Instrument lighting problem solved

[CaptainKcorb]

Well, my K75S riding buddy came by Tuesday (see other thread) and we've solved his problem, and probably a lot cheaper than a visit to BMW.

 

The problem turned out to be inside the instrument pod, but all the bulbs were good. We were amused by the little green sheaths around the light bulbs, but they do allow for an easy change of colour.

 

Once the pod was on the bench, and the back off, lightly running a finger down the two rows of protruding connector pins revealed that three of them were loose, and the rest firm. Carefully lifting up the rubber membrane showed that the firm ones were bonded to the mylar circuit board, and the three loose ones had come free.

 

Not wanting to take the soldering iron to the mylar unless necessary, we made some very small washers out of thin cardboard and pushed one down to the base of each of the loose pins, thinking that this would force the pins down more firmly to the mylar once all was reassembled, and restore the connections.

 

It worked. We'll see how long it lasts but I wouldn't be surprised to see it last the life of the bike given the pressure from the pod back and screw down connector cover. I have no idea what the mylar circuit costs but I don't imagine it's cheap. If this fails we'll try the soldering approach, or better, a conductive adhesive (we thought of JB Weld but didn't know if it conducts once set).

 

Another note from the repair is that the fancy nut retainer holding the 6mm fairing bolt at the left side of the tank failed, making it more than frustrating to reattach. A proper repair would be to weld the nut directly to the U shaped rubber holder, but we made do with nut and lockwasher. BMW should make this a welded assembly as it's cheaper, lighter and more durable.

 

Anyway, checking the connector pins and packing them down may solve other instrument electrical issues without expensive parts replacement so I thought some would like to know how this turned out. I wish I'd thought of taking a picture or two but that bulb turned on after all was back together.

 

Safe riding....