ECT Mod - Question for those that have done it with a Potentiometer

[Itinifni]

Howdy all,

This being my first winter with my Valk (97 Std. w/32k on the odometer) I'm completing some maintenance and performing a few upgrades. Did all the fluids, filters, plugs, valve adj., manifold O rings, needle O rings and carb sync within weeks of getting the bike.

Now that the weather has turned cold and there's salt on the streets I can do some of the more time consuming work without feeling like I may miss a great day of riding:

Stock exhaust has been sent to MarkT

Final drive is off (splines and u-joint in great shape), cleaned up an ready to go back together. I was surprised though that when I turned the rear wheel over to inspect the other bearing (both in good shape) 4 of the 5 dampers fell out. They looked ok and when placed back in fit with zero clearance but I wouldn't say snug. The inserts could be moved slightly within the dampers.
I don't think it would have been a problem to re-use them but I went ahead and ordered replacement Interstate dampers.

Inspected shock bushings, not perfect but not bad. I didn't order replacements since I'm planning suspension and brake upgrades for next year.

Parts sitting on my bench for desmog, complete carb rebuild with I/S springs, petcock rebuild and fuel and vac hose replacement.

And last, ECT Mod with a Potentiometer which brings me to my question (sorry, I got distracted).
I picked up a couple of 10k audio taper Pots, 2 are 24mm and 2 16mm. The 16mm are in case I can't fit the 24mm in my desired mounting location. Two of each in case I ham-fist the first one.
I was not however able to find a water resistant Pot and looking at the photos in Shoptalk it does not look like a water resistant Pot was used.

My question to those that have installed a Pot with their ECT Mod (finally!) is did you use a water resistant Pot? If so, where did you find it? If not what did you do to protect it from the elements and how did it hold up?

I'm sure I can come up with a combination of di-electric grease, silicone, shrink tube and electrical tape to do a fair job of sealing the potentiometer but just curious what others have done.

Sorry for the long post...
Matt

[Dusty]

I  mounted the pot in the plastic neck cover just behind the steering head. no waterproofing done. Never any problems. Bike doesn't see much rain  but does get washed often. Been there 8 years.

 Dusty   

[pancho]

I also mounted mine on the right side neck cover. It is not a sealed pot, but I do have a fairing and it is somewhat protected, no problems for three years or so. Notice where I mounted mine,, I did not do my homework correctly and at that spot, I don't have clearance for a knob when the bars are hard right,, I just use the shaft.  Check your mounting location for clearances before deciding the mounting location.

[Itinifni]

Thanks for the responses, I'll go with one of the potentiometers I have and not worry about water intrusion. Easy enough to swap out down the road if needed.

Did you both add the diode tapped into neutral switch? I'm trying to figure out why that is needed.

I understand that with the diode the additional advance, and increase in idle RPM will not occur when in neutral (warm engine and increased advance dialed in by the potentiometer or resistor).

The issue I see when reviewing the wiring diagram is that on cold start with the diode, when in neutral the ICM will not have the correct input indicating a cold engine. Possible hard start or poor idle in neutral until warm?

Now that I'm taking a good look at the diagram it appears the pot/resistor is installed in the reference wire and not the signal wire to the ICM. Not a problem for the coolant temp sensor but that reference is shared with the Ignition Pulse Generator.

Does anyone know if the originators of this mod (Airetime, BlueValk, Subman) are active on the board, I'd love to discuss it with them.

Matt

[chnulleri]

Hi,
Why don't you write a pm? 
I discussed with bluevalk in march 2016.
He is great  and knows a lot about valks.
Give it a try!

Greetz Merrill

[Itinifni]

I sent a pm about a week ago but no response yet. Hopefully I'll hear back after the holidays.

Thanks