Topic: aftermarket headlights blowing fuse

[Ernest]

I bought these turn signals, below is the text from the ad and a pic.

Honda CB CM CT 125 200 250 400 450 650 750 750K SIGNALS

You are bidding on a set of FOUR SMALL TURN SIGNALS.

These are single filament 2-wire signals



These have one B/W wire and I attached it to the Blue (left) or Orange (right) headlight wire.

The other solid Black wire I attached to ground.

They are blowing the 15 A fuse. 

Are these just not made for this application or did I wire them in wrong?

They cause the headlight to slightly blink for two, three seconds also, before the fuse goes.

[troppo]

sounds like a dead short somewhere, that is until you mentioned the headlight dimming, that kinda throws me for a loop. unless its not long enough for the fuse to blow, i`m still new to the bikes buta 15 amp sounds like a pretty heavy fuse
sorry i couldnt help

[crazypj]

Black and white is ground for Suzuki so it may be ground through wire and mounting bolt causing a dead short
try connecting black to live and B/W to ground (or pull lens and check which wire is grounded to bulb holder)
PJ

[Ernest]

That's the thing, they work and blink for a few seconds.... and the wiring is all enclosed inside the short stem of the lights.  No way to see how they are attached to the bulb holder.

[troppo]

sounds to me like you might have a short in one of the lights themselves, check the out with a multimeter to narrow down your options

[troppo]

P.S.
does it happen with either side or only one side, it would help to work out whats wrong

[crazypj]

Multi meter.
 Remove lens, remove bulb,  one lead to wire in, one to holder or center contact and see where its connected.
what wattage bulbs are fitted to headlight and indicators?
 I don't think thats the problem, but, its overloading somewhere. (if it was a dead short they wouldn't flash at all)
PJ

[troppo]

Multi meter.
 Remove lens, remove bulb,  one lead to wire in, one to holder or center contact and see where its connected.
what wattage bulbs are fitted to headlight and indicators?
 I don't think thats the problem, but, its overloading somewhere. (if it was a dead short they wouldn't flash at all)
PJ

I was thinking more like
Remove bulb from indicator
Remove indicator from bike
Check for any continuity across wires where they connect to the loom
If this is the only modification done at this time to the bike there has to be something wrong with them unless some damage has been done to the wiring in the process

[jdigga]

I have those same turn signals on my bike and had a similar occurrence with one of them blowing the fuse.

Upon disassembly of the unit I found the two wires shorting together.

This will happen if the wires get twisted too much, say when installing or uninstalling them.

Unscrew the threaded base, remove the lens, and you can push the bulb holder assembly out (towards the lens, not the base).  You'll see one wire is soldered to a metal ring, the other is to a metal post in a little plastic bit.  Check that they're not shorting in that area.  Oh, and don't lose the spring that will pop out.

These are relatively delicate pieces--after I repaired mine I took care to not twist up or pull the wires upon reinstallation.

[Ernest]

I have those same turn signals on my bike and had a similar occurrence with one of them blowing the fuse.

Upon disassembly of the unit I found the two wires shorting together.

This will happen if the wires get twisted too much, say when installing or uninstalling them.

Unscrew the threaded base, remove the lens, and you can push the bulb holder assembly out (towards the lens, not the base).  You'll see one wire is soldered to a metal ring, the other is to a metal post in a little plastic bit.  Check that they're not shorting in that area.  Oh, and don't lose the spring that will pop out.

These are relatively delicate pieces--after I repaired mine I took care to not twist up or pull the wires upon reinstallation.

That's probably it.  I think it is just the left that's doing it, I did bump it and had to reposition it back onto the threaded bolt.

thanks,

[edbikerii]

+1.

I had the same problem with my Lockhart turn sigs with aluminum housings.  The wires were loose and shorted out against either the socket or the aluminum housing and blew out my main fuse.  I went in there last night and straightened everything out.  Replaced the pigtails, etc.  Hopefully it will last this time.  I also bought 5 new 15A fuses and threw them in my tank bag, just in case.

Good luck.

I have those same turn signals on my bike and had a similar occurrence with one of them blowing the fuse.

Upon disassembly of the unit I found the two wires shorting together.

This will happen if the wires get twisted too much, say when installing or uninstalling them.

Unscrew the threaded base, remove the lens, and you can push the bulb holder assembly out (towards the lens, not the base).  You'll see one wire is soldered to a metal ring, the other is to a metal post in a little plastic bit.  Check that they're not shorting in that area.  Oh, and don't lose the spring that will pop out.

These are relatively delicate pieces--after I repaired mine I took care to not twist up or pull the wires upon reinstallation.