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Carb Heater Cut-out Switch


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I know it is way too warm to be thinking about the juice the carb heaters pull if they EVER come on again, but what better time to prepare for the coming cold weather?

 

In case you don't know, the carb heaters on the RSV pull a total of 60 watts of power, and that is an awful lot when you are riding in cold weather and want to use other stuff like extra lights or heated clothing. Here is a very simple mod you can do that will let you turn off the carb heaters any time you like - typically this would only be in very cold weather after the bike has finished warming up.

 

The carb heater thermo switch is under the right battery cover, right next to the radiator overflow tank. In this picture it is the nondescript item in the rubber cover on the right side:

[attach]20088[/attach]

 

The blue item on the left side in that picture is the carb heater relay. This is a "normally closed" relay which is activated by the neutral switch. When this relay comes on in neutral, it cuts the power to the carb heaters.

 

The two black wires coming out of the thermo switch connect through bullet connections to a black/white and a black/yellow wire. It really makes no difference which one you chose, but I unplugged the black/yellow wire (it is the wire running directly to the carb heaters). You can see the new blue wires I used to connect a small toggle switch in -line. The toggle switch is mounted in the black plastic cover behind the battery on the right side, near the rear shock air valve.

[attach]20086[/attach] [attach]20087[/attach]

 

That is all there is to it! Just make sure that the switch you buy can handle 10 amps at 12 volts DC (if you can only find a switch rated at 125VAC and 250VAC, you are generally safe with a 10A @ 125VAC rating). By using bullet connectors on the new wires you can just insert the switch in the circuit without cutting any wires or making any permanent change to the bike wiring. :080402gudl_prv:

Goose

 

Optional - you can use a 12v LED (Radio Shack) as a circuit-ON indicator. If you connect it on the Thermo-switch side of your toggle switch, it will indicate when the bike wants to activate the carb heaters (meaning they may not really be on if your toggle switch is off); if you put it on the carb side of your toggle switch, it will indicate when the carb heaters are ACTUALLY on. I positioned my LED between the seat and the tank, just sticking out of the rubber tank cover. In this location, no special mount is needed, just stuff it under the ribber flap. That way I can look down to see it if I want, but it is never annoying.

Edited by V7Goose
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