Twin Lights Relay Problem

[grafty99]

I haven't started to investigate properly yet but any suggestions are most welcome.

I have a 2000MY 885i Girly. It already has dip and main beam activated for both lights, weather or not from factory i believe is irrelevant. (correct me if i'm wrong.)

This has happened a couple of times now (the problem, not the washing!). I wash the bike, let it dry in the sun and then detail it, well today I had lunch and did a bit of ebaying whilst the bike dried, so it was sitting for about 3 hours. Came back to it and noticed that the offside main beam was on very dim (sidelight brightness) and no amount of WD40 on the wiring would turn it off.

 I pulled the fuse and turned the ignition on, nothing. Dead flat. Put it on charge and pulled out the bottom relay on the nearside under the headlight cowl, after a charge both dips work and only one main (as i expected)

Took the relay apart and it was full of black/brown sludge and very corroded. I replaced the relay about 3 months ago because exactily the same had happened and I assumed it was filling with road muck and corroding so tried to seal the new one with insulating tape to stop it happeneing again but it obviously hasn't worked.

My dads 2006 has a rubber boot over all the relays on the nearside but mine hasn't. is this my problem?

As far as I am aware I replaced it with the correct relay. It was a Hella unit with a diode and standard pin configuration. The strange thing is that until this symptom everything functions as it should.

As soon as I put another relay in normailty is restored so I believe the relay is the problem, however it has both times been the same relay doing the same thing, no battery flattening and both main beams coming on.

I'm a bit stumped so anyone with a similar experience or knowledge would be excellent.

Thanking you kindly, George

[oxnsox]

The relay in itself shouldn't be the problem but it does sound like there's a bad connection somewhere that gets earthed with a bit of water.

Have you got anyway of checking the current drain when things are off???  (DC clampmeter is the ideal tool if you can access one)

Remember fault may-not be the relay or relay socket. If you're washing the bike down it could be something getting into the key-switch or Hi/Lo switch....these control the lights too.

[grafty99]

I have a multimeter, would that be sufficient?

Also, when I put a fresh relay in, no amount of water or washing will make it happen, only after a while, when the relay has filled with sludge and corroded, does the problem occur, a new relay solves the problem completley.

[iansoady]

A couple of thoughts.

1. Yes there should be a rubber boot around the relays and getting water in there won't help.

2. You may have the wrong relay. There are 2 pin layouts and both appear to work but one causes current leakage and could well be contributing to your problem. Are you getting genuine replacements (not that you need to but you do need to get the correct pin layout). I can't remember what the right one is however.

[grafty99]

Ok, so firstly I need to find a rubber boot. Secondly, yes, the relay that I just replaced was a genuine parts one. Plus if I was getting current leakage, wouldn't the battery keep going flat all the time?

George

[grafty99]

How is current leakage measured? Do I remove a terminal and put the multimeter in line with the positive/negative?

George

[iansoady]

Yes, initially with the meter on a 10 amp current setting. If no reading, progressively increase the sensitivity. You should see no more than a few milliamps.

[metalguru]

The initial problem of sludge has been caused by the relay mounted with the connectors uppermost. There isn't a drainhole in the relay casing so it will fill up with water untill the contents of the relay rust/oxidise and give up.
The relay must be mounted with the connectors facing downwards or at least in sheltered space.
It sounds like the relay shorted internally and so passed current to the lamp, due to the rot/sludge.

[grafty99]

Ok, I'll do a leakage test tomorrow and try and source a rubber boot. I'll keep you informed when I get the readings. Thanks for your help, George.

[grafty99]

I did a leakage test today, with or without the relay in it was hovering at around 35mA, is this an acceptable ammount?

George

[iansoady]

That's a bit on the high side - I would be looking for less than 10. If you have a standard type battery (12 amp hour) then it would be flat in 360 hours (15 days) or so. Do you have an alarm fitted?

[grafty99]

Ok, well, I have an alarm fitted, a factory Datatool one. I left it in service mode for current leakage tests so it didn't go off and the battery is a heavy duty one. MotoBatt I think. can't remember the Power although its definatley more than standard. It will go two weeks untouched and fire up straight away. hope that helps.

George

[iansoady]

You prompted me to go down and have a look. Mine (2004 with datatool S3) gives 5 mA going to 5.3 when the beep sounds. Yours definitely sounds high but I'm afraid finding the problem could be a long process.

[grafty99]

Ok, strange. Maybe its worth having another measure and take some pictures? I might have had the multimeter on the wrong setting. Because it will easily go 2 weeks without going flat. Thanks for having a look for me  

George

[iansoady]

You could try taking all the fuses out of the fuse box (at which point leakage should be virtually zero* depending on how the alarm is wired) then measuring current leakage as you replace them one by one. That would help you track it down.

The only way to identify this kind of problem is persistence and a methodical approach.....


*Unless it's feeding through the reg / rec.