Dr. Bean's 950 fuel pump kits

I believe the "optical" sensor is using infrared signal and so is not blocked from dust (mud). I think the normal death of these pumps (excluding flooding with salt water or mud) would come either from rupture of the membrane or from Mosfet death that is probably operating the switching. I wonder how long is the life of these two components.

Take some pictures Jeff...
Please

Well.. you are correct, but mud is mud.. when there is enough mud, it will be blocked (but then you just rinse it... np)

I haven't seen any membrane rupture. Old pumps (>50tkm) do sometimes pump a little less volume (membrane/valves do not close perfectly), but since the pump is about 3x oversized, that will not be a problem.
pomp-bearings wear! (the rod gets clearance)
I have seen the pump rod getting stuck from corrosion.

Mosfet has a 10 years lifespan in normal use... and that is how it is designed.

ps.: The mechanical switch (contact breakers) does actually do a great job: MTBF is around 3'000'000 switches (which is quite good for a mechanical switch switching a 8 Amp inductive load)... But: If the pump switches around 1x per second that still means after 1000h it is done... 1000 h is 50tkm / 30t miles and that is just not enough! (so failure by design)

Losses in the mosfet are negligible, so it doesn't heat (proper switching, the correct fet).
The only heat comes from the pump itself and the engine. basically the whole pump should not get over 90 C (~200F): then there are no problems for sure.

I also use the pump for Honda Africa-Twin, Transalp and Varadero: There the pump is mounted behind the cylinder... hence running a lot hotter: No problems there.

From my design I think the LED from the optical detection is the most critical part.
But hey.. what is the real 'operating time' on a bike: 100'000 kms is about 2000 hours : thats peanuts for electronics.

I have seen mechanical fuel pumps on cars getting their membrane torn at high milliages, that is why I brought this up. I refer to big milliage of 150k kms. I believe your device is pushing reliability to this kind of milliage. Thnx for that.
Cheers.

Ah thanks for the confidence on that !

I don't give 300'000km warranty, but if you make that with your 950, you get a free kit from me (If it is still available)

'Received my kit in the mail today!

ktm950se

Great !

For all from USA ... I am not going to send mail, chase you, etc.

If you want a kit, you send a forum PM to me. I will reply on that only.

I replaced the melted points on an old 950 fuel pump with the optical solution from Dr Bean. An easy enough job thanks to the clear instructions.
The pump has been working flawlessly for thousends of km's.

​

Greetings CB,
Did you complete the English instructions?
If so, would you mind posting them or sending them to me?

Thanks!

ktm950se

There are already English instructions. I was just polishing them as English isn't his 1st language. I got sidetracked. Do you have Dr.Beans version?

Yes, I do. Is there anything in particular that you felt could be described more clearly after having installed his kit?

ktm950se

I received my Dr. Bean pump by normal post. There was green custom's tape on the outside informing me that it had been opened and inspected. Everything looked good and was inside. Sometime in the next few months I'll get around to installing it.

Thanks Doc!

See ya,
Pax

AH, thanks for the feedback:

Looks like they have no trouble with it, thats good to see.

Took 6 days from the Netherlands. Customs green sticker included. looks like a quality product, even included solder. Thanks Dr.

Just checked the mailbox and my circuit kit was waiting for me. No indication of the envelope being opened by anyone before me. I'm installing it this afternoon and will document with photo images. Thanks for the hard work and consideration on your part, Doc.

Fitted mine last week. It didn't work at first even though it was all wired up correctly etc.

After a couple of emails back and forth with Dr Bean, we figured out that the problem was caused by the studs and the holes in the circuit board not lining up correctly.
I could just get the retaining screws in, but it must have caused some pressure on the circuit board which caused problems with the optical sensor.

To fix it, I simply swapped the studs (left to right hole, right to left hole) and the circuit board holes lined up correctly. Once I had it reassembled, the pump worked OK.

So the moral is to make sure the screws fit easily into the circuit board with no side pressure.

Here's a pic of how it was before I swapped the studs - CP, feel free to include it in your instructions to show what not to do...

I installed the kit in my original pump yesterday. All went very well. The Doc's pdf is very well done, left little to photograph during my install, but I did document a few intermediate steps. I lucked out and got the studs right the first time I'll include a comment in my writeup for those who aren't so lucky. I'm not installing the pump at this time as I'm headed for Canada today and I usually try to avoid making changes to my bike before a long ride. I'm packing the Bean-modded pump JIK my Facet poops out
BTW, CB is my proof reader also

The holes in de PCB are exactly aligned with the ones in the pump, but since the thread in the pump is so minimal, sometimes the studs tent to tilt very slightly (e.g. if the washers aren't perfectly seated): on the topside this quickly makes a mm difference. Even that is usually not a problem, if you don't tighten 1 screw first, and then try to get in the other screw (which you should never do mounting anything; always get all bolts and screws in, then tighten them).

I haven't seen it as extreme is this, and I have done many myself... but for everything there is a first time .

Thanks for the pictures, and indeed a good tip: Everything SHOULD fit without force or bending anything... IF not, have a close look, are the studs nicely parallel etc.

The kind doc Bean mailed me a kit end of last week; arrived today in good health. Immediately off to the garage for an evening install (+ can of cold beer).

I decided to do the mod without removing the fuel lines, as the factory hose fasteners seemed pretty pro and I don't have a tool to pinch in new ones. If ever the pump would need fixing on the road (actually off the road, well u know what I mean) it would probably be done in a similar fashion, so this also served as a practice session. When doing the mod in this way it helps to have a friend close by, as an extra hand was useful in the under-the-bike-soldering phase. But, at gunpoint, I'm confident I could have done it just by myself.

Dr. Bean's instructions are very good, especially I appreciated the clear instructions on where exactly to cut the wires. And the kit itself just radiates reliability compared to the OEM lump of moving stamped metal parts and sparks. I only had one minor problem in making the mod (this maybe should be mentioned in the instructions): before reinstalling the modified pump to its original location, it's good to check if there might be a willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) lodged in the left side of the front cylinder, the same space where the fuel pump cable passes. If there is, as in my case , it may have yanked the cable connector upwards leaving the cable too tight for comfortable pump reinstallment. Remove the bird and gently coax the connector a centimeter or two towards the pump.

The old contacts were still reasonably good after 23,000km, although some pitting could be seen. Judging from the look, I'd guess they might have endured another 10-20,000km, but hard to say of course.

And, oh yes, the pump works like solid-state magic! I really don't expect ever having to be under my bike, on or off the road, for fuel pump reasons. So I guess the practice was in vain...
Thanks Dr. Bean, simply excellent stuff!!!

Got 2 units today. Less than a week from Europe to So Cal. Pretty amazing to me.

Thx, Dr.

Marty