Topic: Blew three 15 amp fuses in a row.

[Mingo]

Okay, I was typing on Ipad in garage. Here's what I meant to say:

I went out to the garage, put new fuses in and turned on the ignition.  Then I pressed the rear brake. Then I pressed the rear and front brake together and blew the FUSE.  I put another in and pulled both brakes and again blew the 15a fuse.  Engine is not running.

I went inside and posted about display lights dimming when I pull front brake lever.

I. Go back out to garage and look for red and black WIRES that might short

I don't find any under seat, on frame or in headlight.

I. Do find a loose white male lead in headlight that sparks against a grind, so I cover it with shrink hose. (ACTUALLY, I WENT BACK AND ATTACHED THAT TO THE HEADLIGHT. NOW MY HEADLIGHT WORKS ON LOW BEAM).

I can't get the side cover under the shift lever off as all screws are seized and many are stripped.

Now that i have jiggled everything around, I can't get the fuse to blow anymore, NOR do the lights dim when I pull the brake lever. I found the leads from the f brake switch in the headlight and tried to make that work' but couldn't. The BLACK lead from that switch just sat in the headlight unconnected.  The greenish lead with a yellow line connected to a like wire in the harness. I tried to short the green/yellow line to GROUND to get the light to work, but nothing happened


TOOTIRED:

I'll check to see if the fuse gets hot in a moment, when I take it for a test ride.

The fuses blow right in the middle, very obvious that they are severed.

As far as I know, the coils, headlights, etc. are stock. The bike has new turn signals.

I'll put a 20A fuse in and see. Is it reasonably safe for me to drive around the neighborhood with a 20A fuse in there?

MRONEGEAR:

Great. Thanks. I connected the black lead to a hot black lead and now the brake light works.



BOLLINGBALL:

I hear you and you're right. I've been wondering when someone on the board would get fed up with my questions. No disrespect taken.

I don't know what you mean by "do it right," however, when it comes to shorting the wires from the clutch perch. I don't have a clutch perch that allows for the switch to be attached. So, I followed the two leads from the clutch perch into the headlight bucket. and found the two leads that attach to the two leads going to the clutch perch. Then I connected the two leads in the headlight bucket and shrink tubed it. Now I can start the bike without pulling the clutch.

What would you advise me to do with the clutch wires differently?

[TwoTired]

I. Go back out to garage and look for red and black WIRES that might short

I don't find any under seat, on frame or in headlight.

You really need to learn Honda color code convention.  It is listed in the FAQ.

Aftermarket devices seldom conform to Honda convention and YOU have to do the translation.  In aftermarket convention Black means Ground and red mean power or +12V.

In Honda Parlance, Black means +12V (after the keyswitch), and red means battery POS terminal connection.
Green means frame GND or Battery NEG connection.

The greenish lead with a yellow line connected to a like wire in the harness. I tried to short the green/yellow line to GROUND to get the light to work, but nothing happened.

Green/yel is power TO the stop lamp element.  Ground that and apply the brake and your stop light fuse should blow.

Why don't you have a wire diagram?

The fuses blow right in the middle, very obvious that they are severed.

That's an indication of over current rather than over temp.  So, you likely have a Honda Black wire touching frame somewhere.  Whereas your add-on lights need black wires grounded, or better yet, attached to harness greens.

I'll put a 20A fuse in and see. Is it reasonably safe for me to drive around the neighborhood with a 20A fuse in there?

Yes. This is an alternative method to see if you are operating at too near the 15A fuse limit.  Shorting or grounding wires will make this fuse blow, as well.  But, isolates a "fuse-too-small" due to added loads.

[bollingball]

Also worth noting, maybe, that My clutch perch broke, so I bought an after market perch and just shorted out the circuit that keeps the bike from starting unless the clutch is pulled.
Mingo Not fed up at all just want to make sure I and others understand what the issues are so you get this thing fixed. Just want to help
I don't know what you mean by "do it right," however, when it comes to shorting the wires from the clutch perch. I don't have a clutch perch that allows for the switch to be attached.I meant get the correct parts. I do under stand this can be hard to find or not in the budget. I understand now you just by passed the frt. sw. Normally when someone talks about a short it means a hot wire has found a ground and that will blow a fuse or melt the insulation on a wire.

What would you advise me to do with the clutch wires differently?You did what you had to do with no frt.sw. Nothing wrong with that.
 So where do you stand now? What is not working? I'm afraid that you jiggled the wires and it stopped but you did not see the wire that caused it. It may come back. It could have been one of those wires you found hanging loose and you did fix it when you hooked them up.

Ken

[LesterPiglet]

I. Do find a loose white male lead in headlight that sparks against a grind, so I cover it with shrink hose. (ACTUALLY, I WENT BACK AND ATTACHED THAT TO THE HEADLIGHT. NOW MY HEADLIGHT WORKS ON LOW BEAM).

Wouldn't the loose white wire in the headlamp for low beam that sparked be the main culprit here? I gather as soon as the ignition is switched the light comes on.
I seem to be missing some dialogue.

[Mingo]

I. Do find a loose white male lead in headlight that sparks against a grind, so I cover it with shrink hose. (ACTUALLY, I WENT BACK AND ATTACHED THAT TO THE HEADLIGHT. NOW MY HEADLIGHT WORKS ON LOW BEAM).

Wouldn't the loose white wire in the headlamp for low beam that sparked be the main culprit here? I gather as soon as the ignition is switched the light comes on.
I seem to be missing some dialogue.

I hope so.

After plugging in the white wire, and taking off and thoroughly cleaning the fuse holder, as well as checking and jiggling all the connections I could see, I went out for a 30 mile ride, with no problems at all.

My fingers are crossed that the problem was just the disconnected white, low-beam lead.

Thanks for all the input, everyone.

[scottly]

Your bike should have three fuses: a 15 amp Main, a 7 amp Headlight, and a 5 amp Tail-light. The white wire shorting to ground should have blown the 7 amp fuse, leaving the main fuse intact. Make sure you have the proper headlight fuse; if it is larger than 15 amps, then the main fuse would have blown first, killing ALL power, including the ignition.

[Mingo]

Scottly, I had an 8 amp fuse in the headlight fuse socket, so I guess that wasn't it.

Maybe just sanding down the fuse holders? I had already done that before--though somewhat less thoroughly.

[scottly]

The white wire shorting to ground should have blown the 8 amp before the 15 amp. Your fuses were blown in the middle, not over-heated and melted at the end from a bad fuse holder. How about posting a pic of your electric panel, on the left side of the bike. Something just isn't adding up here???

[Mingo]

The white wire shorting to ground should have blown the 8 amp before the 15 amp. Your fuses were blown in the middle, not over-heated and melted at the end from a bad fuse holder. How about posting a pic of your electric panel, on the left side of the bike. Something just isn't adding up here???

[scottly]

It may just be the picture, but it sort of looks like a couple of the wires on the fuse block plug, partially hidden behind the ground cable, are charred? That's all I've got.

[LesterPiglet]

Shouldn't the white wire in the lamp be sheathed anyway? Has someone altered something in there?

[Mingo]

Shouldn't the white wire in the lamp be sheathed anyway? Has someone altered something in there?

The PO, or POs, have altered things in there. And a few things, like the front brake light switch were disconnected. However, the white wire ended in a bullet connector, and the sheathing was on the disconnected female terminal.

[Duke McDukiedook]

Looks like you are beginning to get things sorted out electrically, like was said before you will want to replace that old fuse block with an automotive AGC block. That will make getting new fuses a lot easier than those old glass shorties and won't be as sensitive to vibration.