Fuse Amperages

[TylerM]

I noticed while looking at my service manual's wiring diagram that the main fuse seems to be a 10A fuse, and what looks to be the ignition fuse is 15A. My bike labels the fuses in the box and states that the main fuse should be a 15A and the ignition use is 10A. I only changed this recently (bike doesn't run currently and I have been doing a lot of ignition/electrical work). The previous owner had large fuses in the block (amperages unknown, but they seemed way too high) and upon replacement I have been blowing my ignition fuse quite often when I try to turn my bike over.

So I guess my question is, are the bike's labels incorrect or am I reading the manual wrong? Is the main fuse supposed to be 10A or 15A? And which is correct for the ignition fuse? Thanks guys

 

[tom203]

"....the main fuse should be a 15A and the ignition use is 10A. I only changed this recently (bike doesn't run currently and I have been doing a lot of ignition/electrical work"

correct! Be suspicious of PO's handiwork. Can you post a pic of your fuse box so others can make sure that PO wasn't overly creative . Label what you think is main fuse.
still have headlight on/off switch, turn off will fuse blow when you crank it now?

 

[TylerM]

After charging the battery and putting it back in, I'm finding that as soon as I put the key in and turn the ignition on the fuse blows. I took the cover off and watched the fuse as I turned the key, literally took about two seconds for the 10A fuse to fry. I just cleaned all my electrical connections yesterday. I used DeoxIT D100 to spray down all the connections and paid extra close attention to the ignition connections. I should also note that I recently replaced my coils with Dyna Green 3 Ohm coils. I believe the ignitor and signal generator are stock. Here are some pics of my fusebox


In this picture, the top fuse is the 15A main fuse (Wired seperately, Red wire), the bottom fuse (O/W wire) is the 10A ignition fuse.


Here the ignition fuse is removed because I took the picture after it blew

 

[posplayr]

After charging the battery and putting it back in, I'm finding that as soon as I put the key in and turn the ignition on the fuse blows. I took the cover off and watched the fuse as I turned the key, literally took about two seconds for the 10A fuse to fry. I just cleaned all my electrical connections yesterday. I used DeoxIT D100 to spray down all the connections and paid extra close attention to the ignition connections. I should also note that I recently replaced my coils with Dyna Green 3 Ohm coils. I believe the ignitor and signal generator are stock. Here are some pics of my fusebox


In this picture, the top fuse is the 15A main fuse (Wired seperately, Red wire), the bottom fuse (O/W wire) is the 10A ignition fuse.


Here the ignition fuse is removed because I took the picture after it blew

Good that you have Deoxit to clean the contacts, but there are also crimps that you way need t o solder to keep corrosion out. Having said that none of this is what is causing the short unless your fuse box had already melted and cause something to short(it doesn't look like it).

Which fuse is flowing. montana Man had a similar situation. You just have to keep removing connectors till you find what is shorting. Also pull off your side covers and gas tank to look for wires chaffing.

After you fix the short do the "Quick Test" and verify with Revised Phase A tests for voltage drops.


http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?225430-Tracking-a-blowing-signal-fuse

 

[TylerM]

Good that you have Deoxit to clean the contacts, but there are also crimps that you way need t o solder to keep corrosion out. Having said that none of this is what is causing the short unless your fuse box had already melted and cause something to short(it doesn't look like it).

Which fuse is flowing. montana Man had a similar situation. You just have to keep removing connectors till you find what is shorting. Also pull off your side covers and gas tank to look for wires chaffing.

After you fix the short do the "Quick Test" and verify with Revised Phase A tests for voltage drops.


http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?225430-Tracking-a-blowing-signal-fuse

Just to make sure I understand what you're saying, I should pull each connector in the ignition circuit one by one and put a fuse in to see if it blows. If the fuse blows, I should replace that connector and try a different one, until I find one that doesn't blow the fuse. Once I find where the fuse does not blow, I now know that the problem is lying somewhere in between the good connector and the last bad connector. I should be searching for rubbed down insulation or bare wire that is making contact with something and causing a short in the system. Is this correct? My thought process tells me to start from the farthest point first, meaning the connectors to one of the coils, and making my way back to the fusebox from there.

 

[posplayr]

Just to make sure I understand what you're saying, I should pull each connector in the ignition circuit one by one and put a fuse in to see if it blows. If the fuse blows, I should replace that connector and try a different one, until I find one that doesn't blow the fuse. Once I find where the fuse does not blow, I now know that the problem is lying somewhere in between the good connector and the last bad connector. I should be searching for rubbed down insulation or bare wire that is making contact with something and causing a short in the system. Is this correct? My thought process tells me to start from the farthest point first, meaning the connectors to one of the coils, and making my way back to the fusebox from there.

Other than getting there fastest, the order does not matter it only costs fuses. If the Ignition fuse is blowing, then there are only two devices coils and ignitor. It would be more likely the ignitor would have shorted or there is a chaffed wire.

Personally I would remove as much as possible test to insure nothing blows and then and the add things till it blows. That would save on fuses. If it is ignition that is blowing then make sure to use a 10 amp fuse. In fact they are all 10 amp except the Main which is 15.

Yes look for physical damage to the wires. You dont want any, as it generally doesn't get better just worse.

 

[TylerM]

Thanks for your assistance. I will have to go out and buy some more fuses and will be conducting this test tomorrow, weather permitting. I was already having doubts about my ignitor, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's the culprit, as I've already gone through most of the wiring and didn't see any obvious damage in the wires (the bike only has 6k miles on it, so not much time for dynamically rubbing and chafing wires). I will report back with progress tomorrow.

 

[posplayr]

Thanks for your assistance. I will have to go out and buy some more fuses and will be conducting this test tomorrow, weather permitting. I was already having doubts about my ignitor, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's the culprit, as I've already gone through most of the wiring and didn't see any obvious damage in the wires (the bike only has 6k miles on it, so not much time for dynamically rubbing and chafing wires). I will report back with progress tomorrow.

Sounds like a nice bike. Make sure to flow some solder into those fusebox crimps.
It needs to be clean for solder to flow.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=25103&d=1239471120

here you see you have to lift them alittle to see the crimp. Don't over do it and break them off.

 

[TylerM]

Bringing this thread back for an update. School started and became my priority so I had to take a break from the bike. I did some testing today and I think I found the source of the short. It turns out when I installed my coils I put the positive wires (O/W) on the bottom, and since the instructions said it didn't matter, I didn't think anything of it. Once I took the tank off and started trying to find the short, I looked at the coils and saw that the O/W wires were basically making contact with the fasteners holding the coils in place. Here's what I'm talking about.

The screw holding in the bottom wire is only millimeters away from the metal washer that holds the coil.

Here's a closer (terrible quality) picture, sorry


I'm 99% sure this was the cause of my short. I switched the O/W wires with the negative wires (one is white and one is black) so now the positive wires are on the top and not as close to the metal part. I turned on the ignition afterwards and my fuse didn't blow! Good news there.

The part that still gets me is that I'm still only getting spark on two of the plugs. I'm assuming my ignitier is bad, because I've been having problems with it since the beginning. My question is, the Dyna S ignition replaces both the signal generator and the igniter right? I don't need to buy a new igniter box?

 

[Steve]

In your original pair of pictures, the first picture showd the back of the fuse box. The top fuse there is the MAIN fuse.
It is the one that has two red wires.

In the second picture, it appears that the box is turned over and the MAIN fuse is at the bottom.

It is possible that the Previous Owner put the cover on upside down, leading to your confusion.

Good that you found a potential problem, but it does not really matter which contact that is, neither one of them should be touching the mounting hardware.

.

 

[TylerM]

In your original pair of pictures, the first picture showd the back of the fuse box. The top fuse there is the MAIN fuse.
It is the one that has two red wires.

In the second picture, it appears that the box is turned over and the MAIN fuse is at the bottom.


It is possible that the Previous Owner put the cover on upside down, leading to your confusion.

Good that you found a potential problem, but it does not really matter which contact that is, neither one of them should be touching the mounting hardware.

.

I think the problem was more than just flipping the cover upside down, the amperages were all kinds of wrong in the fuse box. I think I got everything sorted out there though, hopefully.

As far as the mounting hardware, I'm going to get some electrical tape and wrap it around the hardware to prevent any unwanted transferring of electricity.

 

[posplayr]

Bringing this thread back for an update. School started and became my priority so I had to take a break from the bike. I did some testing today and I think I found the source of the short. It turns out when I installed my coils I put the positive wires (O/W) on the bottom, and since the instructions said it didn't matter, I didn't think anything of it. Once I took the tank off and started trying to find the short, I looked at the coils and saw that the O/W wires were basically making contact with the fasteners holding the coils in place. Here's what I'm talking about.

The screw holding in the bottom wire is only millimeters away from the metal washer that holds the coil.

Here's a closer (terrible quality) picture, sorry


I'm 99% sure this was the cause of my short. I switched the O/W wires with the negative wires (one is white and one is black) so now the positive wires are on the top and not as close to the metal part. I turned on the ignition afterwards and my fuse didn't blow! Good news there.

The part that still gets me is that I'm still only getting spark on two of the plugs. I'm assuming my ignitier is bad, because I've been having problems with it since the beginning. My question is, the Dyna S ignition replaces both the signal generator and the igniter right? I don't need to buy a new igniter box?

what makes you think it is ok to short either end of the coil to ground?
Isolate both!!!!

 

[TylerM]

what makes you think it is ok to short either end of the coil to ground?
Isolate both!!!!

I plan on wrapping the stock in electrical tape to kind of "insulate" it, I just thought it would be better to have the negative end closer to grounding than the positive. I just think Dynatech could have designed the coils a little better to prevent this from happening in the first place. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has ran into this problem!

 

[posplayr]

I plan on wrapping the stock in electrical tape to kind of "insulate" it, I just thought it would be better to have the negative end closer to grounding than the positive. I just think Dynatech could have designed the coils a little better to prevent this from happening in the first place. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has ran into this problem!

You are not the only one that this has happened to. When doing customization you have to use some common sense. Most mods are not plug and play as some would suggest but then the difficulty is based on the personal frame of reference of the installer.

The design is poor for exactly the reason it bit you. If they had located the electrical connections by 90 deg , the shorting would probably happen less often. However, it still amazes me the number of people that will install electrical components with the bare terminal either shorted or at risk of shorting.