Dodgy switchgear

[jtb]

complementary wash and polish now the switch gear sticking.

Oddly enough this also happened to me after the throttle was replaced last week.

 

[Nutty]

I have never washed mine it was covered in French flies,mud etc. switched gear worked perfectly. Took the bike for the 6000mile service, complementary wash and polish now the switch gear sticking.

Oddly enough this also happened to me after the throttle was replaced last week.

That's because the chap washing your bike at the dealer has 10 bikes to wash, and won't spend time drying it properly. NEVER EVER let a dealer wash your bike. Giles knows.

 

[Engineer]

I think the fact that there is a large hole where the cable goes into the switchgear can't help. All other bmw's seem to have much better ingress protection

This shouldn't matter as the individual switches should be waterproof.

 

[Engineer]

I've had no issues with switchgear but my understanding is, BMW used a method of printed tracks (seed layers which are then plated up) in the cases so the case was in fact the base layer for the PCB (I've worked in this area and it's not as mad as it seems). However they did not put down enough material to account for thermal cycling and as such the tracks break. This has been reported and images are on either the Adventure Rider or R1200gs.info sites. (Can't remember where I saw it).

As far as I can tell BM have given up on this (I'm sure I'll get corrected if, any one know's better than me), and moved back to flexi circuits.

The micro switches may still fail but the reliability should be better.

I keep meaning to check mine, may be at the week end. ....

I also note on the R1200gs.info site, some poor chap has had his rear calliper go up in flames...

I think that there might be more than one issue here - my issue was mechanical not electrical - my heated grips button stuck in the down position and required a sharp tap downwards to make it spring up again - this fault happened twice, the first time the switch unit was replaced with one of the same type but it failed again within 6 months, the info button on the left hand switch cluster had also just started to get 'sticky' too. Both clusters have been replaced, the left hand one is definitely of a new design, I understand the right hand one is also a new design - so hopefully it is all good now for a very long time.

It also seems that some people have had electrical problems - I saw the pics on the Adventure site, the old and the new both looked like flexi-circuits to me - not sure what they have done but hopefully the new design are going to be better than the old one.

 

[jonnyp]

I think that there might be more than one issue here - my issue was mechanical not electrical - my heated grips button stuck in the down position and required a sharp tap downwards to make it spring up again - this fault happened twice, the first time the switch unit was replaced with one of the same type but it failed again within 6 months, the info button on the left hand switch cluster had also just started to get 'sticky' too. Both clusters have been replaced, the left hand one is definitely of a new design, I understand the right hand one is also a new design - so hopefully it is all good now for a very long time.

It also seems that some people have had electrical problems - I saw the pics on the Adventure site, the old and the new both looked like flexi-circuits to me - not sure what they have done but hopefully the new design are going to be better than the old one.

I'm sorry to hear you've had to have these changes.

Yep, I got the impression it was more than one fault. The tracks were one but... that type of switch gear had been on the K1600 for over 2 years.

The other was the integrity of the micro switches which accounts for your mechanical defects.

Fingers crossed they will be ok now.

 

[Engineer]

I'm sorry to hear you've had to have these changes.

Yep, I got the impression it was more than one fault. The tracks were one but... that type of switch gear had been on the K1600 for over 2 years.

The other was the integrity of the micro switches which accounts for your mechanical defects.

Fingers crossed they will be ok now.

Hopefully will be - just a minor inconvenience, the bike has never ceased to proceed when called upon, the parts arrived in a matter of days and Balderston at Peterborough couldn't have been more helpful.

Having worked in electronics manufacturing for almost 40 years I am fully aware that such issues happen and can be a bit calmer about it than some people

P.S The earlier 1200s also had some switch issues - the seals covering the switch elements failed on some bikes and let water in which led to the switch being permanenently on - bit scary when you couldn't turn off the indicators - I dismantled one of the switches and the perished seals were obvious (they had fallen apart) I believe the cause was WD40 that I and others had sprayed into the switches to dispel water! A word of WARNING DO NOT USE WD40 ON THESE SWITCHES!

 

[jonnyp]

Hopefully will be - just a minor inconvenience, the bike has never ceased to proceed when called upon, the parts arrived in a matter of days and Balderston at Peterborough couldn't have been more helpful.

Having worked in electronics manufacturing for almost 40 years I am fully aware that such issues happen and can be a bit calmer about it than some people

P.S The earlier 1200s also had some switch issues - the seals covering the switch elements failed on some bikes and let water in which led to the switch being permanenently on - bit scary when you couldn't turn off the indicators - I dismantled one of the switches and the perished seals were obvious (they had fallen apart) I believe the cause was WD40 that I and others had sprayed into the switches to dispel water! A word of WARNING DO NOT USE WD40 ON THESE SWITCHES!

I'm soooooo glad I never read this forum while I had my hex head. I had the fuel sensor strip go while it was only a few weeks old, Balderstons replaced it pretty quickly then the next 3 1/2 years and 20k miles were trouble free and a joy.

If I had read posts in here, I'd have been a nervous wreck!!!!!

.......but just look what fun I've missed.

 

[Hammy]

This shouldn't matter as the individual switches should be waterproof.

That's the answer I had from BMW. It would still have been better practice to have a switch assembly that didn't allow water to build up inside. They managed it on their other bikes

I'd be interested to know the IP rating of the individual switch mechanisms that form part of the assy

 

[mcinlb]

Hopefully will be - just a minor inconvenience, the bike has never ceased to proceed when called upon, the parts arrived in a matter of days and Balderston at Peterborough couldn't have been more helpful.

Having worked in electronics manufacturing for almost 40 years I am fully aware that such issues happen and can be a bit calmer about it than some people

P.S The earlier 1200s also had some switch issues - the seals covering the switch elements failed on some bikes and let water in which led to the switch being permanenently on - bit scary when you couldn't turn off the indicators - I dismantled one of the switches and the perished seals were obvious (they had fallen apart) I believe the cause was WD40 that I and others had sprayed into the switches to dispel water! A word of WARNING DO NOT USE WD40 ON THESE SWITCHES!

I've been spraying WD40 into all switches on all bikes I've every had why should'nt I

 

[Engineer]

I've been spraying WD40 into all switches on all bikes I've every had why should'nt I

Because it might perish the very thin seals that cover some of the switches - I have not carried out an experiment but it is my suspicion that it might degrade the type of material that the seals are made from. Some further research might come up with the conclusive answer - up to you but I wouldn't risk it.

 

[Engineer]

I've been spraying WD40 into all switches on all bikes I've every had why should'nt I

Take a look at my thread from a few years ago there are a few pics of the damaged seals.

I AM NOT SAYING that the current issue is the same at all BUT I am suspicious of the effect that WD40 may have on some types of man-made rubbers - after all WD40 is petroleum based and contains hydro carbons

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?184662-Faulty-switches-water-ingress

 

[jonnyp]

Take a look at my thread from a few years ago there are a few pics of the damaged seals.

I AM NOT SAYING that the current issue is the same at all BUT I am suspicious of the effect that WD40 may have on some types of man-made rubbers - after all WD40 is petroleum based and contains hydro carbons

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?184662-Faulty-switches-water-ingress

You are a absolutely correct. WD40 will displace any water however, over time it will also remove the plasticiser from the rubber even if they are synthetic and so the rubber will in effect perish. But before that it will absorb the oil and swell probably causing damage to the switch internals.

Safest thing is..... not to use it.