Out of nowhere the main fuse at the battery decided to melt itself!? This was installed by a PO and I'm wondering if 40a was too much? It would seem that a lesser fuse would have blown and I remember reading that it was originally a 30a? Luckily I was able to cut the fuze out on the side of the road and splice in a 30a to get home. But I'm curious what would cause this if everything has been fine recently?
The only thing that was odd was my bike seemed to slip out of 4th gear into almost a "neutral" (engine revved but no power until I shifted to another gear). But I would imagine this is a separate issue with the clutch/trans.
Main fuse fire!
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- sickradsean
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Main fuse fire!
1977 GL1000 "Goldie"
- Whiskerfish
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Re: Main fuse fire!
Have had 2 of those mini fuses do that exact thing. Need to replace with the full size and then make it a yearly scheduled thing to clean the connections.
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2008 GL1800 IIIA "TH3DOG"
1975/6/7/8/9 Arthur Fulmer Dressed Road bike
1975 Naked Noisy and Nasty in town bike
and a whole garage full of possibilities!!
Psst. oh and by the way CHANGE YOUR BELTS!!!!
- sickradsean
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Re: Main fuse fire!
It was a regular size fuse. I think the fact that it was a 40a and not a 30a is why it fried and didn’t just pop. Im gonna replace the assembly and put in the correct size, but im still curious as to what caused it.
1977 GL1000 "Goldie"
- tlbranth
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Re: Main fuse fire!
Like Whisker said, it's the resistance caused by corrosion on the fuse legs and/or the connectors. Heat caused the meltdown, high amperage is what would've blown the fuse. Two different things entirely.
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Don't own a Vanagon
Don't work at Boeing
Life is good
1999 GL1500 SE
2002 Honda VT750 "ACE"
1975 GL1000
1970 CB750
- Sidecar Bob
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Re: Main fuse fire!
Yep. When everything is fresh & clean the contact between the fuse and the terminal in the fuse holder has close enough to no resistance that no heat will occur but if the connection between the fuse and the holder was corroded or loose resistance would develop, which causes voltage to drop across the connection proportional to the resistance and the amount of current.
Voltage x current = power which must be dissipated as heat, which causes more corrosion, increasing the resistance and thus the voltage, resulting in more power = more heat = more corrosion = higher resistance & so on until it gets hot enough to melt something.
The easy way to prevent this is to 1) make sure the terminals inside the fuse holder (or any other similar terminals in any connector) are good & snug and 2) unplug & re-plug them every few years (pushes the oxidation out of the way resulting in a clean connection).
Re the transmission slipping out of gear, that was most likely because you didn't quite kick it hard enough when shifting. Missed shifts happen (and usually when someone is watching ). Unless it happens a lot don't worry about it and if it does concentrate on your technique before you look for a mechanical problem.
Voltage x current = power which must be dissipated as heat, which causes more corrosion, increasing the resistance and thus the voltage, resulting in more power = more heat = more corrosion = higher resistance & so on until it gets hot enough to melt something.
The easy way to prevent this is to 1) make sure the terminals inside the fuse holder (or any other similar terminals in any connector) are good & snug and 2) unplug & re-plug them every few years (pushes the oxidation out of the way resulting in a clean connection).
Re the transmission slipping out of gear, that was most likely because you didn't quite kick it hard enough when shifting. Missed shifts happen (and usually when someone is watching ). Unless it happens a lot don't worry about it and if it does concentrate on your technique before you look for a mechanical problem.
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Another guy with two sidecars..... Hmmmm... must be something to that....
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