Morning all, I've had an ongoing issue with the 7.5A turn signals/idiot lights fuse blowing repeatedly. This only happens 5 miles or so into a ride. While I've been trying to trace the short, my 15A headlight fuse has now blown as well. Is this related or a separate issue? Searched old threads for a solution...I've checked the main round connector above the battery for corrosion... all pins are clean. Turn signal wires and terminals ditto. Even tried disconnecting everything related to the fuse and reconnecting one by one to pinpoint the short. No dice. All earth connections are solid. Now out of ideas. What is the proper method for using a multi-meter to see what's going on?
It may be corrosion/shorting in the actual fuse box. I had to get a new fuse box for my 916 as it was always playing up with intermittent shorts.
had a search but no help, @Denzil the Ducati ? Any aftermarket device piggybacked onto these circuits? I also remember to be careful testing on AMPS settings as sometimes meter not up to the job.
No, its all original apart from an integrated LED stop/turn tail light. Yellow reg/rec wires are in poor shape though, connector burnt. A winter job coming up there. Still charges however, and 3A fuse not blown. RickyX- it appears the fuse box can only be purchased as part of an entire new loom..
As covered in many threads on here, be careful that overheated connector is not an ongoing problem, as you probably know already can result in a fire. Quickest way is to simply hold each of the two relevant connectors (Alternator wires and regulator wires) while the bike has been running for some time and with main lights on. I periodically check my multi Strada regulator plug, and it’s nearly always warm! This is despite me carefully cleaning contacts within connector and applying neutral pH grease.
You can remove the terminals from the fuse box. Early ones have a hidden hook to hold them in, later ones have a yellow nylon “slide” that holds the fuse terminals in. In all honesty though doubt it will be the fuse box if it looks clean and tidy on the back it should be ok. If it’s rusty and green clean it up. Look for exposed connectors and chafed wires, especially if The fault is intermittent. One option is hot wire an led or bulb direct from the fuse that blows where you can see it when you ride. When the light goes out that’s when the fuse blew. Might point you the right direction, indicating, bumps etc. .
looking at your symptoms of now two fuses blowing, it would be good to get a meter on battery to check current charging level ASAP as it could be as simple as the regulator starting to fail by producing an increase in output rather than a reduction.
Set the MM to dc amps or dc volts depending on what you’re measuring and then measure to various components or across various components. Just remember amps are measured in series ie insert the MSM probes into the circuit, ie break the circuit and use the mm to link it back; volts are measured in parallel ie from one side of the component to the other. Take the suggestion of checking the r/r output. To test volts simply set the mm to dc volts and connect it to the -ve snd +ve posts of the battery. When the engine is running that’s the volts going into your battery, if less than 12 then it’s flowing out of your battery. To test the current, break the connection between the r/r output and battery +ve, set the mm to dc amps and put the mm into the broken circuit to complete it. Now you’ll be measuring amp output of the r/r. NB those are just simple examples we don’t normally measure amp output of tge r/r usually only interested in the V output.
Measuring the output voltage of an alternator and detecting a short through probes in fuse terminals are two different things. I think I'll go in the direction of upgrading the alternator wires and a mosfet reg/rec quicker than planned, and then see if the problem is resolved. Thanks to Paul, Chris, Ricky for the many useful suggestions!
If you’re measuring the output voltage of the alternator ie before it gets to the r/r remember to set your multimeter to ac volts
UPDATE: Upgraded to a mosfet R/R (FH012AA) from a '10 Yam R1, replaced alternator wiring with beefier 12 gauge, along with new battery cables. Could see exposed and burnt wires on the old stuff, obvious now where the short was coming from. Test ride for 20 miles and no blown fuses! Should have done this as soon as I got the bike. Cheers, Nate.
