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Old June 17th, 2013, 02:51 AM   #1
marc_previtera
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fun with cooling system, and wiring a fan switch

ok folks, - re : 1988 GPX 250

as a disclaimer against all that follows, I realise there will be many a stoopid thing I have done in this thread! but here's hoping the crew of experts on this site can guide me in the right direction!!!

ok so the story goes like this........

-Sitting in traffic at the lights
- temp is getting close to the red line
-Poof! , bike explodes into a steaming mess
- pull over the side of the raod, wait till she cools down ( and traffic dies down) and I nurse her home by keeping out of traffic, and allowing airflow to come in now that the traffic is gone.

I get my girl home, and the hose from the thermo to the engine block is blown, and I realise that I was only running water instead of coolant mix ( stoopid mistake #1)

so I replace the hose, bleed the water out, and replace with proper 50/50 coolant mix,,

Now I hook her back up, and despite it taking a LOT LOT longer to heat up ( funny how coolant makes a differnece) the damn Fan wont come on ( prob why it blew in the first place)

Now I draw my attention to the fan fan switch on the radiator, i pull the power wire off and SNAP - off comes the terminal with it! ( crap!) - stoopid mistake #2

ok, fair enuf, so I assume the fan switch wwas boken and decide that bypassing the radiator switch is a much better idea and go out and buy one of these switches with a LED light
http://www.quicksales.com.au/ad/6205...at-12v/5873888

I like it, I drill a hole and mount it on the left handside top fairing - looks cool + I tell my wife and little girl it's a turbo switch - pnly prob is that the LED isnt working on the switch

Now when I ride, the coolant seems to be so good, I barely even need to use the fan at all! I only bother with it if im really stuck in traffic, but temp guage never goes over 1/2 which is really cool!!!


Now the problem is - that worked well for day 1, but next day the fun starts - I try to start the bike and there's zero charge in the battery - couldnt even clutch start the mongrel it was that dead!!!!! ( wife isnt impressed at this point, and immediate calls to get rid of poor old betsey start to come in)

I get a jump start, put some charge in the battery, and the next time I ride to work I decide to unhook the fan whilst im at work

I get ready to go home, and hook the fan back up - hey presto - battery is fully charged, no problems at all!

So this leads me to conclude that because the fan switch wire is always hot, even with the switch is in the off position, it could be drawing amps from the battery and draining it ( am I correct?) - if so, how do I fix it?

and I forgot to mention, I've wired the switch so tha it turns on/off, but havent got the light working - do I need to get the 3rd prong on the switch to the same power source wire as the fan?
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Old June 17th, 2013, 03:54 AM   #2
ai4px
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marc_previtera View Post
o
ok, fair enuf, so I assume the fan switch wwas boken and decide that bypassing the radiator switch is a much better idea and go out and buy one of these switches with a LED light
http://www.quicksales.com.au/ad/6205...at-12v/5873888

and I forgot to mention, I've wired the switch so that it turns on/off, but havent got the light working - do I need to get the 3rd prong on the switch to the same power source wire as the fan?

Having that fan on a switch instead of automatic t-stat... Hmmm.... what happens when I borrow your bike and overheat it b/c I didn't know/forgot?? That's probably not a good idea.

The third prong goes to ground so the LED has both 12v and ground to light up. On the switch you should have 12v (switched), the fan, and a ground for the LED.
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Old June 17th, 2013, 04:16 AM   #3
marc_previtera
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cheers, ill give it a go..

do u think not having the 3rd prong grounded could be drawing ampage from the battery, and thus making it go dead?

I read somewhere that when connecting accessories to the ex 250, u need to be careful as the ampage is pretty low...
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Old June 17th, 2013, 04:45 AM   #4
ai4px
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Originally Posted by marc_previtera View Post
cheers, ill give it a go..

do u think not having the 3rd prong grounded could be drawing ampage from the battery, and thus making it go dead?

I read somewhere that when connecting accessories to the ex 250, u need to be careful as the ampage is pretty low...
No, not having the ground hooked up won't drain the battery... it just means the LED won't light up. Even if the LED did light up, it only draws 1/50 amp, and would literally take days or weeks to run down your battery.

I'm still stumped why your battery went dead if the only thing you've done is replace the thermoswitch with a panel switch. Did you leave the fan on all night?
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Old June 17th, 2013, 04:48 AM   #5
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Oh and one more thought.... I've heard that driving on the wrong side of the road will run your battery down. You haven't been driving on the left have you?
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Old June 17th, 2013, 07:03 PM   #6
FvnnyL3tt3r1ng
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The first two prongs on your switch are for 1) 12V power source and 2) The switch leg to your fan. The 3rd prong on the switch is to complete the path of the LED, which is ground/chassis.

You may have created a short somewhere when you were hooking this up. I would buy an inline fuse holder and run a fuse for your fan switch. Just use the same one it is already running (is it a 10amp????).

I think you should pull your thermo switch out and clean the head of it because that may be all it takes to restore it. If not then definitely buy a new one because this is gonna create a domino effect leading to major repairs! [See my thread(s)]

One more thing, if your switch is not weather rated then that will explain why it's not working after it sees it's first shower. Some of them hold up better than others it's just luck of the draw.

Apologies if I have burst any bubbles.
Best of luck.
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