Ducati 800ss rear brake socket issue. Advice please.

[tommygun]

Hello people in the know.

I have a conection issue between the rear light bulb base and socket/plate/pins? (I dont know the correct term sorry).
I checked it before a quick ride this morning and the brake light was working but not the tail light, gave it a jiggle got it sorted and went riding
I got home and the tail light was out again. Brake light was okay. The spring behind the pad is movable and the wiring is all good so its a case of intermitant contact with the bulb.
Is there any solution other than replacing the part?
Would a drop of solder on the contact pad points help?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[notme]

Can you post a pic?

If it's just dirty contacts, get in there with some very fine sandpaper or even a scouring pad. The contacts should be clean, dry, and bright and shiny. Check the contacts on the bulb too and treat them in the same way.

[tommygun]

Can you post a pic?

If it's just dirty contacts, get in there with some very fine sandpaper or even a scouring pad. The contacts should be clean, dry, and bright and shiny. Check the contacts on the bulb too and treat them in the same way.

Contacts are clean on both bulb and pad, heres a photo of the socket, hope its clear enough.
The two silver contacts in the middle of the black pad, which is attached to a spring behind. When I put the bulb in the pad moves back smoothly but is quite stiff.
My thoughts are that the contacts have "worn" to the point where the contact is intermitant (bike is 2003) or that the spring is no longer supple enough to handle the vibrations to keep it in contact with the bulb base.

[notme]

That pic looks like it was taken on an 1800's era cellphone camera.... :-)

I think I get what you mean - maybe the stiff movement of the sprung part is the problem. See if you can get some CRC in the back there and loosen up the movement. It's unlikely the spring has gone bad, so try and free the works up first in case it's just a bit of stiction that's the problem...

[tommygun]

"That pic looks like it was taken on an 1800's era cellphone camera.... :-)"

Almost but the lighting was bad and the flash would have been blinding firing into the reflector...lol.

I'll have a go at the CRC option tomorrow unless something else is suggested. Ta

[notme]

Hang on - this is the only bulb at the rear of the bike for brake/tail light isn't it? So when you say the brake light works but the tail doesn't, you mean the brake light filament in the bulb works fine?

If that's the case, then you know the ground and brake light contacts are ok, so it's just the tail light contact. Since the tail and brake light contacts are both on the sprung plate, you'd think that if the spring was the problem, they would both have issues.

Unless somehow the sprung plate is tilted so that only one of the contacts is hitting properly, maybe you need to check the wiring? How do you know it's all fine?

[tommygun]

Unless somehow the sprung plate is tilted so that only one of the contacts is hitting properly

I think tilting through "sticken" is the issue.
All of the wiring appears undamaged and at the begining after I "jiggled" the bulb both filments were working as they should. I presume that because both can work okay, the wiring is okay and the problem is contact to one but not both. Of the two contacts one is brake light and the other tail light, I'm I correct?

[notme]

I think tilting through "sticken" is the issue.
All of the wiring appears undamaged and at the begining after I "jiggled" the bulb both filments were working as they should. I presume that because both can work okay, the wiring is okay and the problem is contact to one but not both. Of the two contacts one is brake light and the other tail light, I'm I correct?

You are correct - one contact is brake, one tail.

It's still possible that the wiere on the tail light is dodgy and by wobbling the bulb you wobble the contact which moves the wire......

At this point if CRC does not fix it, I'd be looking at if it is possible to take the whole light assembly apart and get to the insides. Depends whether a new one costs less than the time you are prepared to spend on taking the existing one apart....if you have a spare hour or two and a box of beers, I'd give it a go because the fix could be nothing more than a dodgy wire

[tommygun]

At this point if CRC does not fix it, I'd be looking at if it is possible to take the whole light assembly apart and get to the insides.

So I pulled it apart completely. Once I had better light on the socket I could see that the contacts on the plate are three tabs each point. I applied a bit of lever pressure via a screwdriver to lift the tabs up a bit more. They must have flattened. Also the black pad itself is on a bit of an angle so that wasn't helping the cause. The wiring appears all good. I decided not to CRC as the spring action is stiff but free.

End result: By lifting the tabs I have a better contact and both lights going. Thanks for the suggestion Allun. I now have a more intimate relation with the rear end of by my bike...lol I wasn't to keen too pull it apart but it was not that hard a job at all.

[notme]

That's the story-this stuff is nit really that hard, and what you did would have been a minimum hour's charge at a bike shop. Onya.

[karmobRob]

Are you sure the bulb is ok?

[tommygun]

Are you sure the bulb is ok?

Yep, the bulbs good. One of the contact points is a tad worn/mishaped but there is nothing wrong with the filiments. Having lifted the contact points in the socket a little bit the contact with the base is better and so far its all good. I will be checking before and after ever ride just to be sure, better safe than sorry and all that.