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Kris

Repairing a faulty rim blow switch is possible.

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Im sure for most people this is hard to believe but it is possible for your faulty rim blow switch to be repaired. I purchased an new in box rim blow switch at a swap meet today and found out when I got home after checking with my meter that it was faulty. With nothing to lose I decided to disassemble it. I don't know if others have tried this before; or have only tried and failed. It is really a stupid simple setup but it is very dependent on the two copper strips being very straight with NO bends. What makes it so fragile is the two copper strips are so narrow that they bend or break easily making the two strips touch at these bends or dents in the copper and the horn stays or doesn't work at all. Getting the strips out is easy, just straighten the end that is bent over that doesn't have the wire lead on it and pull from the other end and it will just come out. After I had them out I found there were quite a few spots that had bends, kinks, and dents in the strips. I found the easiest way to straighten it was to put the strip up against my stainless work bench and place my finger tight up against it and just pull it through. This made it straighten out but also caused it to coil up. To fix this I did the same thing again but did the other side of the strip so it would straighten out. After you get the two strips straight, coat each one with dielectric grease, vaseline, or some other non conductive lube. If you don't lube the strips, you will NEVER get them all the way back in. The KEY is that on each side of the rubber strip, there are two wedges that keep the copper strips from touching. If it gets hard to push the copper in, you will push it past the wedge and the two copper strips will touch causing it to make the horn STAY ON. Make sure you note which copper strip was on each side BEFORE you take it apart because it MATTERS. The strip with the long hump in the middle has to have the hump facing the other copper strip so it can make contact with it when you push down. When you are pushing the strips back in, make sure when it comes through the other end that it is on the same side of the little wedges as the side you pushed from. If its not you need to pull it back out and do it again. Once you have one strip back in, try not to bend or move the switch around a lot with only the one strip in it as it can cause it to move past the wedges. I found that the easiest way to feed them in was to hold the rubber strip and let it hang while I fed the strips in from the other side. After I got the first one in, I flipped the switch and fed the other one in from the other side like it was before. I put the plastic separators back in the ends then tested it and voila it works perfectly. If your copper strips are broken inside your switch it can still be fixed but you have to solder them back together and you have to be good at it as it needs to be very flat. This is a very delicate process and repair and can be very time consuming. If done correctly you can save yourself a lot of money from throwing away a new switch that doesn't work. From what I have seen and heard, most vender that sells these won't take them back if they don't work because they are easily damaged if you don't handle them properly. Hopefully this helps a few others. If you have any questions of need some help getting your switch fixed feel free to ask.

 

Key tips. 

A. NOTE the location of the strips and the position of the factory indentions on the strips BEFORE you pull them out so you can put it back together as it came apart.

B. Make sure the copper strips are very straight with no dents, dings, or kinks before reassemble 

C. LUBE the copper strips before putting them back in the casing. 

D. DO NOT FORCE THE STRIPS into the housing as it will go past the wedges and make it not work or you will damage it as it bends easily. If you have to force it, pull it back out and make sure it is straight and add some more lube. 

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This is about the best article I've seen for these aftermarket rim blow switches.  Nice.  What I find strange is I how sensitive these aftermarket rim blow switches are.  I have had my 69 Mach 1 since 1995 and replaced the rim blow switch in about 1997 during the restoration.  Back then they were still available from Ford.  The Ford switch seemed fairly robust.  Without any caution or delicacy I pulled out the original one and pushed the new switch into the groove in the steering worked.  It works fine.  So far I haven't had an issue.  I can't understand why the aftermarket switches are so bad.  I guess its just another example of an aftermarket item that is slightly different, and the difference affects the functionality.

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I agree, best thing I've read as well regarding the rim blow switch. If he had some photos to include with his instructions, he could sell a few to the frustrated owners of rim blow wheels.

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Just did this repair this morning on a switch I installed a few months back.  Worked like charm.  Followed instructions and had no problems.  I figured getting the strips back in the rubber would be a pain.  But with the lube, no problems.  Just make sure and keep the copper from bending by itself as it lays over your hand while feeding it in. Took me about 2hrs including trimming the gap in the wheel.  I wired it back up prior to inserting in the wheel to make sure it worked.  I also left it hooked up.  That way if it kinked while installing it, the horn would sound.  All went well. Thanks Kris!!!

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