Test method for Norge windshield

[ITSec]

I rather suspect I need a new windshield motor for my Norge, but before I spend the dough (not a small amount), I wonder what testing might show - and how to test the motor!

It appears the unit simply uses a set of relays to send the current in one direction or another to the motor. In other words, the positive and negative feeds are reversed via the relays. If so, then the two feed wires could be connected directly to a power source to see if the motor itself is the problem. The relays have already been checked (and replaced, though that was more preventative in nature), but I haven't yet put a meter or direct current to the motor itself.

Anybody done this?

[canuguzzi]

No reason your method should not work. Maybe get the windshield to a middle position so as to avoid any stop limit switches in case it made contact with one and just got stuck there?

[ITSec]

Well, I was exactly right about the wiring at the motor - the motor can be tested by applying power directly (once removed from the bike's wiring) and reversing + and - is how the motor is reversed for direction.

The motor I've got works - but apparently the wiring doesn't. From what I can trace so far, there is either a bad ground to the relays or the windshield motor harness, or there is a supply side issue. The fuse for this is shared with other devices that still work, so now I've got to figure out where the issue is. Since it affects both switches (left/right or up/down) and the relay sockets and switches themselves have had a healthy dose of contact cleaner, I'm going to have to try to find where I've got a break in the circuit.

I'm thinking supply side first, since a test light with direct ground is finding no + power to any pin on the relay sockets, regardless of switch use, engine running, etc.

Once again any thoughts? At least I don't have to buy a motor. BTW, there was a thread somewhere that showed how someone had wired in an aviation three-pole switch to replace the separate up and down with a single return to center type, but I can't seem to locate that thread. Seems to me that gentleman might know exactly where I should be looking...

Thanks, all.

[PJPR01]

BTW, there was a thread somewhere that showed how someone had wired in an aviation three-pole switch to replace the separate up and down with a single return to center type Thanks, all.

  This would be wonderful...have to admit that the design on this one from the factory makes no sense at all, but I have to admit, with the Cal-Sci short model (tinted) I rarely adjust the windshield anymore, seems to be right in the sweet spot for me.

[ITSec]

Well, as it turns out, I do have to replace the motor - it has a weak pin connector, and the handling of removing, testing and re-installing it broke it off, flat with the insulator shield. Ah, well.

I still have to figure out that wiring issue though...

[TobyJug]

Bummer.

[TobyJug]

Have you got 12v at the switches?

[ITSec]

Have you got 12v at the switches?

In the process of finding out - but I don't think so, as neither one works and both stopped working at the same time. It's on my list as I start tracing!

Unfortunately, the available electrical diagrams don't do a good job of displaying this set of circuits, since the power shield is an option in Europe.

[TobyJug]

According to the diagram I found the power to that part of the circuit comes in on a green wire and goes to the 2 relays and the 2 switches.

[ITSec]

According to the diagram I found the power to that part of the circuit comes in on a green wire and goes to the 2 relays and the 2 switches.

Thanks - I'll be looking for it! It may take a bit, since I have a bit of that red-green color-blind problem so common in men...

[LaMojo]

Well, as it turns out, I do have to replace the motor - it has a weak pin connector, and the handling of removing, testing and re-installing it broke it off, flat with the insulator shield. Ah, well.

I still have to figure out that wiring issue though...

Rather than tossing the motor, I'd look at drilling a hole next to the broken connector and running a pigtail to the inside and connecting to the pin.   

[ITSec]

Rather than tossing the motor, I'd look at drilling a hole next to the broken connector and running a pigtail to the inside and connecting to the pin.   

I may do that to have a spare, but the manner in which the motor is assembled may make it impractical (along with the fact that the plastic is cheap, and has been exposed to the elements for 7 or 8 years). If I do it, I will try to remember to take some photos and post them here.

I may also take this whole thing apart and see whether I can find a suitable motor replacement - others have tried, but I have a few sources that might find something.

[ITSec]

Well, the fault, dear Brutus was in our selves and not our stars - or rather, the wiring from the source to the relays. About 4 inches after the connector below the headstock (from the main harness), there are a pair of crimped connections from the factory. Someone had more ambition than sense, as they simply crimped a clip around one wire (from the connector) and four wires (from the relay side) for each of power and ground. The ground side had corroded and broken away. The intermittent behavior just before failure was (in retrospect) a sign of this; the stranded wire was gradually breaking away from the crimp.

Now I don't know whether to blame the assembly guy or il ingegnere maestro, but this isn't the way I'd put together a joint like this - and it's not the way they are now.

While I was at it, I wired in a single weatherproof aircraft switch on the right side (for the windshield) and a similar one on the left for the cruise control's RES/ACC and SET/DEC functions. This was based on work earlier described on the forums, but I can update the info for those who missed it (if desired). These replace the separate buttons for screen up and down, and have the additional benefit of making it impossible to activate up and down at the same time.

[PJPR01]

That sounds great...would you mind sharing pics of that setup and a little writeup of what you did to connect the two?

I'd love to get that to be a single button instead of the 2 individual ones.

Thanks!
Paul

[Zoom Zoom]

So was this intermittent open also the source of your cruise control troubles?

John Henry

[ITSec]

So was this intermittent open also the source of your cruise control troubles?

John Henry

Nope - that's an entirely different circuit. Anything I've added to the bike (not stock) is run on an independent circuit back to the Eastern Beaver fuse and ground block under the seat. It makes isolating and fixing problems simpler, and prevents overloading on the light gauge wiring of the factory harness. That one I'm continuing to troubleshoot today...