| The seat heater in my 2003 K1200GT quit
working so I removed it before sending the seat away
for a custom re-build. I thought I might be able to repair the element
and put it in my K75 for those cold commute days... Examination of the heater suggested the problem was the wires that connected the rear seat part of the element with the front seat part. So I cut off the rear part - I didn't need it anyway for my K75. This left four open "wires" at the rear of the front part that had connected to the rear seat part of the element. I needed to bridge these to complete the two circuits on the front seat part of the heater. The heating element is actually 2 elements. The element that comes on on both low and high heat settings is a fiber yarn and appears to be carbon fiber. It didn't take solder, so I connected those using a small aluminum clamp. The element that comes on only on the high setting is a small insulated wire and I was able to solder those connections (below). Both elements now get nice and warm. |
| My concern has to do with the way I connected the fiber yarn element. When left on for several hours the connection (at least the aluminum clamp) got warm enough to melt the black insulation on the wire connection that was laying next to ite problem. Also, the fiber element itself seems to be getting hot enough to discolor the foam insulation for an inch or so to the right of the connection (see connection on the right below). I'm concerned about this since the problems on the rear seat heater seemed to come from the element getting too hot - the foam insulation had turned brown in several places and the fiber yarn had become stiff. |
| So, here's my question: can the ends of the fiber yarn be connected in such a way that the element will continue to function properly? If so, what method should I use? |
|
The saga of the entombed dowel Over the weekend of April 11-13, 2009, I created a crisis of sorts when I broke off the end of a wooden dowel inside the cylinder of my 2001 L1200LT while doing a valve adjust. I would not have been able to extract it without the suggestions and advice of my friends on the BMW-Tech listserv, particularly their gentle nudging to be patient and confident I would eventually get it out. (See "foreign object" thread on the BMWTech list at IBMWR.ORG) |
| The
photo shows the piece that was inside the cylinder. I was finally
successful in getting the piece out by using the red wire to locate the
piece and move it from the edge of the cylinder to the center where I
could see it through the spark plug hole. I was then able to snag it
with the mechanic's grabber and with repeated gentle tugging the piece
turned around inside the claws of the grabber to where I was able to
pull it through the hole. I had to lay the LT over on it's side to angle
the cylinder partially upright so I could maneuver the piece to where I
could grab it. The red wire was necessary because the spark plug hole
was small in diameter and fairly deep such that a straight tool wasn't
able to reach the edge of the cylinder wall, even with the piston at
bottom dead center. Main lesson learned: be creative, patient, persistent and confident... |
