The interesting effect of a stock horn and a zeeltronic

[m in sc]

So, on the 72 R5 I have an MZB/Vape cdi from economy, its great. I also have a zeeltronic ignition curve programmer. The bike runs fantastic. Wiring is still stock and in very good shape. This includes the factory horn.

So, whats interesting is that even with a good battery and the vape, the horn will draw enough current to affect the zeel box. the 1st time i hit the horn at speed the bike didn't die but stuttered, badly. tried it with headlight off, on, etc, didn't seem to matter.

so, last weekend i took the tank & headlight off and checked all wiring. everything was top notch and working well, but i'm pretty sure the draw from the horn was dropping the line voltage down enough to cause this. aside from possibly running a horn relay... or a horn with less draw, i think its just the way it is. TBH, i never ran a horn on any of the bikes i had a zeel on before aside from the S2, and i don't remember if i ever tried it on that.

Just something to be aware of if you are running this setup. and, its just funky. 

[retaRD]

Mine has been doing this for years.  My wiring is good, but I figured maybe I did screw something up, but it's the horn so I wasn't sweating it.
The first time I found out, it was on the gap, exiting a turn, beeping at a buddy shooting photos.. it was like I hit the kill switch cranked over mid turn under power.  Scared the shit out of me.

So I'm glad to hear I'm not alone with this weird issue.

[soonerbillz]

Never using or working on the set up stated.. I'm quessing the ignition and Zeeland programmer are getting power via the vape charging system.
That said it would seem the horn is drawing amps and voltage from the vape supply. Maybe modifying the horn circuit to draw isolated power directly from the battery thus eliminating power disruption to the Zeeland.
I could be wrong on all these assumptions though.

[rodneya]

I used to have a vape that came with the curve box, but I never noticed  if it was affected as i dont think I have ever hit the horn button except for straight after rewiring a bike. They always sound so goofy.

[m in sc]

the zeel is a 'piggyback' that gets its power from a switched battery source. As a matter of fact, my zeel box is powered off the factory 12v coil power wire (brown) so that key function remains the same.   So its not like the vape with the integrated curve box nor is it powered by the cdi itself. just fyi. 

[1976RD400C]

I've seen this problem on electric forklifts with solid state motor controllers. This may be what's happening. The horn has a magnetic coil and contacts in it so when you push the button the coil energizes and then the contacts open and it de-energizes very rapidly so it vibrates and makes sound. When that coil is de-energizing, and the magnetic field collapses, it produces a high voltage pulse back into the system. The solid state Vape controller doesn't like that. On the forklifts they use a capacitor/resistor filter thing right across the horn terminals to suppress the high voltage spike. I would try a condenser/capacitor across the horn terminals and that may cure the problem.   

[m in sc]

I've seen this problem on electric forklifts with solid state motor controllers. This may be what's happening. The horn has a magnetic coil and contacts in it so when you push the button the coil energizes and then the contacts open and it de-energizes very rapidly so it vibrates and makes sound. When that coil is de-energizing, and the magnetic field collapses, it produces a high voltage pulse back into the system. The solid state Vape controller doesn't like that. On the forklifts they use a capacitor/resistor filter thing right across the horn terminals to suppress the high voltage spike. I would try a condenser/capacitor across the horn terminals and that may cure the problem.   

that's an interesting theory. I might try that. the box is mounted tot he front of the battery box so its.. 18"? or so from the horn (in stock location).  IF that's the case, a ferrite choke might help on the horn lines from emitting. I'll give it a try down the road.   I do know on the hybrid,t he vape and zeel scrambled the shit out of my spa tach till i chocked down some wiring and used resistor plugs AND caps. (yes, and it works fine contrary to popular belief albeit not ideal scenario).

[pidjones]

Yes, ferrite on the supply leads to the Vape might be helpful, too. I found the beads along with MOVs extremely helpful in suppressing high voltage spikes on a fairly large electrostatic accelerator's associated instruments. And I'm  talking 7 million volts KaBooms!

[quocle603]

Woah. Thats extremely interesting to hear, would not imagine that would be a culprit.