30 amp Fuse blew twice today ?

[sixlow]

I was putting along in 2nd gear over a set of train tracks, it was a good thump over them and boom all power is gone, so I coast over to the side of the road where I found an ant hill to work over ! My first instinct was kickstand, then ignition switch, then kill switch, nothing. O.k. lets get to battery, all seems good, being the adventurous type I leave the key on while jiggling any wires i can reach and also remove starter relay from its prongs and unplug the red housing to find the 30 amp blown. Whoever designed the spare fuse spot molded in the relay rubber housing is a frigin genius, we know that. I had already experienced the plug meltdown about a year and 10k miles ago, (first pic). I did the "trim the plug and run a jumper" to repair that.(2nd pic). that all looks fine still, so with the key on and only the new jumper plugged in I put the new 30 amp fuse in and for a split second my fuel pump ran (belly tank) and snap, the fuse blew right away. Bummer, now I am on side of quiet road with 2 blown fuses and almost out of ideas. Wait I have a new starter relay in saddle bag as one of those always carried items I almost forgot I had. It has another 30 amp fuse in it, so I have one more chance. Before I do anything a good look over and some jiggling & wiggling of any wires I can get a hold off. Tap the relay to the frame, flip the  kill switch, kick the kickstand, smack the headlight, I did see the headlight brights switch slightly off its bottomed out position and rocked about 1/5 or so forward. Also I turned off my aux light switch and buttoned everything back up knowing it was either going to work or I will have to find  another way to get her home. When I added the last fuse the ignition switch was off. Seat back on, saddle bike with helmet on and vroom all systems go, and go I did, straight home. 35 miles. I have been planning a tear down around the holidays to install a full bank of rebuilt carbs and I am open to what y'all might think I should be looking for to solve this fuse blown mystery ! When I pulled in the garage I turned on aux lights and messed back and forth with brights for headlamp everything worked fine. I do have a smart switch in the bucket. Any ideas ?


and a pic of how she looked minutes before acting up !

[Chrisj CMA]

When mine blew a year ago I cut off the plug and most of the wires. Then attached three leads like the one in your picture. If you want to see the post, let me know if you can't find it, I did a fair documentation of the repair

[Firefighter]

I would look close at the fix you did on the starter relay then the wires to the ignition switch. Not sure but I think those are the wires that would blow the 30 amp fuse. I Think?? all other wires would be protected by other fuses. I don't know about belly tank wiring? Let us know.

[mike72903]

I agree with firefighter. Don't know what you did to the connector block but that and any add ones you may have wired in and looking at the schematic the problem appears to have to be between the output of the relay and the starter switch or wires from the starter switch to the fuse block.  after that everything is protected by smaller fuses.  Colors for the wires from the ignition switch are R/W, R/Bl, Bu/O and Red which is the wire from the 30 amp fuse.

[sixlow]

Thanks guys, I will finish the plug rewire to eliminate the red plug and investigate those wires from relay to starter switch and switch to fuse block, also need to see where the fuel pump is wired in, it does come on with the key as it should. Also inside the bucket I will check, at least y'all gave me a starting point, may be till after Christmas before I can tear down but I will post back with any findings.. restock your fuses.

[DK]

The Pump should be wired to the 5 amp auxiliary circuit.

[indybobm]

You can buy a replacement Red Connector from here:

http://www.cycleterminal.com/solenoid-connectors.html

[falconbrother]

My wife has a 1993 HD Sportster 883/1200 trike.  It was heating up and burning wires and such.  When I found the cause I was pretty surprised.  The positive lead on the battery had vibrated loose and so wasn't making a good, secure connection.  That created problems in places I would never have suspected.  It burned up a connector exactly like you have pictured. 

[Grumpy]

That plug making a bad connection will cause a lot higher current draw and cause the fuse to blow.