Main fuse fire!

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sickradsean
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Main fuse fire!

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Post by sickradsean »

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.

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Whiskerfish
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Re: Main fuse fire!

#2

Post by Whiskerfish »

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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sickradsean
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Re: Main fuse fire!

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Post by sickradsean »

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. 🤔
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tlbranth
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Re: Main fuse fire!

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Post by tlbranth »

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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Sidecar Bob
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Re: Main fuse fire!

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Post by Sidecar Bob »

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 :roll:). 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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