ugh/// mods result in blown fuses

[Raux]

OK so i did the CW short tail for the 696 and put in two new sylvania 4k bulbs, took off teh charcoal canister.

turn the power on, check turn signals. check
brake lights. check
low beam. uh no
tail light. uh no
high beam. uh no
check engine light on.
hmmm
start bike. check
still not lights
turn switch to parking light. check.uh no. pow
fuse blows
15a light fuse blown
change it. no power. nothing
pull apart tank covers. 30A main fuse blown.
crap... what happened???

[BomberHead]

did something wrong?

[CairnsDuc]

Ah, the joys of electrical gremlins, First and foremost though, don't panic, these things happen.

Don't replace the fuse yet, and don't even think about replacing it with a bigger one!

I would suggest taking it all apart again and check all of your electrical connections again, check for wires that may have had the outer insulation cut/rubbed off, check that when you bolted everything back together that a wire was not pinched between a nut/bolt/frame.

Un plug your new bulbs, they may have a short in them (it is rare but it does happen) also double check your plugs and wires at the back of the headlight, when you screwed/bolted it all back together, did a wire get cut or pinched.

Also, are your new bulbs the same wattage as the old bulbs? EG: are they 55 watt bulbs? some new bulbs are much higher wattage and that may be to much current draw and the fuse popped.

Let us know what you find.

[Raux]

did something wrong?

  i almost laughed

[Raux]

Ah, the joys of electrical gremlins, First and foremost though, don't panic, these things happen.

Don't replace the fuse yet, and don't even think about replacing it with a bigger one!

I would suggest taking it all apart again and check all of your electrical connections again, check for wires that may have had the outer insulation cut/rubbed off, check that when you bolted everything back together that a wire was not pinched between a nut/bolt/frame.

Un plug your new bulbs, they may have a short in them (it is rare but it does happen) also double check your plugs and wires at the back of the headlight, when you screwed/bolted it all back together, did a wire get cut or pinched.

Also, are your new bulbs the same wattage as the old bulbs? EG: are they 55 watt bulbs? some new bulbs are much higher wattage and that may be to much current draw and the fuse popped.

Let us know what you find.

ok, let's go through this, the only wire i maybe saw an issue with is the new License Plate light with the blade ends, they leave metal exposed and may have contacted (IMHO this is a bad design on the wiring with the kit, they dont really take into account what to do with all that extra wire)
the new bulbs up front are an H7 12V/55W Sylvania Silverstar Ultra and H1 12V/55W Sylvania Silverstar

If i unhook the rear wiring harness and the front bulb harness can i turn the bike on with the new fuses to do a quick neutral check. this won't cause a problem without the harness on will it?
Then hook up the front lights one at a time and test it between each?
Finally if they work then i will unhook the LP light and try the rear harness.

then if all is well, it will be the thing i suspect now, the blade plugs touching metal or each other somehow. I will run and get some shrink wrap when i get the new fuses just in case.

This is the plan, now to execute, and hopefully not blow up my bike.

[CairnsDuc]

If you don't have a multimeter this is probably the only way to fault find, I don't suggest it, but sometimes you have to work with what you got.

unplug each part you modded or touched, plug one in and try it, if the fuse does not blow, unplug that part and try another, keep going this way until all the parts have been checked and confirmed OK.

If the spade connections are exposed try putting some tape around them just while your checking everything else.
have a look at the exposed terminals, are there any little scorch or burn marks on them?
 
If you have checked everything else and it all appears to be working I would suggest putting some heat shrink over those exposed terminals to make sure they will be safe long term, electrical tapes has a habit of falling off as time goes by.

I hate spade and bullet terminals, if it is a connection I will only ever remove once in a blue moon, I solder and heat shrink, too many years doing car audio installs and many a late night spent chasing a silly electrical fault all because of a loose bullet/spade terminal.

[Raux]

thank you very much.

[CairnsDuc]

Let us all know what you find, The more information on the board the better and it will help others if they have these issues at a later stage. 

[Raux]

k will do.
trying to find a 30A fuse is a lot harder than you think.

[brimo]

+ 1 on all that cairnsduc has said, I'm an electrical tech on both high and low voltage stuff and without a multimeter, that's what you are gonna have to do.
I would suggest one more thing and probably the most important is have a good look first, a  visual inspection before you plug anything in may pick up where the short is, to blow a 30 amp fuse is a fair old splat, so you may even see some damage where it occurred.

Good Luck. Andrew

[Raux]

ok the gremlin is definitely in the A$$ end.
unplugged the tail wiring and no blwon fuses
the new lights WOW they are white never realized how yellow the stock were.
especially compared to the middle light which i never knew was on before because it was the same color.
now i need to find an H6 bulb for the middle light. H6 someone has said.

i'm gonna wait to fix the tail lights until when my new short tail gets here. i think it was those blade connecters for the License plate light, they are awfully loose in their cases.

[CairnsDuc]

Have you been riding since?
is it still blowing fuses?

I was wondering how you had got on with this.

[Raux]

funny thing. i was supposed to be on the plane to europe so i never registered the bike and now i have no tags.