HELP - electrical problem.

[Tony Down Under]

I've been wiring up a set of cree LED lights and I've been using the active wire from the the three pin plug which is used to power the OEM additional driving lights. I think the wire is brown and is only active when the ignition is turned on. I've used an earth from the battery terminal. It is a simple circuit with a handlebar mounted switch and the LED lights are only being used as daytime running lights. I have an in line 5amp fuse in place. I've been turning the ignition on and off a few times to check the circuit and all has been good and then suddenly I've switched the ignition back on and no power to crank the engine. No dash lights. I've got Indicator/lights/stop/tail/parking lights but nothing else. Checked fuses all look OK. Any suggestions please!!!

Thanks in advance,

Tony

 

[dirtsailor]

The battery could be drained...I'm not sure but start going through your fuses again to double check since that would be the only reason that comes to mind when other systems work with power available but some do not. I'm an aviation electrician and that's my quick trouble shooting but let me know bud. Any other info on this gripe would help in my assessment. ::002::

 

[Tony Down Under]

Thanks dirtsailer. I went back and rechecked all fuses and found that the 20 amp ignition fuse had blown. Replaced the same and the bike fired up....problem solved. I must have missed it the first time around. I'm still a bit perplexed as to how it blew though. On the LED light circuit I had a dimmer switch which appears to have failed as well. I've wired up additional lights and accessories on many of my other bikes without a problem.

 

[offcamber]

You might want to put a relay into that circuit. I am not sure how much the lights draw but it may be good idea...

 

[dirtsailor]

im not certain what would blow a 20amp fuse. Thats a huge draw for start up and unless theres a short to ground someway i cant explain the feeder fault. ::005::

 

[Juan]

Sometimes you wonder how a fuse blows up. More than a year ago I installed the GiPro gear indicator and connected the power to the wiring feeding the Aux socket on the dash. I did not cut any wires - just tapped into them. When everything was done, I turned the ignition key to fire the bike to programme the GiPro and sure enough there was nothing on the GiPro. It took me some time to find out that the 3amp fuse of the Aux power outlet had blown and I still cannot understand what caused it to blow. Before I tapped into the wiring the socket outlet had power as I used to plug the GPS into it. Since then all has been good.

 

[Tony Down Under]

Thanks everyone! I still can't figure out why the 20 amp fuse blew. On the multimeter the LED lights combined only draw 1.4 amps. As Offcamber suggested I'll make up another circuit with a relay in it and only use the OEM aux light plug to provide power to trip the relay only. I'll now take power for the LED lights directly from the battery with an inline fuse. I'll also try another type of dimmer unit and hopefully all should be good.

 

[Koinz]

im not certain what would blow a 20amp fuse. Thats a huge draw for start up and unless theres a short to ground someway i cant explain the feeder fault. ::005::

::026::

 

[kvango]

Good reason to carry spare fuses.

My land cruiser (pretty much flawless at 180k) wouldn't start one day . . . no fuel coming through. Checked the fuses and my EFI fuse was blown. Actually looked like it melted the socket a little, so perhaps a bad fuse.

There are a few spares on the S10 - but I'm taping a few more under my seat - thanks to this post.
::26::

im not certain what would blow a 20amp fuse. Thats a huge draw for start up and unless theres a short to ground someway i cant explain the feeder fault. ::005::

 

[Tony Down Under]

I found the problem with the dead short.....it's definitely got nothing to do with the S10's electrical system. After pulling one of the Cree LED lights apart, I found that some poor soldering of the earth wire on the circuit board was making contact with the light's metal housing which was earthing on the bike's frame through the light bracket causing the dead short. Phew...what a headache! I'll think twice about buying cheap LED lights via Ebay in future!

 

[Checkswrecks]

Good reason to carry spare fuses.

My land cruiser (pretty much flawless at 180k) wouldn't start one day . . . no fuel coming through. Checked the fuses and my EFI fuse was blown. Actually looked like it melted the socket a little, so perhaps a bad fuse.

There are a few spares on the S10 - but I'm taping a few more under my seat - thanks to this post.
::26::

Damage to the socket is an indicator of possible corrosion, because it means there is resistance in the connection where it heated.
Our roads get treated with salt and the problem here is so bad that I won't take the bikes out till we get a couple of good cleansing rains.
You might consider pulling the fuses, using some contact cleaner, and re-installing them with dielectric grease.