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Showing results for tags 'diodes'.
Found 11 results
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New Diodes in Stock TCI
JoeKanuck posted a topic in Venture and Venture Royale Tech Talk ('83 - '93)
Good day. I've been getting more and more paranoid about my TCI lately. I didn't even know it could be a problem until I started reading threads about it. After studying these two threads; http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=40414 http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43357 ...and getting some good advice, (Special thanks to Dingy and Timgray), I decided I should look inside the damned box to see what's what. Before getting into the job, I ran the bike and checked each exhaust pipe with a temperature probe to verify that all four cylinders were firing...and, good news, they were. To get the TCI apart, there are 4 phillips screws on the back cover, and 5 on the back of the board. Now here's the tricky part about getting the board out of the box; the proper way is to desolder the 14 wires from the board which lead to the connectors. I'm ok with a soldering iron but no wizard, and that board has been banged around for 25ish years and I don't know how much more abuse it could take. So I decided to try something different. I used a hacksaw and cut the box around the connectors. It was a pretty easy job and it was no problem cutting only the box and not damaging the board. That bit worked for me. If you choose to do any of this, by the way, you do so at your own risk. Anyway, the attached pics show what I found on the inside. At least 3 diodes, (the blue and tan bulbous units), were showing signs of serious disintegration. HOLY CRAPPOLA...! That sure gave me a bit of a fright. It made me thankful I tackled this bloody awful bit of mechanicking. I refused to pull the fairing off so I yanked the battery, battery box, air cleaner and air box. I also took off the lower right side fairing. This allowed me access to the TCI. I could reach the screws but they were bloody seized. Eventually, I got the left one out. The right one wouldn't budge so I just cut the tab off the box. I wasn't planning on putting the box back in its original spot so I didn't worry about it. Dingy suggested replacing the crap diodes with 1N4001 or higher diodes, so that was my quest for Sunday. The Source, by Circuit City, (formerly Radio Shack in Canada), had an assortment pack with about 20 diodes and as it turned out 10 of them happened to be of the 1N4001 variety. Less than 6 bucks later, I was off to tackle the bike. I won't go into what a frickin' pain it was to fart around inside that bike...I will just say that the cuss words are probably still echoing around that garage. Anyway, I took my time with the desoldering and soldering...(even though it may not look like it). After replacing all 8 diodes, I checked continuity with an ohm meter. One direction would show 600 ohms and the other would show nothing...perfect. I also checked continuity further down the board to make sure my soldering job actually fused to the traces. I had a couple of traces lift while soldering so that took some extra time to resolve. All of the testing seemed to indicate all was well so it was time to try it on the bike. After plugging the TCI and the rest of the bits back on the bike...SHOWTIME...! One stab of the starter and she lit right up. Fantastic. I let it run for a while and used a temp probe to verify that all cylinders were firing...which they were. I haven't taken it on the road yet...it's 4 am and I lost the will to reassemble the rest of the bike and tuck away the TCI. After much soul searching...the TCI will probably go back in its original spot...but held there with zip ties instead of those damed screws. I plan to silicone up the frankenstein-ish scar I hacked into the box, then, once I'm sure the thing is running right, seal the thing up in a bag with some desiccant. Anyway, so far, so good. I definitely feel relieved that I went through the effort. The paranoia was getting to me. Now, I feel confident that my potential TCI worries are probably in the past. One bit of extra advice; desoldering and soldering these bits can screw up your board. The diodes cost me less than 6 bucks. It would take a good electronics tech less than a half hour to do this job...an hour if he's drunk. If you aren't totally confident in your soldering abilities, take the job to a tech. It'll save you from screwing up an otherwise good TCI. Ok...it's 5am...I'll take the thing out on the road tomorrow, see how it runs and report back. -
On Sunday Doug(DBeck) stopped over to swap tci's in our bikes to see if that was his problem. It was, with mine in his bike it ran great. The problem is about a month ago my tach started to twitch and drop to 0 when below 1200 rpm. Since the bike still runs great I thought it was the tach, but with my tci while on his bike it did the same thing. So the question is will new diodes save it or is it a lost cause at this point? Also how long will it last before total failure? If the new diodes will fix it is there a member who works on them. Any and all input would be appreciated. Thanks, Ray
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I have a TCI that needs the diodes replaced. I have the diodes and was going to do it myself, but after loosing sight in my right eye, I am not comfortable trying to do it. My depth perception up close really sucks. I can open it up so you can get to both sides of the board if that will help. If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it. RandyA
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TCI electronic question
van avery posted a topic in Venture and Venture Royale Tech Talk ('83 - '93)
I pulled the TCI off my donor bike and installed it in the running bike and it ran . But not as well as the original TCI. So, I cut theTCI box and purchased the new diodes. and replaced them on the TCI from the donor bike. These were definately shot. Two of the diodes were completely disinigrated. While replacing the diodes, I noticed I also have a bad capacitor ( top of the attached picture). It's a 400V .047UF and the Radio Shack does not carry them. They do carry a 50V .047UF capacitor. Since this is a 12 VDC system will the 50V .047 uF work instead of the 400V .047uF Capacitor? Thank for any help. -
At last I took the plunge and followed the good advice offered here and replaced the diodes in the TCI unit. All I can say is that its is worth doing and easier then I thought. The bike now definitely runs better and as you will see from the photos I think I did this just in time!!! First I got ready for a long and tedious amount of work! Coffee!!!! Then I went and took skydoc's advice and soldered everything I could solder including the CMU. The rest of the images show the damaged diodes and the work I did. For anyone wondering what failing diodes look like I think I may have found the proof!! When I touched then, they just fell apart. I hope this encourages anyone thinking about this to do it. All you need is a soldering iron with a fine point and the diodes sold at The Source (Radio Shack) Item # 2761653. This is an assortment of 25 diodes and there are 10 diodes in there that will replace the old ones. (1N4001). They fit easily into the existing holes left by the old diodes. I will be looking for another one to fix and have as a spare for sure.
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By now folks who are regulars here know I'm not all that mechanically inclined. (and THAT'S an understatement!!!) I have never soldered anything more than a few wires together! All the talk about lifting traces etc has me convinced it is beyond my skill set. I am a bit paranoid about my TCI boxes going bad. I could open them up and inspect them...but if I find the diodes are swelling, are there any electrical geniuses here willing to do the soldering work for me? I'm not talking for free. Just if someone has the nerve (AND ABILITY) to take it on sometime over the winter.
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Does anyone have a dead TCI that they would donate to me. I will gladly pay shipping. I tried the diode repair to my TCI and I am uncertain of the results. I used too high a wattage solder iron to remove diodes and damaged the circuit board traces somewhat. I obtained a second one that was very corroded and tried the replacement of diodes again and they looked much better, but due to corrosion of unit I believe it is unserviceable. Any 83 to 89 units that are laying around would be appreciated. I will open any donated one up and see if the diode degradation was possibly the reason for the unit failure. I can get the replacement diodes for about $5.00 to try and repair. This is a somewhat difficult procedure to replace these diodes, but after 2 practice tries, I am getting better at it. I believe I can use a post 84 on my present 1200 engine. I have the correct vacuum line to use on the post 84 units. Also I am anticipating getting a 1300 engine in the next week or so. PM me if you can help !! Gary -
Just put a trunk light on my 2006 Venture today and works great. I found as a suggestion on earlier forum to get from autozone a WE6-197 led strip brake light. I mounted right to bottom of trunk. It was suggested to use brackets. I had some super stick 3M foam double backed tape used for heavy mounting. It seems to hold excellent since light bar is light weight. If not I will use brackets later. Did the suggestion with two diodes, one with 330 ohm resistor in line for running light and direct from lower brake light. This conversion worked well and in my opinion looks good. At $25.00 for light, diodes and resistor and tube of solder and some shrink tubing, you can't go wrong if you are on a budget and want more visibility. I am going to try and find some chrome caps for the ends where the original plastic brackets were located to dress it up some. For the money I saved, I am now going to invest in a lowering kit as next project.
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if anybody is looking for a litebar like the one i installed , i found them here , http://www.chromeglow.com/catalog.asp?prodid=561931&showprevnext it has tail , turn and brake like . what i did is run 2 diodes in the turn sigs wires than run the brake wire to the 2 diodes . Thom
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Here is a question for all the electrical engineers we have on the site. Since I am having trouble locating a trailer isolator to tow the trailer I just got with independent turn signals and brake lights at a somewhat reasonable cost, would it be possible to just hard wire individual diodes into each wire to protect the bike from shorts that could occur in the trailer? The trailer lights would still power from the original bike lighting but, would this not protect it from a back-feed situation blowing fuses on the bike? Since I have no idea what amperage standard 1156 and 1157 bulbs pull, I would need to know what diodes to use that would accommodate the 12 Volts and the amperage draw but, I don't see why it would not work. I know many have just hard wired their trailers straight but, I suppose I am the cautious type. Diodes would be cheap insurance I believe and they cost little at Radio Shack. I thought about just installing them in-line and covering with heat-shrink. Perhaps installing them into a very small project box would be better. What do you all think? Dog
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:confused24:I found some LED light strips which I want to mount on the rear of the wheel chair I have mounted on the back of the bike for my wife. Although all present lights are visible, I wanted to add these "just to help". I will simply put a plug under the truck to attach the lights into whenever we take the wheelchair along. Here is my question. I have a diagram of how to install the wiring so the strips work as running lights and brake lights, just as the Pilot LED strip under the trunk works. In the wiring diagram it calls for 2 #4003 diodes. I have been to every place I can think of and cannot find #4003's. I have #4002's and #4004's. Not knowing enough about the diodes, would either of these diodes work in place of the #4003??? If one would work, I can get at it, otherwise I am going to have to order 4003's and of course I want to get them installed BEFORE the weekend!!! Any of you folks who could help me with this, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
