No power to fuses

[Irondog]

I'm having one heck of a time here. My nephew bought a 1980 XS100. He heard it run before he bought it. Anyway, he did a couple of frame mods...turned it into a hard-tail and lowered it a bit. Well, the problem is this....the battery is hot...fully charged. There is power to the solenoid since it comes right off the battery and a small wire splits off and plugs in under the seat area. It's hot too, of course. The starter turns over when I jump the solenoid. That's where my dilemma begins. I turn the key on and hit the starter button. Nothing. I looked at the fuse block and there is no power going to them with the key on or off. There is also a fuse just to the lower left of the fuse block, all by itself. No power there, either. I'm at a loss.
At any rate.....anyone have any ideas?
Thanks in advance for any help.

[dpotter58]

the left lower fuse is so you can add something later. there is a main fuse under the left side cover on some if not all of them. check it

[DGXSER]

The smaller red wire you mentioned is the power to the main fuse. The main sue is under the left hand side cover (removed with the key switch underneath it) If it is still there. The main fuse is in a black rubber housing, a spare fuse is in that housing with it.

Power flows from that fuse to the key switch via a red wire. Check if you have power at the red wire to the key switch. If you have power there, the key switch may need to be cleaned up. With the key on, all of the fuses in the small panel by the solenoid should have power to them. One tan wire fromt he key switch feeds three of the fuses, a separate blue wire form the key switch feeds the tail light circuit.

[Irondog]

That's exactly what it was. I pulled the cap off of the little black fuse holder and I immediately seen the problem. The glass fuse was in pieces. I replaced it with the spare (and a mental note to get another one soon), hooked the battery back up, turned the key on....the lights lit, hit the starter switch and great news...it cranked.
Thanks a lot for the info. I was scratching my head and not having a clue as to what to check next. I had no idea that there was a separate fuse on the opposite side of the bike that supplied the entire bike.
Thanks again.

[Irondog]

...although, it does make me wonder. Why was the glass fuse in pieces? Hmmmmm......

[Jfries]

because they suck! lol i suggest while your under there messes you should buy one of Tc's fuse blocks. It updates it to modern fuses and help the current flow better and will last a lot longer for only like 9-10 bucks. this way you wont be chases more fuse problems later :P

[DGXSER]

First thing I suggest is find a post by Catatonic Bug and follow the link in his signature to download the manuals on the bike. They have wiring diagrams in them.

As to why the fuse was in pieces, well, depending what all took place to beat and bend and work the frame as it was hard tailed it may have been the subject of a misguided blow. If it looks burned in any one spot, it may have been shorted at some point and blown to pieces.

[fredintoon]

- - - Anyway, he did a couple of frame mods...turned it into a hard-tail and lowered it a bit. - - -

Hi Rick,
it's the speed god's way of tormenting the wayward hardtailing child, is all.
But WTF they put the main fuse all the way over there by itself, who knows?
Took me a while to find mine the first time Mr Careless made a short circuit and it blew.
As has been posted, the old-fashioned glass tube fuse block is best replaced with a modern blade fuse block. Put the main 30Amp fuse in there too.

[Irondog]

Sounds like a plan, switching out the fuse block to a more modern spade type. After all this and it is cranking now, the tail-light fuse....the one all the way to the left has now lost power. No power to either side of the fuse. Someone told me something about the headlight not having any power until the bike was actually running. Is it the same (if true) for the tail-light? And if that's so, how is one to do any kind of work on this without the bike running?

[Irondog]

...and is there a fuse block upgrade that I can buy that fits where the old one was? ....or do I just buy one and make it fit? Jfries mentioned something about TC's fuse block. Is this a brand or conversion? ???

[Cobia]

You're lucky that only your main fuse blew. Seems to me that if a lot of welding was done without consideration to the electrical system, you could have caused a lot more considerable damage to such items as the TC and/or the regulator.... Consider yourself lucky.

[jetmechmarty]

...and is there a fuse block upgrade that I can buy that fits where the old one was? ....or do I just buy one and make it fit? Jfries mentioned something about TC's fuse block. Is this a brand or conversion? ???

TC is our moderator. He can "hook you up" with a fuse box. You'll have to make some minor modifications.

[DGXSER]

Hey Dog, that blue wire to the fuse block comes straight from your key switch. So no power to either side means there is an issue at the switch, or its connector.

TC = TopCat, the main site administrator/moderator. He buys in bulk and resells to members a nice fuse block that is a great upgrade from the stock one.

[Irondog]

Hey Dog, that blue wire to the fuse block comes straight from your key switch. So no power to either side means there is an issue at the switch, or its connector.

TC = TopCat, the main site administrator/moderator. He buys in bulk and resells to members a nice fuse block that is a great upgrade from the stock one.

I put a new key switch in. All seems to work fine other than no power to tail-light fuse.

[DGXSER]

Well, the blue wire gets power straight from the main switch. There are tow wires that power the fuse box, a Tan wire that splits into three at the fuse box, and the Blue wire that runs individually to the fuse box. The Blue wire runs directly to the fuse panel and then to the tail light. Now something to keep in mind is that the original fuse box is a known issue. Not getting power at the clip the fuse goes into is not the same as no power to the wire. You can try pulling the headlight out, turn on the key switch, and check for power at each side of the key switch wire connector. Meaning put your probe in the connector with it connected to see if you have power on each side. Then go to the fuse box and check for power on the actual blue wire. If your bike is a standard, you could also check for power at the parking lights, also blue wires at each front turn signal.