got an electrical gremlin and need some advice

[allisonmo2]

81 special

when i got it the battery was completely dry. i filled it with plain water - no electrolyte because i figured the battery was toast anyway. well it holds a charge just fine so i left it.

here's my problem,
on the drivers side under the side panel in front of the battery there is a pair of red wires with a little rubber block that holds 2 glass fuses one 10a and one 30 a on the right slot.

i do not know if this is factory or done by the po but the other day i was riding down the highway and the bike went dead while i was doing about 70. i pulled over and immediately found that fuse blown. (30a) i had changed it and all was okay.

now as of the past few days the battery is boiling the water out and is on my pipe! so today i went riding down the street i was racing through 3rd about 6 or 7k and it went dead again. i knew what was wrong so i pulled out some spare fuses and replaced the blown one but when i put the cap on it blew immediately. did that 3 times before i got my pick up to bring it home. i had the key on the groung because i just used it to remove the panel so nothing was energized.

i don't know if the 2 problems are related. tomorrow i will pull the seat and see if i can find a bare wire that may be shorting to blow the fuse. i can't start the bike though to throw a voltmeter on the battery to see if the rectifier is overcharging it.


also on the other side of the bike there is a misc. green wire with a bullet connector on the end that is not plugged into anything. the top of the wire is on a stud of the box that the starter wire comes from. any ideas if this may be related or where it should be going? i can't see a receptacle for it.
- just for some background the po was an electrical whiz! when i pulled the sidecover last weekend to see what the fuseblock looked like i found the entire wire loom was electrical taped together!! it took me about half an hour to put in connectors for everything.


any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

[John]

The fuse on the left side in the rubber holder is the MAIN fuse. You'll need to trace the wiring to find a short. Are any other fuses on the righ side blowing? If not then the problem lies between the main fuse and the fuse panel.

[allisonmo2]

the fuses on the right side are all fine. the left one is the only problem. i'll pull the seat tom and see what i can find.


any ideas on the battery?

[Geezer]

The voltage regulator senses line voltage from the brown wire and the rectifier outputs power from the red wire. The red wire feeds power to the brown wire when the ignition switch is turned on. If the connection here is bad it will fool the regulator into thinking the line voltage is low and it gives more power to the field coil increasing charging and boiling over the battery.

Check the plug on the ignition switch. The terminals are probably corroded and the plug will be melted. The proper fix is to install new terminals and plugs on the switch and plugs.

Geezer

[allisonmo2]

is the voltage supplied altered by throttle input? if so could that be blowing the main fuse? when it popped this time i was pulling probably close to 7k rpm. and if that is correct why would the fuse keep getting blown when i put new ones in with the ignition off and the key out?

[Geezer]

Voltage will increase with RPM to the point where the regulator cuts it off. However I think the fuse is slowly cooking off because of the high resistance from the connections.

Geezer

[allisonmo2]

when i got stuck today. i pulled the blown fuse. then i put an new one in and when - with the key out and ignition off - when i re-connected the rubber cap it popped the fuse again. i did that with all 3 fuses i had. nothing should have been energized.

[Winterhawk]

Aren't those accessory fuses? Sounds like some crossed wires.

[Geezer]

If you're blowing fuses that fast, something is shorted. This doesn't fit with your original description of the problem.

Geezer

[allisonmo2]

so today i went riding down the street i was racing through 3rd about 6 or 7k and it went dead again. i knew what was wrong so i pulled out some spare fuses and replaced the blown one but when i put the cap on it blew immediately. did that 3 times before i got my pick up to bring it home. i had the key on the groung because i just used it to remove the panel so nothing was energized.




-that was in my first post. the main fus on the left side not the accessory fuses on the right. there was no power. just put in a new fuse, re-connect and pop. 3 times in a row.

[TopCatGr58]

As has been suggested before in OTHER threads(hint-search), PULL ALL of your fuses out of the fuse block, then put your main back in and see if it blows, then one by one put the other fuses back in, and when/if the main blows, then you can get an idea of which circuit you'll need to check/investigate by which fuse caused it to blow, the turn signals, lights, ignition, etc!

Aside from like you said about wires under the seat, the other common place is near the steering head and inside the headlight bucket. Good luck chasing down the gremlin!
T.C.

[John]

It sounds like the problem lies between the main fuse and the fuse panel. I haven't studied the schematic for this problem, but common sense will tell you that. I say that because the fuse for the affected circuit in the panel should blow before the main fuse UNLESS the circuit fuse is rated higher than the main fuse, i.e. the wrong amperage circuit fuse. Ok, I just looked at the schematic, and it is possible that the problem lies between the main fuse and the ignition switch if it blows as soon as you replace the fuse. Remove the headlight and locate the connector for the ignition switch. Unplug it and install another fuse, and see if it pops or not. If it does, then look at the wiring or the voltage regulator. The regulator is in the main fuse circuit, unplug it, and see what happens. If it blows then it is probably a short to ground. It could be in the switch, but I don't think so. If it didn't blow then unplug the hazard flasher. The flasher is powered up even when the switch is off. Replace the main fuse, reconnect the switch, and see if it blows again. If the fuse blows then the hazard circuit is the problem. If not, then the problem definitly is between the switch and the panel. If it doesn't blow, then pull all the other fuses. Turn the switch on and replace the fuses one at a time. When the main pops, then the last fuse you replaced is in the affected circuit. Then start checking the wires and those components in that circuit. You should find it then.
Are conFUSEd yet?

[skids]

Originally posted by allisonmo2
when i got stuck today. i pulled the blown fuse. then i put an new one in and when - with the key out and ignition off - when i re-connected the rubber cap it popped the fuse again. i did that with all 3 fuses i had. nothing should have been energized.

I know you don't have an E model, but with that model, I believe the red wire that goes to the keyed switch is always hot unless the fuse blows. It is from the battery and is only connected to the volt regulator and the spare terminal assembly. The other two wires from the key switch (blue wire and brown wire) are only hot with the key on and with the red wire still hot.

You are right in that no accessories (except for the spare under the right side cover) should be active with the key off. The red must be shorting to ground...

[allisonmo2]

[IMG][/IMG]


all the electrical tape in the loom was from the po's attempt at wiring.

i didn't get to the bike today but will tomorrow. will let you know what i find

[John]

Holy Sheep Dip!

I've seen plates of spaghetti that look more organized than that! Good luck chasing the gremlins out of that mess.