Neutral switch and headlight revisited

[txpowdercoater]

ok, I am doing the wiring harness from scratch, its pretty easy stuff.
The only issue is wiring the neutral switch to turn the headlight on.
I have done the search and read every thread and wired as supposed to, but it only comes on in neutral and not in gear.
I would rather use the neutral switch and relay if possible instead of a headlight toggle.
heres what I did :
on relay pins
#30 and #85 to 12v.
#87A to headlight wire
#86 to neutral switch
that combo didnt work in gear, only in neutral, so I did the following:
on relay pins
#86 and #30 to 12v.
#87 to headlight
#85 to neutral switch
still only works in neutral, even w/ headlight on #87A

ideas, comments good bad or indifferent welcomed

 

[pamcopete]

Well, here is the complete thread for doing it:

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=884

Your first wring scheme should work. What wire are you using for the "headlight wire"?-

 

[txpowdercoater]

Well, here is the complete thread for doing it:

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=884

Your first wring scheme should work. What wire are you using for the "headlight wire"?-

totally new wires, 12g to the headlight.
I thought the first one would work also, the neutral switch works by grounding when in neutral or grounding when in gear? I am thinking neutral since my light comes on in neutral which I think is grounding and activating the relay.
That being said, the second wiring should work to trigger the relay when grounded and it also works only in neutral, so, how would this relay work if the "ground" is "open" when in gear?

 

[Visegrippe]

I'm not sure about which relay, but thery uisually have a "normally open" and a "normally closed" set of contacts. Sounds like you are using the normally open side. Try the other (usually 1 pin different).

Posted via Mobile

 

[pamcopete]

tx...,

I would try a new relay. Your wiring looks OK. The 87a contact is the normally closed contact so when the neutral switch provides a ground in neutral and the relay operates, the 87a contact will be opened and the headlight will go off.

 

[txpowdercoater]

tx...,

I would try a new relay. Your wiring looks OK. The 87a contact is the normally closed contact so when the neutral switch provides a ground in neutral and the relay operates, the 87a contact will be opened and the headlight will go off.

appreciate it, definately has to be a relay issue and whats even more frustrating is that I have a heavy duty one I bought for another project and never used it, still in the box and its somewhere in this creation of a mess I call a shop.

 

[txpowdercoater]

okies, put a new relay in and the light worked like it was supposed to, but now the neutral switch isnt happy anymore, must have been to much current draw through the switch.
Anybody else experience this?
even checked the switch with an ohm meter and it does go to ground, but has a lot of resistance in it, like its not completely working, do these get dirty inside and need cleaning or is it toast from the current draw of the headlight?

 

[pamcopete]

txpower,

If you wired this circuit as you described, the power for the headlight does not come from the neutral switch. The neutral switch just operates the relay. That's like, .01 Amps. Besides, the neutral switch provides a ground. The headlight gets +12 on contact #87a from contact #30 when the relay is not operated.

Listen to the relay and see if you can hear it click when in neutral.

Of course, you could have a bad neutral switch, so just try grounding the wire on the neutral switch (disconnected from the switch) and see if that causes the headlight to turn off.

 

[txpowdercoater]

txpower,

If you wired this circuit as you described, the power for the headlight does not come from the neutral switch. The neutral switch just operates the relay. That's like, .01 Amps. Besides, the neutral switch provides a ground. The headlight gets +12 on contact #87a from contact #30 when the relay is not operated.

Listen to the relay and see if you can hear it click when in neutral.

Of course, you could have a bad neutral switch, so just try grounding the wire on the neutral switch (disconnected from the switch) and see if that causes the headlight to turn off.

It does indeed work correctly when the relay itself is grounded properrly w/o grounding through the neutral switch.

 

[txpowdercoater]

UPDATE:
neutral switches can be taken out and cleaned. I flushed mine with contact cleaner and now it works perfectly.