 83 Ohms is probably an acceptable reading from White/Green to ground....and therefore probably about the same between White/Green and Black.

If it's important to you, I can easily remove the seat and measure White/Green to Black! Just ask.

PS: I used a digital meter.

[3Phase]

Nah, it's not important to me, mine works!

The wiring harness is off my bike at the moment so it took all of three minutes to hook up the drill and the meter to the speedometer and the reed switch to make a quick check but I am glad the cancel works for you!

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[Radioguylogs]

One out of Four ain't Good

...on one of my 4 bikes.

Expect more on the subject in a few months when I get back to the other three bikes.

[Radioguylogs]

Measured it after all

Scott:

Had to remove the seat because the taillight stopped working- had to fuss with the connector behind the light.

The resistance between the white/green and the black wired is infinite, then goes to around 8 ohms right as the switch closes, but it keeps reducing as you the turn the wheel and it hits a minimum value of 6.2 Ohms. Then it climbs a couple of Ohms before the switch opens again.

This behavior is consistent.

I was surprised the switch had a curve instead of a clean close/open.

[3Phase]

... I was surprised the switch had a curve instead of a clean close/open.

It's most likely your meter that's consistent but I've never actually been able to test a reed switch all by itself.

The plastic piece that holds the reed switch in the speedometer is difficult to remove and so far I've broken two reed switches in dead speedometers trying to get them out. The third switch is in my working speedometer and I'm not messing with it.

I have had my good speedometer apart several time to replace broken indicator needles and to fix the odometer but it's been a good little speedometer for a while now and I haven't had to fool with it. I did check the reed switch and I think I got zero Ohms by turning the internal speedometer 'bell' with the magnet on it until the switch closed but I was just making sure I hadn't broken the switch during the repairs, not really looking for an actual resistance value so this is the first time I've checked the resistance with anything except my hands.

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