Blown fuse

[mikey]

Out on the Z yesterday and it blew the main fuse no drama i thought always carry couple spares, put spare one in and promptly blew that one and the next one, called the rac, guy turns up puts in a fuse and doesnt blow kept the bike running and wiggled the loom here and there and still wouldnt blow, so rac man follows me home and alls well went out to it just now turned the key and alls well any thoughts anybody?.

[StephenW]

Hi Mate
I had the same with my Z1A.
Traced it to the handle bar kill switch, which had a bare wirer.
Took a while to find.

Good luck

[steve bowdler]

I have had the same but traced to the horn wires shorting out , I beleive I have cured it but still carry loads of fuses just waiting for it to blow again even though its been over a year, . Also the quality of these fuses are not the best ,still trying to purchase a couple of fuses from a jet ski shop as apparently they use high quality glass fuses.

[kev edwards]

Had similar on mine , was a folded wire , i also put a modern fuse box in mine , a much better system , been ok for three years now , also recently modded my brothers csr box with a trip as the main fuse.

[BShaw]

Had a similar problem on old A2 it was a dodgy earth, strangley my A1 has started blowing fuses recently, that reminds me I need tu get some more fuses.

[mikey]

Thanks guys been allover it today cant find no loose or bare wires and jiggled the loom this way and that way and it still wont blow guess ill have to carry a good stock of spare fuses just in case

[m1ks]

Bit of a bugger.
If you check my recent threads you'll see i've had a similar prob.
All you can do is systematically go through them and find the fault, if you've blown two on the trot then the third was OK it has to be a temporary short or bad earth.
Check your earth for connection and cleanliness and have a look through your loom at the front end and handlebar switches.
Unless it's blowing currently it's tricky to locate if it does it again unplug all your front end connections in the headlight bowl then fit the fuse and plug each in in turn and see what happens.
It's possible that it just blew due to age and the replacement after rattling around in your pocket was a blown fuse just waiting to be fitted, the glass fuses were always a bugger for that, i used to carry a few loose in my jacket but they used to crack or the caps would twist etc, the modern push type are better but would need a new box fitting, easy enough with the few wires in there.
mine turned out to be the clock light which was a push in bulb type like your average sidelight, the connectors had gotten pushed toghether, bloody annoying when you've spent three days trying to find it.
Good luck with yours.

You'd think in this day and age thered be a handy little star trek gadget which allowed you to wave it over the loom and pinpoint the fault, bloody sci fi tv, promises great things and doesn't deliver, i'm still waiting for my lightsaber

[mikey]

Now that would be a handy bit of kit to have thanks for the pointers though.

[jonhunt]

Got the same problem. I replaced the starter button last year & created a short. Happened again a couple of weeks ago blew about three fuses. Finally brokje the spay off the fuse & that worked & I didn't fry the wiring (only way to get home). Stripped & reassembley the handlebar switch all ok now I hope!

[mick znone]

M1ks beat me to it, fuses rattling about will blow, had problems on mine last Saturday, mot day it was a crimped wire on the kill switch. ive sorted the wire, alls good.....as a precaution ive put some insulating tape around the bars under the switch block. re booked for an mot tomorrow after work. i like the different fuse idea, im going to do that, thanks

[zeroed]

gbh knows all about blown fuses, normally after i`ve put him straight

[Pigford]

gbh knows all about blown fuses, normally after i`ve put him straight

[m1ks]

M1ks beat me to it, fuses rattling about will blow, had problems on mine last Saturday, mot day it was a crimped wire on the kill switch. ive sorted the wire, alls good.....as a precaution ive put some insulating tape around the bars under the switch block. re booked for an mot tomorrow after work. i like the different fuse idea, im going to do that, thanks

Tut tut, sacrificing originality for more reliable fuses, shame on you!!

Tape under the switchgear, great idea and my first couple of bikes were like that and it never twigged regarding the practical (short prob) aspect, I always assumed it was to add girth, (ooeer missis), to the bar to fit the switch tighter.
Will be doing that before I nip everything up again.

[mikey]

Been over 4 weeks since this happened been all over the bike in that time and since i replaced the fuse its been fine

[BShaw]

Mikey, The fuses on mine have gone at different mileage's like 1000 mls between probs an then 50 mls between... I blew one at Newcastle on the way to Scotland a couple of years back and was worried but next one didn't go for a year, They are cheap and take a bit of stick on old bikes, if you're not worried about originality change it for a blade type... when i wire my project I will put a proper fuse box in it.