Eisbein
Bachelor Dog
One of the things that have been known to go on the 1200's is the 'flappy paddle' indicator switches.
A while ago mine started to miss a switch every now and then, but a little bit of a 'wikkel' always got it working again.
Then two days ago it actually worked for the last time.
No amount of what I tried could get it working again.
So I did some reading and found out that a lot of people are actually kinda scared at looking on the inside of what is the control surface end for the CANBUS system.
I figured - 'Hey, it's broken anyway, right ? So worst that can happen is that it can stay broken'.
So there I went with my torx kit and some happy thoughts.
After figuring out how to get the switch cluster loosened and removed from the bars I opened it up and found a couple of cool looking switches, but all sealed with resin, so that snuffed my hope of trying to squeeze a little more life out of the switches by cleaning the contacts and fiddling around.
I cut the wires on the offending one and then plugged the switches back into the loom on the bike to confirm that if I short the two bare wires the indicator will come on. When it did I had hope of being able to salvage this.
Then I put a multimeter to the other switches and confirmed that they are all rather ordinary working momentary 'push to make' switches, so I started looking round the house to try and find a donor.
I have an old 'delay' stomp box that doesn't work anymore so I opened that up, but the micro switch was PC-board surface mounted, so it would require a bit of fancy footwork to recycle that.
Then I remembered an old PC that I threw away a couple of months ago - I only kept the front face as I thought the LEDs were pretty and the microswitches might come in handy some day.
Who would have thunk that I would actually get a use on the bike for it.
When I took the 'reset' switch out of the PC face I found that it was almost the same hight as the original.
BMW OEM left, iSwitch on the right
The disassembled control cluster:
I put a dab of hotglue at the bottom (flattening it with a wet screw head) to raise the switch ever so slightly and then used matchsticks (yeah I know I know) to wedge the square microswitch into position.
I lined up the 'contact area' at the back of the paddle to make sure that it would indeed push down on the top of the switch (the switch's contact area is way smaller than the original, so this is the only time that I fitted and removed the paddle a couple of times to make sure).
When the position was set properly I dropped another dab of hotglue in the spaces between the matches to make sure it stays where it should.
I took the multimeter to it again and when I pushed the paddle the switch engaged with a positive 'click' and the multimeter sounded its tone.
The switch in position with the dab of hotglue visible and the 'cancel' switch just above
Then I fired up the soldering iron and attached the wires to the ground (a little bare solid core wire that runs in and out of all the switches) and the 'live'.
I unfortunately didn't have small enough heatshrink, so I worked a small bit of electrical tape over the joint and routed that with a small screwdriver to be out of the way of the inside cover's mounting holes.
The centre reassembled
Then came the final test.
When I put it back onto the bike and plugged everything in this is what I ended up with:
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
I tested all the other switches (indicator cancel, cut out and starter) and they all worked as expected.
The resistance on the paddle is now a little softer and I can hear (and feel) the micro switch 'click', but it works perfectly and I am sure I have saved myself a substantial expense (I can't imagine a new cluster be less than 2 clicks on that big red knob at the dealer).
I am not sure how long it will last, but if there's an issue with dust and water I can always open it up again and cover it all in silicone.
For now I'm chuffed that I managed to get it sorted without too much drama and the cost of one match, a reset switch from an old PC and a two drops of hotglue.
A while ago mine started to miss a switch every now and then, but a little bit of a 'wikkel' always got it working again.
Then two days ago it actually worked for the last time.
No amount of what I tried could get it working again.
So I did some reading and found out that a lot of people are actually kinda scared at looking on the inside of what is the control surface end for the CANBUS system.
I figured - 'Hey, it's broken anyway, right ? So worst that can happen is that it can stay broken'.
So there I went with my torx kit and some happy thoughts.
After figuring out how to get the switch cluster loosened and removed from the bars I opened it up and found a couple of cool looking switches, but all sealed with resin, so that snuffed my hope of trying to squeeze a little more life out of the switches by cleaning the contacts and fiddling around.
I cut the wires on the offending one and then plugged the switches back into the loom on the bike to confirm that if I short the two bare wires the indicator will come on. When it did I had hope of being able to salvage this.
Then I put a multimeter to the other switches and confirmed that they are all rather ordinary working momentary 'push to make' switches, so I started looking round the house to try and find a donor.
I have an old 'delay' stomp box that doesn't work anymore so I opened that up, but the micro switch was PC-board surface mounted, so it would require a bit of fancy footwork to recycle that.
Then I remembered an old PC that I threw away a couple of months ago - I only kept the front face as I thought the LEDs were pretty and the microswitches might come in handy some day.
Who would have thunk that I would actually get a use on the bike for it.
When I took the 'reset' switch out of the PC face I found that it was almost the same hight as the original.
BMW OEM left, iSwitch on the right
The disassembled control cluster:
I put a dab of hotglue at the bottom (flattening it with a wet screw head) to raise the switch ever so slightly and then used matchsticks (yeah I know I know) to wedge the square microswitch into position.
I lined up the 'contact area' at the back of the paddle to make sure that it would indeed push down on the top of the switch (the switch's contact area is way smaller than the original, so this is the only time that I fitted and removed the paddle a couple of times to make sure).
When the position was set properly I dropped another dab of hotglue in the spaces between the matches to make sure it stays where it should.
I took the multimeter to it again and when I pushed the paddle the switch engaged with a positive 'click' and the multimeter sounded its tone.
The switch in position with the dab of hotglue visible and the 'cancel' switch just above
Then I fired up the soldering iron and attached the wires to the ground (a little bare solid core wire that runs in and out of all the switches) and the 'live'.
I unfortunately didn't have small enough heatshrink, so I worked a small bit of electrical tape over the joint and routed that with a small screwdriver to be out of the way of the inside cover's mounting holes.
The centre reassembled
Then came the final test.
When I put it back onto the bike and plugged everything in this is what I ended up with:
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
I tested all the other switches (indicator cancel, cut out and starter) and they all worked as expected.
The resistance on the paddle is now a little softer and I can hear (and feel) the micro switch 'click', but it works perfectly and I am sure I have saved myself a substantial expense (I can't imagine a new cluster be less than 2 clicks on that big red knob at the dealer).
I am not sure how long it will last, but if there's an issue with dust and water I can always open it up again and cover it all in silicone.
For now I'm chuffed that I managed to get it sorted without too much drama and the cost of one match, a reset switch from an old PC and a two drops of hotglue.
