Main and Ignitor Fuse-orama

[codder]

I stand with hat in hand asking for advice. I had just achieved confidence with my bike following advice from the guild regarding some fuel delivery issues which had my bike running well until... I rode to work without issue, with the bike starting and running well. After work I press the ignition and ...nothing. Checked the fuses and found the ignitor fuse had blown. Bike was taken home, fuse was replaced and voila no problems. 2 weeks later ride to work-everything fine, thumb the starter button...nada. Check fuses and ignitor blown once more. Wife brings extra fuses and replace ignitor fuse. Bike turns over once and dead. Main fuse is now blown, replaced and immediately blown again.

I've spent the last bit of the evening sifting through threads about what to tackle but am at a loss as to a starting point. Engines and transmissions I can get my head around...this whole electric voodoo with fuses, amps, volts and R&R's has me turned around. Sacrificed 2 chickens (courtesy of KFC) with no improvement on this electrical dilemma.

If anyone has advice please let me know.

Typical of my luck, the ice has melted here in Canada and my bike sits, taunting me from the garage.

Bike is a 79 gs 850 with an 82 1100 engine.

Thanks for reading,
Codder

[posplayr]

Sounds like you have a short and it is getting worse. It could be the ignitor.

Step #1 get a Volt meter
Step #2 Disconnect the battery negative
Step #3 See if you can detect a short to ground between the Battery (+) and the anywhere on the frame/engine B/W wire on the R/R. Hopefully you find one so you can proceed. If success proceed to #4. If not it will be more difficult.
Step #4 remove the connector to the ignitor and see if the short goes away. If not
Step #5 remove the connector to the R/R see if the short goes away

Seeing a pattern here?.

If still no success start looking for broken or chafing wires, pull the tank off and look around in the light so you can see.

Once you find the culprit, look for physical damage and report back what it was.

[tom203]

Since this problem started with ignitor circuit, I'd suspect the right hand switch ( starter button ,on/off switch,wiring grounding out on bar maybe) -

[codder]

After some help from posplayr, explaining exactly how to track down a short, I worked back from the main fuse and found 2 wires with the insulation worn off. This explains why the fuse would blow when the bike would start and blow the fuse when I turned the bars to the right, causing these worn wires to come into contact. These wires have been replaced and all is well....minus the interesting safari when I went into the wiring nest in the headlight. Long story short-I can even turn right in parking lots! I have replaced the R/R and will post a pic of the old one if I can figure out how. The wound wires were completely caked with 30 some years of crud, which explains the whole charging issue. When I ran through the R/R checks I was concerned about a mis-diagnosis...after cracking open the cover and seeing the R/R it was apparent even to me that things were not as they should be.

Many thanks for the assistance.

[JTGS850GL]

When I ran through the R/R checks I was concerned about a mis-diagnosis...after cracking open the cover and seeing the R/R it was apparent even to me that things were not as they should be.

Many thanks for the assistance.

Are you talking about the stator or the R/R? Not likely that you "cracked open the cover" on the R/R. A cooked stator can be pretty obvious. They end up black, cracked and burnt looking. Not saying a clean looking stator can't be bad. Just saying that the ones I've seen that were bad usually were pretty ugly.

[Steve]

Agreeing with JTGS here, you don't "crack open a cover" to see the R/R.

It is hidden under the battery.

.

[posplayr]

Wow, almost a year; quite a safari