Scooter is a fairly common vehicle today, it does not require a lot of fuel, but at the same time it does not provide incredible speeds, which its two-wheeled motorcycle brothers can boast of. This is a rather specific type of transport, which not everyone will choose for themselves. But all the people who like scooters are always enthusiastic about riding them, they get a lot of pleasure, and also find them extremely practical. But at the same time, no vehicle is insured against breakdowns, including a scooter.
Malfunctions can be very diverse, but in this article we will talk about electronics, or more precisely, how to check the switch on a scooter. Naturally, if you can’t imagine what this is about, then you should not immediately take up the tools. You better calmly and carefully study how the electronics are arranged in the scooter, the difference between checking the switch on a car and a moped, as well as what you can do to check the electronics for damage and repair your vehicle. In general, before considering the question of how to check the switch on a scooter, you should understand what it generally is.
Switch and circuit device
How to check the switch on a scooter if you don’t even know what it is and where to look for it? That is why you need to start small. The first thing you need to do is find out what a switch is. In fact, everything is quite simple, since a switch is an element of an electric ignition circuit in a vehicle that generates a low-voltage pulse that is transmitted to the ignition coil. In isolation from the overall picture, the definition does not look very clear, so you should consider the device of the entire circuit.
So, the main element here is a generator that generates operating voltage in order to make the switch considered in this article work. As already mentioned above, using the energy of the generator, the switch generates an impulse for the ignition coil, but not just an impulse, namely a low voltage. In the ignition coil, in turn, a high voltage pulse is generated at a particular moment in time, which is transmitted to the candle. The candle is screwed into the cylinder head and, upon receipt of a high-voltage pulse, ignites the combustible mixture, which drives the engine. Well, now you know how the electrical circuit is arranged in the vehicle, which will allow you to better understand how to test the switch on a scooter.
Malfunction
What prompted you to study the article on how to test the switch on a 4T scooter or any other common model? Most likely, your vehicle has stopped turning on, but you don’t know what exactly could be the problem. Perhaps the ignition jams, perhaps the engine stalls. All this may have a reason in the switch, or it may not be - this is the main problem of repair. You need to determine in which particular area there is a problem in order to resolve it.
If your switch does not work or does not function in the best way, then the low voltage pulse will not be transmitted to the ignition coil - accordingly, ignition will not occur. But the problem can be in the generator, and in the coil, and even in the candle, so you need to know how to check these elements. This material focuses specifically on the switch, so attention will be paid mainly to how to test the switch on a 4T scooter and other popular models.
Switch on car and scooter
Many motorists may be surprised, because they know that checking the switch on a car is a matter of minutes. To do this, you just need to use a voltmeter, which sometimes even comes directly with the car. You just need to know where to connect, and no problems arise at all. However, in the case of a scooter, everything is a little different.
If you want to learn how to check the operation of the switch on a scooter yourself, then you should remember that you cannot achieve accurate measurements if your switch remains in the same place where it is always located. More specifically, all this will be considered a little later, now you just need to understand that checking the switch on a car and on a scooter are slightly different things, so do not think that the process will go identically. Read on, and you will learn how to test the switch on a scooter with a multimeter, just like on a car, and what are the disadvantages of this method.
Testing the switch with a tester
If you have a special testing device, that is, a tester, then you can use it on the switch, as in any case this can give certain results. You can use a simple voltmeter, you can use a more versatile multimeter, but in any case you need to remember that this part of the scooter has five outputs - to ground, to sensor, to power, to ignition coil and to off. If you have only one switch and a tester, then you can only check the zero voltage. When the arrow of the tester does not move at one of the outputs, this means that there is no voltage in it.
However, the damage is not always the result of a complete loss of voltage - sometimes it can happen that at one of the outputs it will be unstable, underestimated, and so on. And you won’t be able to find out about this if you don’t have the same switch to which measurements have already been taken, for comparison. As you understand, this is only a partial check, that is, you can use this method to figure out how to check the switch on a Yamaha scooter or on any other specific model. But if you want to conduct a full check, you will have to use more effective methods. How to check the malfunction of the switch on a scooter with maximum accuracy? To do this, you will need another working scooter.
Check on another scooter
If you are wondering how to check the switch on a Honda-Dio scooter, then in this case you will not need another Honda-Dio to complete the procedure. We will discuss the interchangeability of switches for scooters a little later, but now you need to understand that you can get accurate readings if you have another scooter available in the near future. This method is the simplest and most common.
You need to disconnect the switches on both scooters, and then connect the test item to another scooter. If everything works fine, it will mean that everything is in order with the switch, that is, the problem should be sought in some other area. Naturally, this is additional work, but the fact remains - you learned how to check the health of the switch on a scooter, you performed a check and got the result. If problems remain, then you have found it - you will need to repair or replace the switch, but this will also be written later.
At the moment, it's time to move on to another very interesting method - imitation.
Simulation stand
If you do not have a second scooter, and also there is no way to access it, then you should think about how to purchase or make a special stand for yourself that would mimic the work of your scooter. It is ideal to test the switch on a Honda scooter, as well as on any other model, and if you constantly use such a vehicle, then it is likely that you will have to use the stand more than once or twice, therefore, you should definitely invest into it.
Now it is much more convenient to purchase it and install it in your garage, so that, if necessary, you can always be able to check any part without using another scooter. But you can also do it with your own hands - only in this case you need to have very high skills and abilities in engineering, and it is also desirable to have an impressive experience in communicating with similar equipment. You should also know that such a booth has other advantages over the second scooter for control.
The difference between the stand and the second scooter
Let's say you wondered how to test the switch on a 2T scooter. You read this article and realized that simply using the tester will not give you the results you need. Therefore, you are faced with the question of whether to get a stand, or still try to find another scooter to check. Many people are inclined to the second option, since it looks much simpler and more convenient. However, you should still think about the first, as it has several significant advantages. One of the biggest lies in the depth of verification: if using the second scooter you can just check the functionality of the switch and some details of its operation, then at the stand you will have a full range of possibilities. Everything will be right before your eyes, you can use the tester on any element, set the number of revolutions you need to conduct a test at various degrees of load, and so on. You can even check the compatibility of switches with ignition coils, as well as come up with any checks and tests that your imagination will allow you.
In general, you will have a full flight of fantasy. You will get an answer to the question not only about how to check if the switch works on a scooter. You can get an answer at all to any question that will concern your vehicle. However, it’s worth mentioning right away that if you just decided to buy a scooter for a couple of years, then to transfer to a motorcycle or car, then you should not waste time and money. The stand is more suitable for those people who are confident that for many years they will ride a scooter.
Switch Repair
So, you got all the necessary information on how to identify a malfunction in the switch of your scooter. Now you can spend some time discussing how to fix this problem. The first option is repair. You may be surprised, but this is not the most common option, and now you will find out why. The thing is that the scooter switch circuit is most often filled with very durable plastic, and if you try to clean it to make repairs, then it is very likely that you will cause permanent damage. Therefore, if you still want your switch to be repaired, then you should entrust this matter to a specialist who has owned a soldering iron for several years and is engaged in similar things. However, as mentioned earlier, this method is not particularly popular, since it is very troublesome. Most scooter owners prefer to save time and nerves and immediately buy a new switch when they find out that their current one is out of order.
Switch purchase
Buying a switch is the easiest and fastest way out, since you do not waste time, effort, and the cost of this mechanism is not so great as to save a lot on it. This is really the most reasonable solution that you can think of in the situation when your switch burned out. However, again, it is very important that you check everything correctly, do not use only the tester, but carry out a full procedure for checking the switch so that it can be said with accuracy that the reason is precisely in it. Otherwise, you just spend money on a new part, but your scooter will still not function.
Switch Interchangeability
We should also talk about the interchangeability of switches for scooters, since so many people who use these vehicles are concerned about this issue. Fortunately, this question brings only positive emotions, since in most cases the switches on different models of scooters are interchangeable. This means that if one switch is damaged, you don’t have to look for the exact same one everywhere, because you can use any other that you can find.
Naturally, it cannot be said that absolutely all switches are interchangeable, there are some points that you should pay attention to. First of all, this is the presence or absence of the Hall sensor in the circuit - in some scooter models it replaces the ignition coil, and, accordingly, the switch interacting with the Hall sensor is not suitable for replacing the switch that interacted with the ignition coil. There are other restrictions - for example, the switch that is used for an engine with an excellent number of cylinders will not work for you. Fortunately, scooters almost always use engines with one cylinder, but at this point it is still worth paying attention.