Arctic Cat Magnetic Tether problems

[174mcx]

Looking for knowledge on how a magnetic switch works? I bought 2 Arctic Cat magnetic tethers a few years ago and installed on my Yamaha viper and Yamaha apex. The Viper has worked flawless since day one. The Apex one has given be problems 3 times now. They end up stuck in a open or closed state and the magnet will not function the switch anymore.

Anyone know how they work? I busted one apart to see and theres two glass tubes on a circuit board but I can't really see whats going wrong, on testing it seems like the glass tubes are working when you move a magnet close to them, however the circuit board has a couple other smaller components on it that I don't know what they are.

I'm sick of buying $80 tethers for them to only fail in the end. I put a new one on yesterday and it worked for about 4 shutdowns then stuck in the closed position.

I thought maybe they can't have a full 12V to them, but why would the one on my viper work then?

 

[rknight111]

Have you thought of tying Chris's Teth Air tether

 

[Teth-Air]

The 2 little tubes are magnetic reed switches. They consist of a fine spring that gets crushed by the switch when a magnet pulls the contacts together. I imagine the Cat system has one Normally Open and the Other Normally closed so both types of ignition systems will work. The Yamaha 4 strokes uses Normally Closed to run and all the ignition power goes through the keyed switch. The current is fairly high and this current is likely overheating that tiny reed switch.

When we sell a Phantom Teth-Air, laser tether to our customers we tell them to use a 20-30 Ampere automotive relay to run their current for their igniton system power through. This would be through the Normally Closed contacts of the relay. As the Phantom provides Normally Open operation only, the Phantom would pull the relay to seperate the N.C. contacts, and let the sled die. Cycling the keyed ignition switch would be required to reset the Phantom before a restart.

If you stay with a magnetic tether you should also use a relay, but have the reed switch control it. Be careful where you mount the relay as if it experiences high vibrations, this could make the engine mis-fire. These vibrations can be enough to make the contacts arc.

Or you could install A Phantom Teth-Air, laser tether and have no corded tether to worry about. The Phantom also has a "roll-over" shut down that can protect your motors from oil starvation, if running inverted without shutting down.

Laser Phantom Teth-Air

The Laser Phantom Teth-Air is a technologically advanced, “Smart Tether”, that provids engine shutdown when the snowmobile rider is separated from the machine, all without the use of a cumbersome cord. Plug and play on all modern 2-stroke snowmobiles. We managed to shrink the components and...

www.sourceinnovations.ca

Chris
Source Innovations Ltd.

 

[174mcx]

Thanks Chris,

I had to use a relay on my viper due to the tether I got was the opposite normal than the sled required. The one on the apex matched up so I wasn't using one, I guess I should have thought about the amps through the tether. I will try the relay if I have any problems I will try one of your tethers. I always wondered how they would work for me, I do a bit of chute climbing and often tumbling down the chute beside my sled, but from what I read your system would accommodate that, its not just a proximity system?

 

[ZRrrr]

The 2 little tubes are magnetic reed switches. They consist of a fine spring that gets crushed by the switch when a magnet pulls the contacts together. I imagine the Cat system has one Normally Open and the Other Normally closed so both types of ignition systems will work. The Yamaha 4 strokes uses Normally Closed to run and all the ignition power goes through the keyed switch. The current is fairly high and this current is likely overheating that tiny reed switch.

When we sell a Phantom Teth-Air, laser tether to our customers we tell them to use a 20-30 Ampere automotive relay to run their current for their igniton system power through. This would be through the Normally Closed contacts of the relay. As the Phantom provides Normally Open operation only, the Phantom would pull the relay to seperate the N.C. contacts, and let the sled die. Cycling the keyed ignition switch would be required to reset the Phantom before a restart.

If you stay with a magnetic tether you should also use a relay, but have the reed switch control it. Be careful where you mount the relay as if it experiences high vibrations, this could make the engine mis-fire. These vibrations can be enough to make the contacts arc.

Or you could install A Phantom Teth-Air, laser tether and have no corded tether to worry about. The Phantom also has a "roll-over" shut down that can protect your motors from oil starvation, if running inverted without shutting down.

Laser Phantom Teth-Air

The Laser Phantom Teth-Air is a technologically advanced, “Smart Tether”, that provids engine shutdown when the snowmobile rider is separated from the machine, all without the use of a cumbersome cord. Plug and play on all modern 2-stroke snowmobiles. We managed to shrink the components and...

www.sourceinnovations.ca

Chris
Source Innovations Ltd.

Going out on a limb here as I haven't looked into it myself, but I do know lots of things are going solid state. Is there a solid state relay that could work?

 

[Teth-Air]

Going out on a limb here as I haven't looked into it myself, but I do know lots of things are going solid state. Is there a solid state relay that could work?

Solid state relays are very difficult to find that are normally closed, especially without introducing an outside power source. We have looked in the past and not found any good options. But who knows there are new products being released every day.