No need to apologize, Dave. The bottom line is there was no consequence to the reed switch "short" you thought you saw. The problem was simply the intermittent open circuit caused by the fractured solder on the path between pin 54 and the three sense coils leading to the brake lights. Nothing more complicated.

Using a DMM continuity buzzer can be misleading to those of us who get the DMM out maybe once or twice a year. If you were to experiment some with a variable resistance, you might get to know your particular meter and where it decides to beep or not to beep, and just how repeatable it is.

There's no such thing as "bleeding off" the brake light current to K, 31 or any other terminal. If it were a short which would affect whether your brake lamps lighted, your fuse would be instantly vaporized, and if not, the wiring would be. Sorry. You're correct, if the PM facility worked here, I could have avoided my difficult bedside manner, firmly denying your conclusions in public. Somehow I knew it would lead to that, having read your posts, so that's why I kept my words short and to the point, thinking you'd eventually get some help to see they were true.

As for my books on 7/9, I'm afraid I leave that to you folks who use the FAQ list of editor's choice posts as a reference. In a 240, the brake lights are fused at 8A.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

"People that can use a test light, meter, a scope, and talk to the consumer without being mean to them can do very well in this growing industry. I've been an electronics tech for 30 years so I know just how much fun this electronic stuff is." -Dave dl242gt