Fuse Box Question

Looked at various sources here and managed to find a good modern fuse block. When I got it home and started eyeballing the old vs. new, I noticed that the old version has what appears to be no ground (wires on both sides of the fuse, both leading to a portion of the harness) and the new has a ground connection and a single wire to each fuse. Is this a big deal? Do I need a different fuse block?

 

Yup - you've got an automotive style fuseblock - no good for the motorcycle where we've got individual circuits.

Need to get yourself one of the multi-circuit ones.

 

I used 4 inline weatherproof blade fuse holders to replace mine.
Can be found at "The Source" or Canadian Tire.

 

Interesting, because the boys at our CTC outlet had their pat answer "nope, all we got is what's on the shelf" when I asked. I will check out The Source" and return the non-conformer. Thanks for the tip, Ghost.

 

You'd be better off finding a real boat store -- they're more likely to have a real fuseblock that you want... like one of these from Littlefuse:

 

Altus

Thanks for posting the photo. That is just what I need when I rebuild my xj.
Off to look for a boat store now.

 

I actually got the inline idea on here, a few others have used that mod, the box Altus posted in nice, couldn't find one locally tough... but I never tried any marine shops...

 

It is possible to use a single bus fuse block (the kind you got - 1 in, several out) instead of the 4 in 4 out type, you just have to use your noodle



Basically, aside from the main fuse, the 3 other circuits feed off the same wire.. All you need to do is install a relay to switch the main bus on and off with the ignition. As you can see, I have attached a 12ga lead directly to the battery, which runs through a 30A main fuse in an inline holder, then through the relay contacts into the fuse block. The large brown wire is the one of the original fuse feeds (headlight I think, but any of them would work since its only triggering the relay). The small brown wire is ground for the relay coil. The red wires of the main fuse I simply tied together, since all of the load is now off of it. However, since it is still providing the charging path from the alternator to the battery, an inline fuse or fusible link would not be a bad idea. The 10A fuses are the 3 original 10A circuits. The 20A fuses are the feeds for my headlight relay and 12V power port. (plus a spare if I ever need it)

(and yes i know I have to solder and shrink my terminals, this is the temporary setup to verify that it worked... just havent had time to do it )

 

Son of a....where was this when I needed it last fall? That was the only fuse block I had. I ended up ditching it and finding something online...Oh well, good call on wiring that up.

 

The only problem with that is that our bikes aren't designed to be wired this way -- okay, it probably works fine but...

The 4 circuits in out bikes were designed to be 1 "main" circuit, which the other 3 feed off of. Kinda like double protection for the smaller circuits.

With the above wiring setup, you lose that double protection

 

I don't follow Altus.. First of all, if you look again, I did fuse the main off the battery before it hits the relay, so there is still 'double protection' on the fuse block.. Second, if you look at the wiring diagram for the bike, it will be very obvious that the new circuit does work out the exact same way, except for the fact that the full load of the electrical system is switched right at the fuse panel with larger wiring, rather than going all the way through 10 feet of undersized wire (a circuit fused for 30A should be wired with 10ga, not 16), 2 corrosion-prone connectors, and the ignition switch. We're talking serious voltage drop here.

Again, if you look at the wiring diagram, you will see that the brown wire simply splits in 3 after it comes off the ignition switch to feed the 3 fuses. Trust me, I did my homework on this one and it is much safer than the stock setup (even swapping for a 4 in 4 out fusebox)

 

I had a block like this in my hand and could not see a way to make it work, but it seems like a great idea, especially for adding accessories. Curious as to what Rick M thinks?

 

I'm Required by Law to keep the circuits separate.

I like that clean look, though.
With everything fused nicely running off the Buss ... how can you complain.

I would get an Artist's brush and a Pop Bottle top with a few drops of that wonderful Liquid Electrical Tape and do an exceptionally fine coating of the bare ends and crimp connections ... to give 'em a "Shrink wrapped" look.

Details, details, details ...

I'm sure it would pass Tech Inspection if you decided to race it someplace.

 

My SES (Spidey Electrical Sense) is telling me to avoid this setup like the plague. Not that it won't work, as it obviously does. But simple seems better in this case, especially if I have to track down a problem in the future. Wondering how or why it worked before the problem started will be hard enough; compounding that with a real issue could twist my neurons right out of their sockets. I am in the process of trying to locate that Littlefuse example or something similar, but here in Eastern Canuckville, it is proving a tough task.

 

TaZMaNiaK, nice bit of engineering. It works rather well with what is at hand. I cannot see anything wrong with this setup other than it's use of more components to get the electrons where they need to be. I'm with Rick on the use of Liquid Electrical Tape. Environmental sealing is the way to happiness. I would not recommend this setup for anyone who is not electrically savy, odds are not in their favor.
Still, I'm impressed.

 

You have a 20 Amp Spare Fuse that's energizing an non-used terminal.

That would flunk you at a Tech Inspection.
Best to put a piece of Shrink Wrap around the vacant terminal and prevent that from being a snake that would bike if a wrench of a screwdriver found it and made a Path to ground.

Yes, I know the Fuse would blow. But in the eyeblink it would take for that to happen; 20 Amps are going to be let loose.

 

Guess I'm blessed, never been through a tech inspection here in California (not required...yet). But you do bring up a good point. That hot terminal there is unneccessary. Best to keep spare fuses out of energized sockets! I carry my spares in a ziplock baggy under the seat on my FZR. The stock fuse block has spare fuse clips in the cover of the fuse box, well away from terminals and trouble. Might be a good idea to emulate the factory's lead on that thought. Excellent point Rick, atta'boy!

 

Why do you have to keep them separate? Is there a law against modifying the stock wiring in MA? They aren't even 'separate' circuits, just branched of a single main anyway. (see below)

I fully intend to solder and dress the connections once I have some spare time. I hate crimp connectors with a passion because they always wind up corroding at the crimp and theres the possibility of pulling them loose..

Honestly, this setup is not only more reliable and introduces much less voltage drop into the system, but would probably be easier to troubleshoot than stock. Since the electrical path is very straightforward, all you have to do is find out where the power stops to locate the faulty component. If you get no power to the fuse block, it can only be a bad relay or a blown main fuse. If the relay does not get 'trigger' power, or if the fuse block gets power but a circuit still does not work, you would still be in the same boat as if you had the original wiring. (see below)

Given the way the fuse block is actually wired in the stock wiring harness, the relay isn't even needed in order to use a single bus fuse block. You would simply use the large brown wire (the one on the headlight fuse) as your bus feed, and install an inline fuse on the red leads (main). The other two smaller brown wires (or red/white and red/yellow feeds depending on your bike) are spliced into that wire about six inches deeper into the harness (under the gas tank). (see below)

I just added the relay in order to allow for more available power at the block, to put less stress on the stock wiring, and allow for switched accessories. If you were to add any sort of accessory, you would need a relay anyway unless you want it powered all the time or you can remember to turn it off (because you can't put any more load on the stock wiring). Even the cigarette lighter adapter for my XM radio drew just enough phantom power to kill my battery in a week of not riding. So all accessories should be switched.

Yeah I know, it's not a 'spare fuse holder', I was using that terminal to try out some driving lights and didnt take the fuse back out. But a good thing to point out anyway I have a box of spares in my toolbox. They don't do tech inspections here either, just safety.

Now just to clarify what I explained above, here's the wiring diagram. I highlighted the relevant wire so you see for yourselves what the electrical path is. It comes out of the battery, through the main fuse, then into the ignition switch on the red wire. The brown wire comes out of the ignition switch and splits into 3 to feed the rest of the fuses.

 

I'm sold on your Mod.

I'm still keeping the OEM Setup.

I get the "Hee-bee Gee-Bees" doing Mods to what came down the Assembly Line.

 

love the mod. It makes perfect sense. I think there is always room to improve mass production engineering. We are not bound by the same constraints, and have the benefit of years of real-world data on what needs improvement.

I love Japanese engineering, have owned many vehicles, newest being an '03 Element, but sometimes feel that they are over-engineered to a fault. I'm really happy with the car, (110k) but among the items i would call "too efficient" -Sheet metal so thin I left 8 finger tip divots the first time i closed the hood, -lawn-mower battery, oil filter half the size of the XJ. Design factors don't consider 25 years of use, heated vests, satalite radios.......

 

TaZMaNiaK
The illustration is most enlightening, thanks for taking the time to post it. It might just help out some of our brothers-in-handlebars who are stuck with an automotive fuse panel.

 

Has anyone seen a CIRCUIT BREAKER that replaces the fuse box?

found this one but its way too expensive.

http://www.centechwire.com/catalog/cycles/cmc1.shtml

this fuse block looks good too

http://www.centechwire.com/catalog/cycles/ap1.shtml

 

$65.00 for a Fuse Panel???

12-Bucks is about all you should have to spend.

 

Still $200 for a new harness (or the parts to make it) is a very good price. Especially if one conciders that there isn't anyone making one here in the states! If $65 bought me peace of mind, it would be worth it but I'm far to knowledgeable to need the reassurance. So the choice is simple, learn and make what you need or pay the price.

 

That's not just a circuit breaker, that $200 is for a compete head to tail wiring harness. You can get ATC style circuit breakers that simply replace blade fuses. However, I'm not a big fan of them. Yes they are self-resetting, but that can cause a lot of problems in the event of a dead short. Better to stick with fuses and carry spares. That aux fuse block is very pretty, but even for $50 is a bit much considering its not watertight or anything.

If I needed to completely rewire my bike, I would definitely pick up that harness kit. You will spend at LEAST that much just buying rolls of different colored/gauged wire (of which you probably have a lot left over) and connectors, heatshrink, looming, etc. I learned that when I had to build a new harness for my truck. And there are only a limited number of wire colors available (unless you special order them) That is a nice all-inclusive harness that uses high quality wire (TXL wire is oil, heat, and gasoline resistant, and is the wire of choice in custom harnesses.. The stuff you get in auto parts stores is NOT TXL, and neither is stock wiring for that matter) and has basically everything you need, and its going to cost less than rounding up the supplies yourself.