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Fuses, so simple
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pamcopete
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Joined: Oct 10, 2008
Posts: 875
Location: South Carolina

PostPosted: July 29, 2009, 3:37 pm    Post subject: Fuses, so simple

On a long ride with some friends on the weekend, one of the bikes just quit dead....nothing.....no lights, ignition etc. Suspecting a main fuse blown, we looked at it and it "looked" good, but we replaced it anyway. Problem solved. I was able to pull one of the end caps off and discovered that the solder that attaches the fuse element to the cap had melted from overheating, probably caused by a poor contact in the fuse holder.

This condition can also produce an intermittent failure.

So, a recommendation is in order:

1. Replace all fuses once a year.
2. Clean the contacts in the fuse holder

The combination of heat and vibration can cause a fuse to fail mechanically, even though it "looks" OK. It's also an example of the axiom for all things electrical: "There is no substitute for substitution"

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IAmGrowler
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Joined: May 04, 2009
Posts: 97
Location: Seattle, WA

PostPosted: July 29, 2009, 5:06 pm    Post subject: Re: Fuses, so simple

pamcopete wrote:
On a long ride with some friends on the weekend, one of the bikes just quit dead....nothing.....no lights, ignition etc. Suspecting a main fuse blown, we looked at it and it "looked" good, but we replaced it anyway. Problem solved. I was able to pull one of the end caps off and discovered that the solder that attaches the fuse element to the cap had melted from overheating, probably caused by a poor contact in the fuse holder.

This condition can also produce an intermittent failure.

So, a recommendation is in order:

1. Replace all fuses once a year.
2. Clean the contacts in the fuse holder

The combination of heat and vibration can cause a fuse to fail mechanically, even though it "looks" OK. It's also an example of the axiom for all things electrical: "There is no substitute for substitution"

An even better suggestion would be to replace the stock fuse block altogether with an ATO or ATC fuse block and fuses.

These bikes vibrate way too much to rely on old school glass fuses.

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pamcopete
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Joined: Oct 10, 2008
Posts: 875
Location: South Carolina

PostPosted: July 29, 2009, 5:27 pm    Post subject: Re: Fuses, so simple

IAMgrowler,

The fuse block in this bike had been replaced with inline fuse holders, but your suggesiotn is well taken.

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jayel
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Joined: Apr 16, 2006
Posts: 3417
Location: SE Iowa 1974 TX650A

PostPosted: July 29, 2009, 7:03 pm    Post subject: Re: Fuses, so simple

something like this hardwired in (soldered and shrink tube) on the connections


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woodman
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Joined: Oct 12, 2008
Posts: 256

PostPosted: July 30, 2009, 11:16 am    Post subject: Re: Fuses, so simple

Thats what I did on mine and put a box of spares in the tool pouch
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xsleo
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Joined: Oct 28, 2007
Posts: 1528
Location: Earlville NY

PostPosted: August 1, 2009, 1:08 am    Post subject: Re: Fuses, so simple

One advantage of the ATC fuses is they have no solder joints.
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