Sticking switches

[Rockred]

I changed the battery a couple of days ago, and now I can't reset the clock. I think the switch cluster on the left side is sticking, and not allowing me to complete the sequence of presses. My question is that I have 3 cans of spray, but which to use to hopefully free up the switch ( 1 ) Multi purpose silicone oil ( 2 ) Electronic contact cleaner or ( 3 ) Brake & parts cleaner ? PS the bike is a 2015 GS.

Any advise welcome......

 

[Karlos]

Any of those are fine. You’ll find the contact cleaner and the brake cleaner will ‘bleach’ the plastic of the switch gear, but it is recoverable using back to black treatments or such like.

Personally I’d use the silicone oil spray.


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[Neil W]

Mine had 2 left hand switch units and one right under warranty , they really are cheap quality tat............... non residue electronic contact cleaner is your friend

 

[Rockred]

Thanks for the reply's Karlos and Neil. I totally agree, the switches are completely cheap crap, and obviously sourced out of China as cheaply as possible. Not good enough for a supposedly premium product. Christmas cracker quality springs to mind.

 

[Karlos]

Yep, the more I read on this forum about poor quality finishes, poor suspension, switchgear, corrosion the more I’m beginning to think I should have stayed with Triumph


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[knutk]

I changed the battery a couple of days ago, and now I can't reset the clock. I think the switch cluster on the left side is sticking, and not allowing me to complete the sequence of presses. My question is that I have 3 cans of spray, but which to use to hopefully free up the switch ( 1 ) Multi purpose silicone oil ( 2 ) Electronic contact cleaner or ( 3 ) Brake & parts cleaner ? PS the bike is a 2015 GS.

Any advise welcome......

No spray will free up the switch. That is not how the newer switches are built.
If the button does not return after being pressed it may be blocked by dirt, but as for the internal switch inside the housing it is completely sealed, no liquid stuff will get to it.

If the switches does not work, replacement is the only option.

 

[knutk]

Yep, the more I read on this forum about poor quality finishes, poor suspension, switchgear, corrosion the more I’m beginning to think I should have stayed with Triumph


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Jepp, you probably should.

I remember Triumph and Norton, the pinnacle of motorcycle quality, with Lucas electrics and all.
A level of quality like nothing else

 

[Rockred]

Thanks Knurk, it may well be dirt. I keep the bike at my Spanish place, it’s down an unmade track, and in the summer it’s very dusty and the fine dust gets everywhere. I will try to blow it out first....

 

[ymfb]

No spray will free up the switch. That is not how the newer switches are built.
If the button does not return after being pressed it may be blocked by dirt, but as for the internal switch inside the housing it is completely sealed, no liquid stuff will get to it.

If the switches does not work, replacement is the only option.

Don’t know when the newer switches started to be used but my 2016 LH trip button was sticking and at the 18,000 service it was sprayed and worked fine ever since.

 

[Neil W]

No spray will free up the switch. That is not how the newer switches are built.
If the button does not return after being pressed it may be blocked by dirt, but as for the internal switch inside the housing it is completely sealed, no liquid stuff will get to it.

If the switches does not work, replacement is the only option.

The design allows grit into the rocker mechanisms meaning they stick and a cleaner will give a fix of a sort albeit temporary

 

[Engineer]

I changed the battery a couple of days ago, and now I can't reset the clock. I think the switch cluster on the left side is sticking, and not allowing me to complete the sequence of presses. My question is that I have 3 cans of spray, but which to use to hopefully free up the switch ( 1 ) Multi purpose silicone oil ( 2 ) Electronic contact cleaner or ( 3 ) Brake & parts cleaner ? PS the bike is a 2015 GS.

Any advise welcome......

Don’t use any of them, they might perish the rubber seals that keep water out of the push button switch elements -dismantle them and find the root cause.

 

[knutk]

Thanks Knurk, it may well be dirt. I keep the bike at my Spanish place, it’s down an unmade track, and in the summer it’s very dusty and the fine dust gets everywhere. I will try to blow it out first....

Here is what it looks like behind the outside shell:

This is a pre-LIN-bus switch, but the newer ones are built in the same way, except now they also include electronics for serial communication.

Just keep this in mind when you clean them. They are quite sturdy in the way that they may handle a power-washer, but if using a solvent, make sure the solvent does not do any harm to the sealing of the electronics.

The outside buttons are touching the white top of each switch. Probably the best solvent for cleaning dirt will be a mild soap, or if you have the guts, open the cover and clean out the dirt properly.

 

[luke scott]

I changed the battery a couple of days ago, and now I can't reset the clock.

Any advise welcome......

Seriously . . . . . . The irony that Rockred cant tell the correct "time" . If it helps I know a guy in Gib that used to sell watches

 

[knutk]

When it comes to setting the clock on the LC GS:
On my bike (-15 GSA), the clock follows inputs from the GPS, and sets time accordingly.

This summer I went to the northern part of Norway, through Finland. Finland have a different time-zone by one hour. As I entered Finland, my clock on the display changed to local time, and once I passed the border the clock jumped one hour to adjust for the new local time.
The internal clock that controls service time etc. needs to be set by an external device such as GS-911. This is however not the time you see in the display.

Edit:
I know that you may set the clock manually. My point is that if the switchgear otherwise is working the setting of the clock is not to worry about if the bike is equipped with the BMW GPS.

 

[sven]

I think there's two separate issues here; one is the rocker switches etc. binding against the plastic housing, the other is the quality of the microswitches.

GT85 or similar helps with the binding issue, but not a dodgy microswitch. My left hand indicator stopped working on Sunday, so I dismantled the microswitch.

There is a flimsy contact inside which is normally closed. It is opened by a "blade" inside the spring loaded actuation button which slots between the contacts.

I think the contacts must have bent slightly and the "blade" was going to one side instead of dividing them. I straightened the contacts with tweezers and carefully reassembled the switch and it all works perfectly now. The indicator switch now works much more positively than it ever has

 

[Rockred]

Seriously . . . . . . The irony that Rockred cant tell the correct "time" . If it helps I know a guy in Gib that used to sell watches

Hi Luke, I know the same guy, but he’s absolutely crap with technology....

 

[Rockred]

Now fixed...….I gave it a good blow with an air hose, and then I went though the set up again, and hey presto I have the clock back.

Thanks to all who posted....

 

[Warlord]

I read that as Wicking Stitches.

Must be the Summer Heat

 

[GWJ]

Talk to your dealer cos I was told switchgear issues are so commonplace that warranty claims outside the norm are often accepted.

 

[knutk]

Talk to your dealer cos I was told switchgear issues are so commonplace that warranty claims outside the norm are often accepted.

The introduction of the new switchgear in 2009 gave BMW quite a bit of a headache. I discussed the issue with my dealer, and by 2012 there were up to version 7.

Seems like the problem was sorted by 2014. The LIN-bus switches (as for the 1200LC) seems to be fairly problem-free.
At least, the ones I know of, the problems stopped by 2014. By then BMW had changed switchgear on my bikes 5 times.
Most of my friends driving GS are now into the LC, and none have had a switchgear problem.