Main fuse blowing?

[Griff1977]

Argh, three steps forward and one step back!

I've had panels off the bike recently, carbs off, added a eastern beaver relay kit, givi top box frame and now it's all back together, the main fuse is blowing.

I've taken all of my extra connections off battery terminals, so relay kit is not interfering. I swapped my finned R/R for the original and its still doing it?

Does anybody have any ideas on where to start?

Argh! Griff.

[AMCQ46]

You might have done the same as lloydie and disturbed the wiring loom where a previous owner has bogged the removal of an alarm. Are three any signs of non standard taping up? If there look there first

When you say you renoved the relay supply terminals again, did you take Did you also remove the ignition signal line?

[lloydie]

Check the connections on the r/r first

[bluestoesonnose]

If you've got a meter, just go thought the wiring, it'll be a rub through or a bit of bodged wiring somewhere. If not a visual check will be as good but take longer. It can be frustrating to find but it'll be a simple fix.

[tony.mon]

Disconnect everything, then fit a new fuse. Connect things one at a time, checking fuse each time. When you find that plugging a particular plug in blows the fuse, there's the place to start.

There are only one par of identical connectors on the Storm, a small white one near the battery, which is identical to one in (IIRC) the rubber boot near the top shock mount. It's hard to connect these the wrong way round, as the wires are too short to reach the wrong one, but check anyway.

All the others are unique types/colour combinations, so just reconnect like for like and you can't go wrong.

[Griff1977]

You might have done the same as lloydie and disturbed the wiring loom where a previous owner has bogged the removal of an alarm. Are three any signs of non standard taping up? If there look there first

No old alarm, but thanks Al.

When you say you renoved the relay supply terminals again, did you take Did you also remove the ignition signal line?

Where would the ignition signal line be? The relays I "removed" from the equation were the new eastern beaver wiring. In basic form (no extra gadgets), should the battery have any cables going to it? At mo I havent got any cables attached to battery apart from the main line (live) and an earth on black side.

Check the connections on the r/r first

I thought it might be R/R and so changed back to original, then it has gone again. Ill check connections though.

If you've got a meter, just go thought the wiring, it'll be a rub through or a bit of bodged wiring somewhere. If not a visual check will be as good but take longer. It can be frustrating to find but it'll be a simple fix.

I do have a meter. What am I checking for - continuity checks can find any breaks in wires I guess but how would I check which wires might be causing main fuse to blow?

Disconnect everything, then fit a new fuse. Connect things one at a time, checking fuse each time. When you find that plugging a particular plug in blows the fuse, there's the place to start.

There are only one par of identical connectors on the Storm, a small white one near the battery, which is identical to one in (IIRC) the rubber boot near the top shock mount. It's hard to connect these the wrong way round, as the wires are too short to reach the wrong one, but check anyway.

All the others are unique types/colour combinations, so just reconnect like for like and you can't go wrong.

Cheers Tony, as there are a cluster of wires near battery, near top of the shock, and there are more at rear near tail light. Best to unplug all connections and start from scratch?

Its all a learning game, and I am sure it will feel good when I find the culprit but annoying now as I don't have any time at home apart from seeing kids and wife (Sun-Fri in north Wales). This does give me some empathy with our engineers that work for me, when we get electrical snags with the helos, and they say they are checking bad earths and shorts, we (me) think oh maybe 30mins, 1 hr. 10 hrs later and its "still not found the fault"!!! Respect!

Ill have to leave checking more wires till next weekend, as off to Wales at 6pm tonight. Hope snow doesn't ruin my journey!!

Griff

[lloydie]

i was up north west wales yesterday . my advice is stick to the main roads where you can . m6 m56 a55 were all clear the a487 a499 were like a ice rink .

[Griff1977]

i was up north west wales yesterday . my advice is stick to the main roads where you can . m6 m56 a55 were all clear the a487 a499 were like a ice rink .

Cheers lloydie! I drove back yesterday morning and Anglesey bit of A55 was poor but 1 lane ok. Rest was fine as was M56/M6/M62 so all gravy. Just new snow later might make things worse. Ta again. Griff.

[Griff1977]

Check the connections on the r/r first

Back from Anglesey this afternoon. Missus off to work. Kiddies off to bed. Griff off to garage!!

I disconnected various plugs (including the large one at rear) and no success- main fuse blowing every time. I've gone through 12 fuses!!

However, I decided with everything unplugged, I'd remove the R/R. Well that was interesting. Main fuse no longer blowing! I now plug R/R back in and still all ok. I now offer R/R upto frame to reattach it and earth cable and a few sparks later & another blown fuse!!

My R/R is the finned type and so I put original back on and reconnected everything and all is ok!!

All good but what a pain.

Are there any checks that I can do with a meter to confirm R/R is dead? Just for interest?

Breathe!! Griff.

[VTRDark]

This may be of some help as it's quite thorough and easy to follow http://www.triumphrat.net/speed-triple- ... grade.html I know it's a triumph forum, but the principle is the same. I got the link via Eastern beaver!

It seems the R/R is shorting out on the frame. Now I'm just guessing but it may be something to do with the cable that comes from the generator/stator to the R/R. I seem to recall something about that in the above link. Have you got a spare R/R you can try, even an original unfinned version if you have one lying around. You could at least determine if the fault is with the wiring or the R/R itself then. Looks like your on the right track there anyway.

(:-})

[Wicky]

Griff1977 Weren't you looking for a subframe recently? Did you get one and fit it?

[simo]

You have remembered that the RR wires may go to different terminals on the standard RR. Just a thought.

[tony.mon]

If the finned one was working ok for a time; then it started blowing fuses it has failed and they aren't repairable. No RR will last forever.
Good job you had a spare to prove it isn't the alternator wiring.

Glad you're sorted.

[Griff1977]

Griff1977 Weren't you looking for a subframe recently? Did you get one and fit it?

Wicky, wasn't me !

If the finned one was working ok for a time; then it started blowing fuses it has failed and they aren't repairable. No RR will last forever.
Good job you had a spare to prove it isn't the alternator wiring.

Glad you're sorted.

Cheers Tony. Yep it's been on for a year now. Had bike running at idle for 15 mins. All working. Interesting how warm (hot) the R/R gets! Mine just able to touch! Is this right? Has anybody else felt how hot theirs gets !? Ta. Griff.

[AMCQ46]

Yes they get hot, even the finned R6 unit I have on mine gets hot, so I expect the old standard Honda one with no fins would be hotter.

Good work finding the cause