79 replies to this topic

[brianhare TT Titanium Member]

INTRO:



I know this has been gone over alot....but it`s about time i put together a thread to show how i do this for people interested in repairing their own CDI on the XR650L,NX250 and 650 and also the Transalp,which all share the same type case,plugs,and potting material.....and also the same problem.....bad solder joints.....

What brought me into this a few years back is i had a rideabilty problem with my XRL,it would stall once a month for no reason,then it became a weekly thing...but would instantly restart.Then close to the end of fall of 08 it would quit,and not restart for hours,so i did some looking and found that others had this problem and it was CDI related.......

Being an auto tech i also knew Honda has this problem on their DRL (daytime running light) module....the DRL module is easily repaired,the board just slides out of a plastic case and the solder joints easily repaired and put back into service.....

So i decided to tear into the CDI,i had nothing to lose,it was junk anyway,i found the same issues,bad solder joints,i repaired them and the CDI is still running after 2 years or better...

I`ve been repairing these for members here and ADVrider ever since for free.Lately people have shown interest in doing it themselves,which is great since it saves me work:thumbsup:

So i`m going to put my procedure in here,so others can tell if the CDI is the problem,repair it themselves,and i can drink beer instead of fixing these every weekend:moon:


I`LL BE ADDING TO THIS THREAD FOR DAYS,I`M LAZY:smirk:

B

Edited by brianhare, 11 May 2011 - 02:21 PM.

[brianhare TT Titanium Member]

OK......so you are riding your wonderfull bike down a trail in the middle of nowhere and it decides to take a nap/quit:lol:

So you get off the bike and start swearing and are about to kick the crap out of it:thumbsup:

Well hold on,save that energy.......if you are gonna kick the crap out of it aim for the battery box at least:lol:




The CDI is in the battery box at the end past the battery........take a screwdriver.....and rap all over the back of the CDI case sharply....now see if the bugger starts.....if it does you found the offending problem and might just get home now....

Anytime you have a stalling/no start on these bikes take a screwdriver with you..if you can get it to quit and restart after rappin on it you just saved a pile of time diagnosing this problem......

I have repaired CDI`s on the XRL as new as 08 and as low of a mileage as under 5k.......so don`t think you are safe if you have a low mileage or newer bike........


Now.......go buy yourself a new CDI...and read on to repair the old one as a spare........

If........you rap on the back and it doesn`t start.......and ends up still being the CDI that`s the problem,,,,,your chances of repair go down slightly,about a 70% chance that it`s repairable...

Out of all the CDI`s i`ve repaired,i`ve had three duffers that went in the trash......unpotting and replacing components on the front side of the board is not worth the hassle when a new one is only 150 buckers or so...


B

Edited by brianhare, 08 May 2011 - 08:34 AM.

[brianhare TT Titanium Member]

Everyone likes tools,perfect excuse to buy a bunch:thumbsup:

If the wife complains about this,well,tell here a new CDI is 200 bucks and that repairing this CDI will save money.......that`ll shut her up:lol:

And look at it this way,this is gonna take time and the slower you work,the better the results....you`ll save 150+ bucks.......so you can go out and buy that ammount in beer and tools and still break even:thumbsup:

Here`s what i use....you do whatever you like:moon:


The oversized Dremel.....i have 3 of these:smirk:


Here`s the blade.......this sawtooth blade will cut through the case without burning badly and is thin......the thinner the better as we`ll be reusing the case bottom and if alot of material is cut away the case bottom will not fit tight and look decent........




Screwdrivers.......one medium  and one small flatblade..I`m not using Snap-On screwdrivers here.....somethin cheap you don`t like is prefered:smirk:



Utility knife or sharp knife of some sort



Solder paste/flux


Desolder braid/solder sucker  and side cutters


Solder.....i bought this 2.5kilo spool at a yardsale for 10 bucks or so.....i shudder at the thought of buying one now with the price of solder:smirk:



Soldering iron........don`t get the big kick A$$  400 watt iron out.....this one i have is plenty hot,maybe too hot......





Clear off a place to work,or use your bike stand:smirk: if you`re lazy.....and get a lighted magnifier or magnifying glass....



B

Edited by brianhare, 08 May 2011 - 10:45 AM.

[brianhare TT Titanium Member]

OK......let`s start rippin into this.......

You need to cut the bottom off the case.......just above or partway through the radius bend on the side of the case.....measure the case thickness near the top.....and then transfer that measurement with a line all the way arround the bottom side of the case if you like........but i find if you cut almost exactly at the top of the radius you`ll be good to go......

Only cut in as deep as the case is thick,the main board is right there,you will feel the cutter "go through" the inside of the case...you can also take an appropriate sized washer and place it in front of the cutter so as to act as a stopper....the blade will cut in and the washer hits stopping you from cutting in to far........

I freehand cut this off.......and am getting rather good at it too:moon: screwit we are goin in:lol:


First things first........scribe lines on the outside as shown,,,,this makes it so you can put the cover back on in the same way it was cut off,fits better this way:smirk:



Now cut arround the case as close to the radius as shown below and just in as far as the case is thick..



As you can see the proper cutter leaves a nice line,very little burning..


Now slide the thin blade screwdriver in just a little.........the trick here is to pry outwards really slowly........the potting sticks pretty good to the bottom,and if you apply outwards pressure and WAIT.........it`ll slow release without breaking the case:smirk:




Now slide the bigger screwdriver in ,now that you have room for it and slow pry outwards all the way arround the case........take your time.....it won`t break if you go slow...









B

Edited by brianhare, 08 May 2011 - 11:26 AM.

[brianhare TT Titanium Member]

Now that the back is off,you see the black potting material you have to deal with:moon:

Take a utility knife and cut in as deep as the potting is thick arround the outside edge right against the case....this helps break the bond to the case and gives you a starting point to enter under the stuff..


Now slide the thin screwdriver,or better yet a thin sharp plastic blade of some sort,,,,,,,,in under the potting till you feel it hit a solder joint,then back the blade up a little and pry up slowly........keep sliding in and prying up while pulling the potting material up so you can see where/what you are doing..........go SLOW....if you pry up on the bent over leg of a component you`ll lift it off the board and you`ll be pissed off.......








Now that you have that crap done.......have a beer:thumbsup:


Then take your utility knife and scrape the outter edge of the case and bottom cover to get rid of loose bits and also to radius the edges..




B

Edited by brianhare, 08 May 2011 - 10:29 AM.

[brianhare TT Titanium Member]

Get out the desolder braid and desolder the board.it takes time.but the reason is simple,the rubber material is embedded under the bent legs of the components,and when just resoldering the board i`ve found early on it will interfere with properly soldering each contact,i`ve had it cause bad enough contacts that the CDI will not function...


Here`s a pic of the board desoldered...



Here`s what you`ll find under magnification........you can see the bad solder joints easily when you know what you are looking for....











I`m not going to show soldering and desolder procedures......pics wouldn`t show much there,,if you don`t know how to solder/desolder then search the net,
it`s not hard........

But i will add her that you need to touch the component first with the iron then apply the solder,and work quickly,if you go to slow gassing is a problem
and you`ll see bubbles in the solder....which is no good.so after completely resoldering the board,go over it with a magnifier and look at each joint and fix as necessary......

B

Edited by brianhare, 08 May 2011 - 11:15 AM.

[brianhare TT Titanium Member]

Now that you`ve resoldered the board,it`s time to test it.....plug it in the bike with the key off.......then after you turn the key on stay away from the bugger....if you start it and touch the board you are in for a nasty shock......DAMHIK....but it`s not really pleasant:banghead:






If it runs here,you are probably safe to seal it up.....but if you wrapped it in a few open ziplock baggies and went for a ride it would be best,but make sure it can`t rub through the bags and ground out on something,i just seal them up at this point........

So here`s the silicone i use,i`ve removed it from the board of 2 CDI`s after 2 years with no acid eating issues....hard to get off,put does not affect the board or solder one bit..



And here is the cover back on,siliconed,and drying.........i`ll post the final pic tomorrow..



edit: Here`s the finished CDI....cleaned up and silicone dry.works perfectly......





B

Edited by brianhare, 09 May 2011 - 02:01 PM.

[SpudRider TT Silver Member]

Thank you for posting this superb thread, Brian!   This tutorial is clearly the definitive work on this subject, and should be archived as a sticky for easy, future reference.   I stumbled through my recent CDI repair.   The repair was successful, but I know I would have done a better job, in much less time, if I had read your superb tutuorial before I tackled the job.  

Spud

[eeore39648 TT Member]

:worthy:Nice instructions.
I am about to go for a ride, after repairing my CDI.
Thanks for taking the time to write this up!!!

[brianhare TT Titanium Member]

Your welcome guys.....i always meant to get this done,just neded a push to get off my butt........now at least i can point to 1 thread instead of looking back over 2 years of posting bits of info when asked..

B

[jjast TT Silver Member]

When De-soldering the board are you De-soldering the items circled in red in this picture or just the soldering points with the metal shafts sticking through? It is kind of hard to tell from your De-soldered picture.

[Horri TT Titanium Member]

Lovely work Brian..Full on "gadget" man you are..Thanks for the complete tutorial..

[brianhare TT Titanium Member]

jjast said:

When De-soldering the board are you De-soldering the items circled in red in this picture or just the soldering points with the metal shafts sticking through? It is kind of hard to tell from your De-soldered picture.

That particular board is from the NX250........those components and solder points do not exist on the XRL......but yes i desoldered/resoldered ALL the points on the board...

You CAN look under magnification and just retouch the bad ones.......i take the "do it right,or don`t do it approach now.....YMMV......

B

Edited by brianhare, 11 May 2011 - 02:38 PM.

[SpudRider TT Silver Member]

Congratulations for having this post receive "sticky" certification, Brian.   I intend to refer to this post often, and I am glad I won't have to search for it in the future!

Spud

[brianhare TT Titanium Member]

Real timesaver for me too..really sweet:thumbsup:

Thanks Rich........

B

[ThumpNRed TT Addict]

Well done. First beer's on me!

[martinfan30]

Only one?

[BIKEMONSTER TT Member]

Thanks so much for posting this Brian.

Quote

And look at it this way,this is gonna take time and the slower you work,the better the results....you`ll save 150+ bucks.......so you can go out and buy that ammount in beer and tools and still break even

I like the way you think on this one!

My 2000 XR650L refused to start for the first time in 17,500 miles day before yesterday for the reason of no spark, zero, zip, nothing. So after reading your post, I simply removed the CDI and lightly tapped it on the back a few times with a ratchet handle. This resulted in a nice fat spark from the plug, amazing! This priceless scap of information is something everyone should know because it could really save someones hide in the back-country. It also saved me valuable time in troubleshooting, thanks again.

New CDI ordered and refurbishment of old unit for spare to begin...

[brianhare TT Titanium Member]

martinfan30 said:

Only one?

Here we go on a drinkin binge again:bonk:

Get that GO-PRO on..........i want a vid of your next race:smirk:

B

Edited by brianhare, 09 May 2011 - 02:06 PM.

[brianhare TT Titanium Member]

BIKEMONSTER said:

Thanks so much for posting this Brian.



I like the way you think on this one!

My 2000 XR650L refused to start for the first time in 17,500 miles day before yesterday for the reason of no spark, zero, zip, nothing. So after reading your post, I simply removed the CDI and lightly tapped it on the back a few times with a ratchet handle. This resulted in a nice fat spark from the plug, amazing! This priceless scap of information is something everyone should know because it could really save someones hide in the back-country. It also saved me valuable time in troubleshooting, thanks again.

New CDI ordered and refurbishment of old unit for spare to begin...

Excellent,this is what i was going for.Helping people diagnose these easily,save a person time..if they want to fix it themselfs that`s great....and i know where the thread will be thanks to Martinfan(thanks again Rich).....

Edited by brianhare, 09 May 2011 - 02:06 PM.