Check those fuse boxes!!

[sKiZo]

Friend was following me on a cruise round the neighborhood and told me I had no brake light or turn signals on my 1983 Heritage Special . Tried them in the station, and they worked fine. Later on, I was told they were gone again. Did a check when I got back home to the garage, and noticed I was missing the neutral light, as well as the headlight. Basically, everything but the engine was gone.

Did some digging, and went to pull the fuses, and one of the springy thingys that hold the glass fuses in holders broke right off. Gave the rest a squeeze and had a couple more break off ... not good! Metal stress strikes!

Rather than try to rebuild the old connections, I went ahead and installed modern blade fuses. Come to find out, a standard ¼" crimp on female disconnect fits the blades perfectly.

Cut the old connectors off the bike's wiring harness (lots of extra wires, so no worries there, and the old clips just slide right out of the box), crimped the new ones on, then wrapped them with black tape to insulate the ends. Also built up some more black tape on the ends away from the terminals to keep them square and spaced properly. Installed them on the fuses, then taped the pairs together to make removable "sockets". The labels are just a bit of glam courtesy of my handy dandy label maker.

Good news ... they fit right in the original fuse box ... the old cover even snaps on to keep things tidy.

Sorry I didn't take pics of my fuse box here showing the broken connectors before I ripped into it - found this on the web to show the original guts.

Took some time to get things right, but way better than what I originally thought. That sort of intermittent thing usually points to some critter munching on the wiring, and that never goes well.

Be interesting to see what others have done ... can't imagine I'm the only one this has happened to.

 

[MacMcMacmac]

I put one of these in:

I trimmed off the long tabs, soldered in the wires, and attached it to the stock plastic box with some short screws after flattening off all the protrusions. Actually, the picture in your post shows a box after the original brass holders have been replaced with steel. That's pretty much what I did with this unit, except I didn't slot new holders into the old box, I installed the new plastic base as well. I don't mind glass fuses, they worked well for over 3 decades, it's the "supporting cast" that lets them down.

 

[mrtwowheel]

Blade fuse conversion that I did on a '81 Honda CB750C, the glass fuses were above the handlebar clamp under a cover.

Scott

 

[retiredgentleman]

Intermittant electrical problems due to the old fuse panel (glass fuses) is a well documented repair on these bikes. I always tell lads, don't even think about using them, just replace them asap......................they will fail on you sooner or later, so best to replace them.

 

[weekendrider]

On the flip side this repair was done in '08 and is still working fine.
I didn't want to cut the wires. Trimmed the remaining "ear" off that left just a tab.
Drilled a small hole in it.

Found a package of replacement clips. @ radio shack I think.
Drilled a hole in the new clip.

Lay the tab inside the new clip and solder.

Slide the assembly into the OEM box. Done.

There are only two knowns.
Yesterday and today, tomorrow never comes.
And I like to save my "somedays" for happy thoughts like:
Someday I'll win the lottery.
Someday I'll grow a decent watermelon in MO.
Someday I'll see whirled peas.
Someday You win the lottery.
Someday You will be able to grow food fit to eat.
Someday You will find peace and contentment with yourself and surroundings.
Someday Everyone will have clean water, food and a place to shelter.

But the reality of RG's world is more likely.
I will die alone, parched and starving, all because I was stranded by a bad glass fuse.

@ MacMcMacmac
I think you are correct there was nothing "wrong" with glass fuses.
The plastic blade type are simply cheaper to make.
It isn't sense that drives the world, it is cents.



.

 

[sKiZo]

Good to know there's options, eh.

Might as well post up what doesn't work as well. Got one of these blade accessory boxes to play around with ...

It's made to tapsix new circuits off one feed, but I figured I'd be able to modify it. No such luck. On the bright side, I was able to put it back together and get my money back.

 

[1979XS650SF2F]

Thanx for this thread, I was wondering what was up with the fuse block array.
Yup,yup, last owner of my bike had just the main hooked up and all the old fuse connectons just hangin' there, YEEEE HAAAWWW !! The bike was FREE, so I can't complain... View attachment 202742 View attachment 202742

 

[1979XS650SF2F]

I will just play it safe and use an appropriate fuse block,or independent fuse holders. Those homemade do dads could short, I never trust tape to isolate power connections.....

 

[1979XS650SF2F]

Friend was following me on a cruise round the neighborhood and told me I had no brake light or turn signals on my 1983 Heritage Special . Tried them in the station, and they worked fine. Later on, I was told they were gone again. Did a check when I got back home to the garage, and noticed I was missing the neutral light, as well as the headlight. Basically, everything but the engine was gone.

Did some digging, and went to pull the fuses, and one of the springy thingys that hold the glass fuses in holders broke right off. Gave the rest a squeeze and had a couple more break off ... not good! Metal stress strikes!

Rather than try to rebuild the old connections, I went ahead and installed modern blade fuses. Come to find out, a standard ¼" crimp on female disconnect fits the blades perfectly.

Cut the old connectors off the bike's wiring harness (lots of extra wires, so no worries there, and the old clips just slide right out of the box), crimped the new ones on, then wrapped them with black tape to insulate the ends. Also built up some more black tape on the ends away from the terminals to keep them square and spaced properly. Installed them on the fuses, then taped the pairs together to make removable "sockets". The labels are just a bit of glam courtesy of my handy dandy label maker.

Good news ... they fit right in the original fuse box ... the old cover even snaps on to keep things tidy.

Sorry I didn't take pics of my fuse box here showing the broken connectors before I ripped into it - found this on the web to show the original guts.

Took some time to get things right, but way better than what I originally thought. That sort of intermittent thing usually points to some critter munching on the wiring, and that never goes well.

Be interesting to see what others have done ... can't imagine I'm the only one this has happened to.

I love how there is a 20 amp fuse where a 10 amp fuse is required...(far right)

 

[jetmechmarty]

Several years ago, I installed the repop replacement from MikesXS, complete with connector. After over 15 years, it’s still fine. What the heck. The OE lasted over 20 years. If I have to replace it again, I just plug it in!