Turning on the lights Killed my bike !!
 

Hi All

Got my RX-3 out oday to go to work, started it up fine and left it to warm up, just about ready to go so I turn the lights on, suddenly everything stops, no electric at all, turn on/off nothing !!

Any ideas? I've had to come into work on a different bike, so, I can't check until tomorrow, but if anybody has any pointers, I'd be grateful.

Many thanks

Tony

Check the main fuse.

Hi yeah, I will

That's 20A fuse isn't it, just didn't fancy looking for it this morning @5:00am !! In the dark & frost !!

;)

More to the point, what caused the fuse to smokulate?

We had some problems with bad batteries on this side of the pond, you may want to check that yours will hold a charge.

Hi

Oh well, narrowed it down to the right hand side switchgear, well, actually the light switch within. I took it all apart, cleaned up, and made sure the the contacts were all dry, but, still, as soon as turn on the lights, poof !! goes the 20A fuse :-(

Hi there I live in Wolverhampton ,the first things you need to do are remove headlamp take back off and disconnect lighting connector, remove rear seat and plastic cover under it then disconnect plugs to rear light.switch on lights sides first then dip and main,note if fuse blows.if it blows that tells you that the loom is touching frame some where.have think about any work you may have done reasantly and check fittment of parts.on other hand if fuse does not blow check wiring and bulbs to lamps.also remember wiring runs to left handle bar dip switch and lighting for gauges..if you cannot sort let me know and I'll give a hand.joem.

Well said!
 

A great bit of advice, Joem! I was wondering if I should go in to fault isolation that deep with Linux, and am glad you jumped in.

By the way, there are circuit breakers made that plug in to replace a fuse, they reset after cooling down a bit. They are larger than the fuse, so it's not always to use them as a permanent replacement.

Jay.

Now fortified with Titanium and Cesium.

Thats always a triumph when you can isolate successfully like that!

Jay...I don't think they put cesium in fruit loops, are you speaking of chemotherapy?

Hi Joem

Many thanks for the offer, I might end up taking you up on that. Unfortunately, it's likely it won't be until tomorrow when I can have another look. That was going to be my next step, trace back through the connections, see if there is any moisture in there ..

The light circuit works, in so much as the passing switch works, and the brake light works. The bike runs perfectly fine, until I switch the lights on. I took the switchgear apart on Saturday and made sure it was all dry, everything looked fine in the switch.

So, have you got an RX-3 as well? Where in Wolves are you, I'm in Bushbury.

Cheers

Tony

Hi linuxyeti
Yes I have rx3 I'm in bradmore.

Just in case you haven't got one ,

here's a circuit diagram, might be handy :tup:


http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psbj8xegjc.jpg

Filaments?
 

I forgot to ask if you have checked the headlamp itself?

I have seen numerous cases of dual filament lamps (both head & tail/stop) which had one filament break and then flop over to touch the other one. In some cases they just acted like a much brighter or dimmer lamp, in others it just flowed too much currant and burned the fuse.

First thing I would check/clean are the battery cable connections.

Hi All

Still no Joy, everything work fine, the bike starts & run, the brake lights work, as do the indicators, at a bit of a loss now !! :-(

Cheers

Tony

PS. Joem, if the offer of a hand is still there, I'd like to take you up on the offer !

Just thinking out loud. Have you tried turning on the light switch while it was off the bike? may be some kind of short between the switch and switch housing. When you on turning on the switch it may be grounding out to the bike.

Hi

I completey disasembled the switch, cleaned up the contacts, and still no joy :-(

so while you had the switch off the bike, did it still kill the motor when you turned it on?

Yep, as soon as I turned on the lights, the 20A fuse blew :-(

Okay, Does it blow the fuse when the motor is not running? If it does it may be grounding to the frame some where in the wire harness. With a multi meter you should be able to narrow it down.

Yep, blows the fuse without the engine running, and with the engine runing.

I would start checking the entire wire harness looking for breaks or burn spots. Check where the wire harness passes close to exhaust system and by the steering column. I've had clutch cable get smashed between the wheel stop on the steering and notice my wire harness was close to getting smashed.

sounds like yer at the stage where you have to strip the bike and
look for rub points on the harness... lift the harness away from the frame
at any lightly place it could have a short and try it.. steering head area
is a very good place to start or fuel tank or seat where it could have nipped
the harness while be put on...
hope it's not a internal short in the harness....

i assume the brake light & flashers work as normal ?




..

Hi Yeah, brake light, flashers, and passing light all work. Joe has offered to help me, next week sometime. Hopefully between us we'll sort it !!