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1Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty A cure for speedo condensation Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:37 pm

sidecar paul

sidecar paul
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For years both my bikes had suffered with condensation in the speedo housings. I had tried sealing them completely, drilling little holes, big holes, holes covered with Goretex and the final unsuccessful attempt was to cut two, inch and a half diameter holes in the base plate, and cover them with Goretex. And they still misted up.

So, I asked myself the question 'how do we get rid of condensation in other situations?' Visors...... we open them to promote air flow. Shower rooms.........we use a fan to promote air flow. Windscreens..........others (not me!) switch on their fans to promote air flow. Get the idea?

Well, I sourced a small cooling fan from Maplin (A26GU).....25mmx 25mm x 10mm. It has three wires, red +ve, black -ve, and yellow, which is for speed control and not required in our case.

A cure for speedo condensation Ssl10610

Then I mounted it into the back plate, wiring it across one of the illumination bulbs, and added a grille to the opposite side.

A cure for speedo condensation 03410

Yes, I know my mountings are a bit elaborate, but, as mentioned above, I had two big holes to start with and I found two plastic escutcheons which seemed to be made for the job. It could be done much simpler.

And, whoopee! no more misting.

So, if you are frustrated with condensation problems, give it a try. The fan I used costs less than a fiver so it won't break the bank.

Paul.

    

2Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Mon Feb 13, 2012 6:00 pm

blaKey

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Great idea and it's a neat setup.

Would you need a filter of sorts covering the fan to keep out the dust/dirt?


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Neil
K100RS 1986 RED!

Dress for the ride and the potential slide.
    

3Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Mon Feb 13, 2012 6:13 pm

Admin

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Excellent idea Paul.

I have to check the fan on laptops (I don't remember if they are 5 or 12v). They are really tiny and move a lot of air (maybe too much).

Here is a question: are your fan turning in the same sens of rotation or they are oposite to each others?

You can push air in, pull air out or have a circulation (one in, one out).

Which way did you wire it?

CF

http://k100rt.aforumfree.com
    

4Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Mon Feb 13, 2012 7:36 pm

sidecar paul

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blakey

As the fan is drawing air from the gap between the back plate and the alloy bottom casing I've not had a problem with dirt getting in, but we don't have any deserts here, so maybe a fine filter may be needed in such conditions.

Mild panic there, CF.......a post from 'Admin'.....have I been censored or something?....affraid

Seriously though, my fan is a typical computer cooling fan and there was the option of 5v or 12v, the 5v one being only 17 x 17 x 8mm but that would require some extra circuitry.

There is only one fan, drawing air in on the right of my photograph, the air exiting through the grille on the left.

I wired it into the back of a bulb holder; the back plate, fan and bulb holder can then be easily seperated for getting at the rest of the gubbins.

Paul.


__________________________________________________
'84 K100RS (0014643) (owned since '85), 86 K100RS (0018891) with Martello sidecar (built as an outfit in '88),
'51 Vincent (since '67),'72 Montesa Cota (from new), '87 Honda RS125R NF4 (bought 2015) 
....No CARS never ever!
    

5Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Mon Feb 13, 2012 7:47 pm

88

88
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Very neat and ingenious Paul! Those escutcheon plates were made for the job - any idea what they came off?
88


__________________________________________________
A cure for speedo condensation Ir-log1188....May contain nuts!A cure for speedo condensation Ir-log11

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." - St. Augustine from 1600 years ago & still true!

K1 - 1989 - AKA Titan (unique K1/K1100RS hybrid by Andreas Esterhammer)
K1100RS - 1995. AKA Rudolf Von Schmurf (in a million bits)
K100RS - 1991 AKA Ronnie. Cafe racer project bike
K75RTP - 1994
K75C - 1991 AKA Jim Beam. In boxes. 
K1100LT 1992 - AKA Big Red (gone)
K100LT - 1988 - AKA the Bullion brick. Should never have sold it.
    

6Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Mon Feb 13, 2012 7:53 pm

sidecar paul

sidecar paul
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88 They came with the cigarette lighter sockets that I use as power output sockets on the bikes..... from Maplins.

Paul.


__________________________________________________
'84 K100RS (0014643) (owned since '85), 86 K100RS (0018891) with Martello sidecar (built as an outfit in '88),
'51 Vincent (since '67),'72 Montesa Cota (from new), '87 Honda RS125R NF4 (bought 2015) 
....No CARS never ever!
    

7Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Mon Feb 13, 2012 7:55 pm

krambo

krambo
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My previous post seems to have vanished into the ether so here it is again:

What a great idea, as a computer tech I have loads of these fans kicking around and am also troubled by the condensation issues on my K100RT - I will look into this solution at the earliest opportunity Wink


__________________________________________________
1984 BMW K100RT, 1993 BMW K1100LTIC,1982 Kawasaki KZ1100 Spectre
"Aut viam inveniam aut faciam." A cure for speedo condensation Uk-bmw12
http://www.its-personal.net
    

8Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Tue Feb 14, 2012 7:22 am

sidecar paul

sidecar paul
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As this is a 'how to do it section', I've just taken the speedo off the solo to photograph the inside, showing a bit more detail. Note that the fan needs to be inset through the back plate; otherwise there won't be enough clearance for the intake side of the fan.

A cure for speedo condensation Ssl10713

As you can see, after blakey's concern, there's no evidence of dust or dirt getting in after 3 years use. Also I,ve thought of a criteria for deciding if a filter is required; if you can write your name in the dust inside the alloy base cover, then you may need a filter.Very Happy Mine, fortunately was clear!

Paul.

    

9Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:40 am

sgmayhew

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A neat piece of Brummie engineering!!

    

10Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Tue Feb 14, 2012 9:27 am

charlie99

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nice one paul ...congrats


__________________________________________________
cheezy grin whilst riding, kinda bloke ....oh the joy !!!! ...... ( brick aviator )

'86 K100 RT..#0090401 ..."Gerty" ( Gertrude Von Clickandshift ) --------O%O
'86 k100 rs.. #######..  "Fred " (f(rame) red ) ( Fredrick leichtundschnell ) - -
bits and pieces from many kind friends across the k100 world ...with many thanks ..
1987 k100rs ########   "Red"  - (red sports rs TWB style )
1989 K100rt #009637   "Black Betty"  (naked rt ala Nigel , now sporting an rs main fairing )
    

11Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Tue Feb 14, 2012 1:25 pm

BIG D

BIG D
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Cool

What a great idea paul first class piece of work

BIG D

    

12Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Tue Feb 14, 2012 9:45 pm

krambo

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I will be looking into this idea in more detail before the summer months set in (ok, obvious joke there). It seems like a great idea and relatively easy to implement.


__________________________________________________
1984 BMW K100RT, 1993 BMW K1100LTIC,1982 Kawasaki KZ1100 Spectre
"Aut viam inveniam aut faciam." A cure for speedo condensation Uk-bmw12
http://www.its-personal.net
    

13Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Fri Feb 17, 2012 3:27 pm

K-BIKE

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Before resorting to adding forced ventilation can I suggest that trying sealing the cluster using the sealing process discussed at length in the discussion on LED's in the instrument cluster below. After doing all the mods except the odo wind back knob I still got misting. Once I sealed that with the special synthetic Tef Gel grease no more misting at all.
http://k100rt.aforumfree.com/t223-led-lights-in-the-instrument-pod-plus-sealing-out-the-moisture?highlight=instrument+cluster
Regards,
K-BIKE

    

14Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Sun Feb 19, 2012 2:15 pm

sidecar paul

sidecar paul
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Hi K-BIKE,
Yes, it's worth trying, but BMW modified the sealing at some stage, so early clocks may be more difficult to seal completely.
Another point is that when using the standard illumination bulbs, there is a minimum of 15 watts of heat build up in a confined space, so some cooling air is probably not a bad idea.
Paul.


__________________________________________________
'84 K100RS (0014643) (owned since '85), 86 K100RS (0018891) with Martello sidecar (built as an outfit in '88),
'51 Vincent (since '67),'72 Montesa Cota (from new), '87 Honda RS125R NF4 (bought 2015) 
....No CARS never ever!
    

15Back to top Go down   A cure for speedo condensation Empty Re: A cure for speedo condensation Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:38 pm

Inge K.

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sidecar paul wrote:Yes, it's worth trying, but BMW modified the sealing at some stage, so early clocks may be more difficult to seal completely.
83-85 did have 7 screws on the rear of the cluster, from -86 on 10 screws was used.

Inge K.

    

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