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HELP - Main fuse fiasco

10K views 42 replies 10 participants last post by  silverspurs 
#1 ·
I just bought an 05 1500 EFI. Rode for about 12 minutes and the main 30 amp fuse blew.
Changed it out checked the battery, ground, reg/rec all good. The main blows after twelve minutes every time whether riding or idling.....it seems to blow when hitting the throttle....any ideas about this would be appreciated.....could faulty Cold Idle Solenoids cause it to short out?? :confused:

Regards, BAB
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#3 ·
I see some driving lights on there. Do they come on with idle (like the headlight)? or with key? If somebody replaced those 35 watt bulbs with some 55W, that could be the problem.. The 35 watters are hard to find, but the 55 watters are available everywhere..
 
#4 ·
Main fuse woes

Hi guys, thanks for the feedback....yes the running lights are an add on and have a separate toggle on the one light for on off. No other add ons but for the pipes. The fuse does not blow intermittently, just the same amount of time (12 to 15 minutes) so it seems more like a part failing due to possibly overheating more than a dead short.....I have got the bike in with my mechanic but he is as stumped as I am at this point. Seems also that if you hit the throttle around the twelve minute mark out goes the fuse....we wired in a 30 amp relay so as not to keep changing fuses.

The sun is shining and the road is long...
But something with me bike is wrong....
 
#7 ·
Yes reddyford I meant a 30 amp circuit breaker. The rec/reg was my vote but I never did disconnect it as I took the bike to my mechanic....he tells me the rec/reg is okay but I will check with him to see if he did disconnect it Rider...thanks guys.
 
#9 ·
Main fuse issues can be maddening. I was all packed up for a trip last summer with another couple. Halfway to their house 40 miles away, the bike blew the main. I didn't know what it was at the time so we had it towed and scrapped the bike trip. I took it to a shop, they said it was my DIY driving light harness installation. They rewired it, taped it all up, sent me on my way. Three weeks later, did it again on the freeway- just like someone shut it off at 75 MPH. I swapped out the fuse and took it home. I ordered a new wiring harness with a relay and installed it. When I was hooking it up to the battery, I noticed a black spot on the seat pan right over the positive battery terminal and that the rubber cover on the battery terminal had come off. I wondered if it was arcing the battery on the seat pan at random times. I put the cover back on and taped it down with electrical tape and rode all summer with no issues whatsoever.

Not saying that's your problem but I am saying that there are few things that can blow your main fuse that don't have their own circuit protection.
 
#10 ·
Need to ckeck rotor in alternator.Sounds like what we call a slinging short.Try disconect charging system and run it.Some warning lights will be on but it should run.Speed it up and down see if it still blows fuse.If not then have alt.pulled and checked.Hope you find it soon.I know you want to be rideing not working on it.Good luck.Have a great ride.
 
#18 ·
I probably just imagined my main fuse blowing and covering the positive post correcting it. Probably imagined that spot on the seat pan, too!:D

I probably imagined that arcing between the pos and neg would cause a spark, too! :D:D
 
#22 ·
I probably just imagined my main fuse blowing and covering the positive post correcting it.
Seems like I remember that you tugged on and moved some other things in the process too.

You can believe whatever you want but grounding the + battery post directly to a metal frame part, of which the seat pan is one, will not blow the main fuse.......or any other ones either, unless there are some other shorts or crossed wires in play somewhere.

Now, I reserve a TINY possibility for Mr. Murphy.......;)
 
#21 ·
Putting a ground to the battery positive ALSO puts a short across the alternator through the main fuse to ground.
No it doesn't.
The ground is on the same side as the battery input.

Let's see......the current flows out of the + post, through the alternator and then back to ground along the same wire where it came from. :eek:

Electricity doesn't work that way.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Working on Vintage Medical equip. where the battery pack wires have been pinched in a metal backing plate, or the customer has feebly spiced in another battery and arcing has developed, I've seen many spooky:skeleton:, head scratching anomalies. Blown Reg board fuses, wires melted and other smoked components. Sometimes throwing away Theory and cussing design Engineers will keep you sane.
 
#23 ·
imo, 12-15 mins sounds like "post warmup" fuse load. I dont have that year so no idea what your fuse box has in it, but I would look at your wires for the temp sensor and fan, could be a short on one of them. not discounting anyone elses info, just giving another option. most hard shorts wont have any kind of timing imo, unless your always hitting the same speed bump and it dies.
if you have the heavier loads elsewhere and the fan kick on could be your issue. I agree with checking bulb wattage there and elsewhere. disconnect the non-essentials and see if it happens again. good luck.
 
#26 ·
The short would have to be after main fuse and before junction box.
All junction box circuits and ECU are protected with a smaller fuse, so they would blow first.
White goes to regulator, key switch, speedometer and DFI fuse.
Switched white turns to brown. It goes to regulator and then directly to junction box.
 
#27 ·
Hey RideSlow, I thought dead short at first as I was riding when it first happened, however with the bike running on idle, fan kicks in and out no issue and then at the same time every time the fuse blows. I will check the temp sensor etc. and hopefully track this gremlin down.
 
#30 ·
If I may inject a test proceedure I use when looking for electrical gremlins. Obtain a clamp on DC amp probe, mine is a transmation brand that plugs directly into your Fluke meter. When you start the bike up you can test circuit loads and record the readings, then begin looking for excessive loads by isolating the individual fused circuits.
 
#35 · (Edited)
No apologies necessary! The seat may well have touched the pan as my big ol' ass weighs 270 pounds! I also had a couple of other things on the post besides the driving lights, like an alarm and a power port, making the bolt set a bit higher. All of them had their own inline fuses, though, so it isn't likely they were the culprits. All I know is once I covered it up and taped the cover down I've had no more issues.
 
#36 ·
All of them had their own inline fuses, though, so it isn't likely they were the culprits.
I just knew the prior discussion of the blown main fuse was going to cause some misunderstanding. :(

The inline fuses on the wires would have NO IMPACT upon the connector at the post shorting out to the frame. That is a direct short; no fuse invloved.

The ONLY reason the main blows when it's running is that the alternator is ALSO putting out power, which flows through the main fuse to ground. If that short occurs when the bike is NOT running, the main will NOT blow.......as the only power source is the battery and it is directly shorted; no fuse involved. That is why the post cover is there in the first place.
 
#41 ·
main fuse shorting out

hi guys, sorry to hijack this thread, but I'm having a similar issue with my 09 1700 nomad. on a trip to Canada over Labor Day, my main fuse blew one morning about 5min after the bike had been started and was running. we replaced the main fuse and the bike started up again and ran about 10 minutes before the main fuse blew again... all other fuses were ok...

after that, the problem progressed so that the main fuse now blows immediately upon the ignition switch being turned to the ON position... the bike doesn't get a chance to start at all...

we had been riding in some light rain the day before all this started, but experienced no problems while riding in the rain, it was the next morning that things went haywire... the bike has about 20,000 miles on it.

any suggestions on where to start?? thanks!!
 
#43 ·
Nope; haven't had any time until now to work on it... but next weekend and thanksgiving weekend I'll be tearing it down... I've been riding my KLR instead... I do miss the 1700 some days though! ;o)
 
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