Replacing micro switch causes problem..help

[giusto]

Ciao,

I mentioned to my buddy Randy that my hand brake switch has been acting up....the small outside connecting tongue had broken and I did a temp fix last week with a dab of solder....so he stops buy with a brandy new micro switch before I can order one :)....thanks Randy...I installed today...plugged in the switch turned the lights on and pressed the small button and I could see working stop lights so I finished putting those pesky little screws/nuts it place and wa-la no brake lights with right hand control or with foot pedal brake.
All fuses good....darn shop manual doesn't specify which flasher may be guilty...so before I switch out (one at a time rotating in a good flasher ) I figured I'd ask....what the heck?

Any help is appreciated....Kiwi Roy you out there ?

[oldbike54]

 First thing to check is if the brake light might be staying on all of the time . Does that make sense ?

 Dusty

[rodekyll]

Flasher?

I'd double-check the wire connections and use a test light to verify functions.   Chances are you blew a fuse bumping a bare wire during the installation.

[giusto]

Flasher?

I'd double-check the wire connections and use a test light to verify functions.   Chances are you blew a fuse bumping a bare wire during the installation.

rodekyll thanks

Yes...first thing I did...took switch out re-installed...pulled every fuse...all good.

[giusto]

First thing to check is if the brake light might be staying on all of the time . Does that make sense ?

 Dusty

That may make sense...hard to tell...if so then ?

[oldbike54]

That may make sense...hard to tell...if so then ?

 Pull a lead off the new switch and see if the tail light dims . We will work from there .

 Dusty

[Rich A]

Did you check the bulb?

Rich A

[giusto]

Pull a lead off the new switch and see if the tail light dims . We will work from there .

 Dusty

Dusty...pulled the lead off switch...no...light does not dim

[John A]

Did the little steel ball escape during all the excitement ? If it's lost you can make a substitute with a nail or piece of welding rod, it doesn't have to be a spherical . It lives in a pocket and pushes on the micro switch button.

[oldbike54]

Dusty...pulled the lead off switch...no...light does not dim

 John A is onto something . Another test is to connect the two leads going to the switch and see if the brake light comes on . If not , you have a blown fuse , a bad bulb , or a broken wire .
 
 Dusty

[giusto]

Did the little steel ball escape during all the excitement ? If it's lost you can make a substitute with a nail or piece of welding rod, it doesn't have to be a spherical . It lives in a pocket and pushes on the micro switch button.

John

Yes it did...I'll put something in...maybe a bb...I'll also check the bulb

[giusto]

 John A is onto something . Another test is to connect the two leads going to the switch and see if the brake light comes on . If not , you have a blown fuse , a bad bulb , or a broken wire .
 
 Dusty

Thanks Dusty...did that....no brake light...I'll check bulb in am.

watching the TT now :)

[guzzisteve]

It is a 3/16 bearing, most hdwr stores have them.

[giusto]

Thanks...it was the new switch... NG who knew. When I peeled back the wire shields a bit and touched them I had brake lights...then it had to be switch.
I did find the berring...seems like it should have a touch of oil/white greese to keep it sliding.

[Zoom Zoom]

To start with, you said it worked until you actually bolted it into place. That alone pretty much means the trouble is confined to the switch itself, or lack of the small ball bearing that has been mentioned already.

Is this the Radio Shack replacement? If so there are three connection points on the switch. You use two of them. One set will be normally open, the other normally closed. In our application, the switch is actually engaged until you take the pressure off by pulling the lever. I **think** that means you want the switch to be "normally closed". There will be continuity through the pins when you are not pushing in on the switch.

I don't remember which two I used when I replaced one a few years ago, but a cheap meter will tell you right away. I cut off the wrong pin and had to get another switch for a friends Jackal when I ruined her new switch. That was about the time when Radio Shack went belly up. (Actually they are still in business as an online entity as still have a few stores around.) Anyway the switch is usually being engaged until you pull the brake lever. If the ball bearing is missing, it will be like having the brake on all the time.

As for the Radio Shack switch, they had become dirt cheap, 99 cents I recall, and are easily modified to suit our needs. If anybody wants, I may still have one around that I could get the numbers off of for reference.

John Henry

[giusto]

 Thanks for the reply… All great information.
 I believe I said I hooked up the switch and pushed on the button and it functioned and then after installing it did not.
 I put in a new switch… This time making sure that the little ball bearing was clean and moving and more importantly that the switch was well seated up against it and it works fine.

[oldbike54]

                                                                 Success 

 Dusty

[pehayes]

I could see working stop lights so I finished putting those pesky little screws/nuts it place and wa-la no brake lights with right hand control or with foot pedal brake.

You didn't say which bike of yours, but with a microswitch and ball I presume we are talking about the Jackal.  Please clarify.

Something is amiss here.  The front hand switch circuit and the rear pedal circuit are unrelated except that they use the same bulb.  You can disconnect and remove the hand switch and the foot switch should still be fully operational.  The front hand switch is mechanical.  The rear foot switch is activated by brake line hydraulic pressure.  At either switch, disconnecting and shorting the two wires together should activate the brake lights.

Are you now saying in your last post that it all works fine?

Does your Jackal have the original "two, round" taillight system.  If so, the lamp socket is a weak design and is notoriously troublesome and intermittent.  I can do a socket replacement for you. I've done about 40 sets by now.   Send me a PM if you want to work on them.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[i HONK]

I donated a new switch for the light, but Frank lost his ball!!!!!All is well now................ .......Randy

[rodekyll]

We still have a radio shack in town.  They sell time on the tanning bed and cell phone chargers, but they still have that bin stack of components.  I bought a few of those micro switches to use as hatch light switches/alarms.  If one of the hatches on the trike is ajar the interior light comes on as well as a warning light on the dash.  They're handy little switches!