Just a quick piece on the dimmer switch repair undertaken! So I could have a functioning front light on my Indian! Because you know, it’s not such a bad idea to have light! Even if not really good… 6V isn’t going to light up the sky!
To RTatW readers who don’t really care about my Indian, I’m sorry. I know, I’ve been away. really sorry.
So to the dimmer switch!
Electrical issues & power surge
When starting on the electric wiring of the Indian, it felt like we were getting really close to the end of the renovation. Although, as mentioned in my electrical work in progress piece, it also felt that we kept on getting one step forward, and two steps back.
The electrical bits were highly frustrating and not everything went smoothly. One thing that happened when we connected the dimmer switch is that, at first, it would alternate between the high and low beam, only on occasion. But then, the bike almost caught fire! We had such a short circuit that it caused the battery connection to melt in just a few seconds. Almost melt, I guess. It was scary!
Yes, we immediately installed a fuse after that!
Anyway, we had to do something about the dimmer switch. First we just removed it and let the wires hang from the handle bar, with some tape on the hot wire of course. That’s how it was when I went on my ‘real’ first glorious, amazing test drive.
The dimmer switch inside
My dad was afraid to take it apart and brake it but I confirmed we should do it anyway and see if we could repair it. Because you never know! And if we couldn’t, I would buy a new one. A new once seems to cost between 40 and 60 USD (this isn’t an affiliated link!) and I wasn’t super enthusiastic about this, but it was an option.
So my dad tried and he managed to pull the side of the switch slightly appart. Enough to insert a small hook to pull the middle board. The middle board is held in place by the 4 small dents you can see from the outside of the case. It is perfectly shaped too. Just be careful to not loose the little ball hidden behind, in the process!
And I was so glad he managed because once opened, well, you realise that inside the switch is not rocket science! Like many other parts of the bike, it’s kind of simple stupid. In a good way!
How does it works?
The current arrives in the middle (the red wire on the pictures below) and either the ball connects the middle copper plate to the right plate or the left plate ie either to the high bean, either to the low beam.
That’s it! Simple stupid isn’t it! Genius too.
So why did we have an electrical surge?
Well, I would say old age! The wires weren’t in great shape and there was no insulation. The red wire being off centered and really close to the switch case, it seems that it touched the case and created the surge. The switch got really really hot when we faced such surge. It was scary.
Repairing the dimmer switch
My dad really wanted the red cable to be in the middle so I let him fiddle with the switch. Again, worst case scenario, I would have bought a new one. And, as I have mentioned previously, you have to know which wars to fight!
Not being mean here, but to my surprise, he managed really well! It was difficult for him because his hands shake a lot nowadays and soldering little things isn’t easy.
My dad managed to recreate a little tiny copper plate with similar little arms, which he bent and inserted in the existing holes in the central board. He also managed to add a hole in the center of the board, solder a new wire to the copper plate and insert it in the hole. He replaced the other 2 wires and made them slightly longer than what was previously left of them. This was a great idea because connecting the dimmer switch to the wires already there on the bike was no piece of cake to start with. The extra length make it slightly easier.
And that’s it really. Once the central board was ready, I reinstalled the spring, the ball and the board by just clipping it back in. And then came the soldering.
Note that some new dimmer switch seems to come with the wiring done. So basically, you just have to pull the 3 wires back into the handlebar and connect to the front light and your ignition switch. When looking at the pictures of such switches, I wondered if the cables are really long enough though. The hot wire seems long enough to get to the ignition switch, but I seriously doubt the other two can reach the front light. Just something to consider. Although now I know it’s not that hard to add extra length to a wire!
The installation of the dimmer switch
So as you can see on the pictures, our dimmer switch now came with the 3 bare wires which had to be soldered onto the 3 wires coming out of the handlebar. Soldering is the only option here as there isn’t enough space to do otherwise. (I tried!)
Soldering training in progress!
But soldering isn’t my big strength! At least I thought. I had tried before with my dad’s antique and enormous soldering iron. It was a mess!
This time, my brother had brought his smaller soldering iron and just the size of it made things easier.
The other difficult part about my previous soldering experiences was my dad! He had kept his head above my shoulders, repeating instructions I had clearly understood but was failing to follow! Repeating the same thing over and over, doesn’t make it happen!
And this time started the same way! Head over my shoulder again, obviously!!
However, I immediately cut it short! I explained to my dad that I had understood the instructions but needed to train calmly. That he had been doing this for years and I had only tried a couple times. “Bon, bon…” he mumbled while going on the other side of the garage, to fiddle with whatever he could find.
And it was glorious, I connected 2 little pieces of wires with the most beautiful and clean soldered join! It took a while, but I came to understand the appropriate pressure to apply, the time required for the metal to melt, etc.
I also understood the 2 parts to be soldered couldn’t just be hanging in the air. Da!
Installing a precarious work space
Well, it was one thing to connect two wires on a flat surface, it was going to be a complete different story to solder 2 wires hanging in the air.
So, I asked my dad to find a wood plank which we laid between the Indian’s tanks and the garage workbench. We added other small wood planks at the level of the dimmer switch, until the height was right. It was a little wobbly but it had to do.
I managed to position the switch and the cables, in a position where they would lay flat on the plank. Not all at the same time but it looked manageable!
Soldering….
OK, breath, breath again… calm down… and proceeded one by one. Well 2 by 2!
Just while working on the first 2 wires, I hit my dad with the handle of the soldering iron and he understood his head was once again, way too close!!
But it worked. The soldering was clearly not as brilliantly done as the one I had done on my test, but they are ok.
One thing I should add is that, maybe I should have done this with just the central board, without the case, and reinstall the case afterward. But then again, the case was something I could hold without burning myself. So I’m not sure what would have been best.
Before starting the soldering, I had inserted heat-shrink tubes on the wires coming from the handle bar and just had to slide them in the appropriate position, ie as close as possible to the central board of the switch, and shrink them. (yes I had added insulation tape on the side of the switch two because why not!)
And voilà! Test? OK. Gently pull on the wires and screw the switch back on. Test the lights? OK! Hooray!!
In short…
Repairing a vintage Indian dimmer switch didn’t seems to me like a super difficult task. It isn’t rocket science. If you have one that isn’t working great, you really should try! Your problem might be different than the problem we had, but I really think it worth trying.
Well, this was unnecessarily stressful! But I’m glad we managed.
Indeed I repainted it in the process. The renovation goal was to bring back Minty to its original glory. Everything that was painted green in 1954, was painted green again. There is now an exception to this, as the dimmer switch, which used to be green, is now black. For some reasons, the green just didn’t look so good on the handle bar. At least, I prefer the black.
Don’t forget to install a fuse!!
