TCIs, that is... I've posted this on FZROnline and FZR Archives; may as well spread the love here: " I've been pondering this for rather a few weeks now, and Yamaha_George has prodded me into motion. We have had several people over the past month or so complaining of fried TCI / Ignitor boxes (NOT CDI boxes!!). I have posted a couple of times where to find quite possibly the best repair components ever produced for Transistor Ignition systems. Given that I am also apparently confident enough in my soldering abilities to plan a custom-built MegaSquirt EFI controller, George told me to get off my butt and become part of the solution! <!-- s:alcoholic: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_all_coholic.gif" alt=":alcoholic:" title="Alcoholic" /><!-- s:alcoholic: --> The concept is this - I will accumulate through donation such fried TCIs as people see fit to send to me. As I have time in my busy schedule, I will open, inspect, and - where practicable - repair these damaged units. Then, as the program advances, as someone realizes their TCI is malfunctioning, they can send it to me for exchange (and a fee, of course - parts & labour & shipping). They ride merrily off into the sunset, I have another dead TCI to repair. This will help sustain the slowly dwindling supply of ignitors for these 10-20+ year-old machines. By doing it this way, I don't have someone hanging over my shoulder, emailing me every 10 minutes because it's a lovely frickin' weekend and they want to be riding! <!-- s:-? --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_Eyecrazy.gif" alt=":-?" title="Eye Crazy" /><!-- s:-? --> So - to get the party started - I need TCIs. 250s, 400s, 600s, 1000s. Cali, non-Cali. If some caring souls have harnesses that are absolute junk, it would help enormously if they could clip the TCI connector leaving a 12" pigtail, and send it as a test connector. I'm not sure what a fair price would be - new units (if you can get them) are $450-700; I'm seeing used units (potentially with unknown damage) being offered in the $50-100 range. Would $100 for a refurbished, tested unit be reasonable? Any one who donates a repairable TCI to get the cycle started would receive a discount towards the repair of a second (exchanged) Ignitor. $25 sound reasonable? Same with the connectors - send me a pigtail (that I need - I'm probably not going to need many...), and you'll also get $25 off the repair price. These discounts should be cumulative - send me 4 fixable TCIs and a connector pigtail, I'll send you a refurb for free... "
BUMP! I have had much praise for the concept, and a few offers; apparently I have my first donor box (600) en route as we speak. I still need other models, as well as test connectors. I've seen a few 'parting out' listings go by that haven't listed ignitors or harnesses - where are they, and in what condition? Bring out your dead! <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s -->
A few 600 boxes supposedly on the way in the next week or so, but no 250s yet. I think it's a question of volume - if there are 100x the number of FZR600s that there are 250s (in the English-speaking world, any road!) it stands to reason that there have been a lot more fried 600 boxes. <!-- s:roll: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_roll.gif" alt=":roll:" title="Rolling LoL" /><!-- s:roll: --> The other thing is the Voltage Regulator / Rectifier. A failed VRR is THE primary killer of TCI boxes; while the 250 and (early) 600s had the same VRR, the 600 is tucked under the plastic on the steel subframe, while the 3LN 250s have them on the main (aluminum) frame. The bolts on the 250 are a LOT less likely to drift, and it's the loss of a) cooling and b) ability to dump charge as the mounting bolts shake loose that kills the VRR. IMHO. Better VRR mount, fewer dead TCIs...
