The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2

Technical Discussion => BMW Technical Q&A, Primarily R65 => Topic started by: Lucky_Lou on March 23, 2009, 03:15:40 PM

Title: Foggy tacho
Post by: Lucky_Lou on March 23, 2009, 03:15:40 PM

Took the bike for a short run this weekend and the tacho misted up think i will squirt  some contact cleaner too clear it unless anyone has a better idea!!!( the amount of corrosion on the o/s of the bike..n/s usa suggests it was damp where it was stored)
Lou

Title: Re: Foggy tacho
Post by: Bob_Roller on March 23, 2009, 03:39:24 PM

I would be hesitant to spray contact cleaner inside the tachometer, as it has been known to melt, and cause plastics to crumble.

I ruined a Ryobi cordless drill, by trying to clean out the motor area with contact cleaner, shot it at the end of my shift at work, and the next day when I brought it out, the plastic body just crumbled !!

I would try placing a light-bulb next to the tachometer area, and let a bit of heat dry it out.

Title: Re: Foggy tacho
Post by: nhmaf on March 23, 2009, 11:36:17 PM

We had a thread on the old board about this - I think that a common approach is to carefully drill a TINY hole (like .020" or so) near the  upper edge of the clear plastic face, like right near or just under the edge of the rubber ring that goes around the edge.   This will allow water vapor to get out while not allowing any significant amt of water in.

Some folks will pull the instrument and put it in a warm (not hot) oven or out in the south desert sun for a number of hours to dry it out, but the design is such that moisture will eventually find a way back in and the misty/foggy problem will re-occur.   I haven't drilled my faceplate yet, but may do so this year..

Another thing which has been reportedly tried by some airhead riders - and which might work though I haven't personally tried it yet either- is to put a slightly higher wattage bulb inside the gauge.   One doesn't want to get crazy with this, but a slightly higher wattage bulb may raise the temp in the gauge enough to help dry it out better while riding.  I'll try to find the info on the wattage bulbs used - I seem to think that someone reported improvements when switching from a 6W to a 10W bulb, but my memory on this isn't clear...