Dear All,
I have a little project going on here. Since my motorbike was stolen and then recovered, it is clear that a key ignition for my particular rather ratty cafe racer of a bike is not particularly useful, I lock it with a sturdy lock now.
As a result, I am not really that bothered to buy another ignition switch for it and have come up with an idea for a keyless ignition system. At the moment, I have a 30 A switch as my key and I plug it into the two wires that energise the system on a 30 A circuit (Starter motors take a lot of umph).
My plan, is to put a relay in instead, this will be activated with a main on off switch and another small latching relay and instead of a push to make switch to latch it, I want to use a reed switch placed into the main wiring loom so that I can just run a magnet over it. This is just to prevent anyone riding off into the sunset when I go into shops or just stop for 10 minutes or so. The idea is that a chancer will be completely foxed as to how the bike is started.
The thing I am trying to learn about at the moment is this. The main relay I am using is a 30 A relay from an automotive shop, the type that is used for radiator fans or the like. That bit is fine. But what I need to know is the rest of the circuit, ie the smaller relay activated by the reed switch will be on a separate feed (all be it from the main 12 V battery) and I wanted to make it into a small PCB that I can stick in a project box an then just fill with resin and mount under the seat with the other little brains that make up the electronics of a vehicle.
For the smaller circuit, the main load is the coil of the main relay, am I right in assuming that the current through this side of the circuit is milliamps? If not, what do I need to do to prevent the reed switch from being destroyed as I have only a 1 A rating for it?
Also, are there any solid state type of relays that could be used as the latching relay that could make this little circuit smaller and maybe more reliable also.
There are two main concerns involved in this project and they are both safety issues, the circuit can not catch fire and also the system needs to be reliable, or if it is to fail, fail in th on position. I don't want my bike to suddenly cut all power whilst on the motorway.
Please let me know your thoughts on this.
Kind regards
Rob
I have a little project going on here. Since my motorbike was stolen and then recovered, it is clear that a key ignition for my particular rather ratty cafe racer of a bike is not particularly useful, I lock it with a sturdy lock now.
As a result, I am not really that bothered to buy another ignition switch for it and have come up with an idea for a keyless ignition system. At the moment, I have a 30 A switch as my key and I plug it into the two wires that energise the system on a 30 A circuit (Starter motors take a lot of umph).
My plan, is to put a relay in instead, this will be activated with a main on off switch and another small latching relay and instead of a push to make switch to latch it, I want to use a reed switch placed into the main wiring loom so that I can just run a magnet over it. This is just to prevent anyone riding off into the sunset when I go into shops or just stop for 10 minutes or so. The idea is that a chancer will be completely foxed as to how the bike is started.
The thing I am trying to learn about at the moment is this. The main relay I am using is a 30 A relay from an automotive shop, the type that is used for radiator fans or the like. That bit is fine. But what I need to know is the rest of the circuit, ie the smaller relay activated by the reed switch will be on a separate feed (all be it from the main 12 V battery) and I wanted to make it into a small PCB that I can stick in a project box an then just fill with resin and mount under the seat with the other little brains that make up the electronics of a vehicle.
For the smaller circuit, the main load is the coil of the main relay, am I right in assuming that the current through this side of the circuit is milliamps? If not, what do I need to do to prevent the reed switch from being destroyed as I have only a 1 A rating for it?
Also, are there any solid state type of relays that could be used as the latching relay that could make this little circuit smaller and maybe more reliable also.
There are two main concerns involved in this project and they are both safety issues, the circuit can not catch fire and also the system needs to be reliable, or if it is to fail, fail in th on position. I don't want my bike to suddenly cut all power whilst on the motorway.
Please let me know your thoughts on this.
Kind regards
Rob