Bad idea, replace blown fuse in heated grip circuit

[Anger]

Temps are falling. I asked the dealer to check out the heated grips 3 weeks ago with the 12k service. Blown fuse, no shorts found, 1/2 hr of billable time. Well, another blown fuse last week and it's even colder out now. Am I risking frying a board if I limp thru the rest of the year replacing a fuse or two until I have spare time this winter to take a good look at the wiring?

[iowabeakster]

the fuses are there to protect the electrical system. so as long as they are blowing, when needed, you should be ok.

a number of members have reported a problem with the wire leading to the throttle side grip. i would make this your first look at finding the problem. apparently this wire does not have enough slack and it tends to get stressed when it goes through the handlebar(somewhere underneath the brake, switch, throttle assembly). i can't tell you exactly how do to this because i haven't yet taken a close look.

although mine has worked fine so far, i plan on doing this anyway. enough people have had problems with the throttle grip heater.

[ProductUser]

Blown fuses are telling you that there is a problem of some kind that needs to be fixed. If you keep replacing the fuses, over time, you may risk damaging other components.

just my opinion

ProductUser

[hayeswade]

I have the same issue as well, please let me know if you figured out what the problem was.

[riceburner]

Take a look at where the cables go down from the switch clusters to the steering head. They're cable tied to the frame just below the steering head and often they're tied too tightly.

Remove the 2 or 3 cable ties nearest the switch clusters (as you follow the wires), but don't take too many off, you do actually want the cables to be tied to the frame, but you also want them not to be bent in sharp angles as the steering moves from side to side.

[Xray28]

An old trick is to wire a tiny 12 v light bulb directly across the fuse. So long as the fuse is intact the light will be dark since it is in effect shorted out. As soon as the fuse blows the light will light. So you can wire it up like this (use long enough wires to get your test light out where it is convienent to see.) and then put the bike through it's paces, jumping up and down on the pegs, wrenching on the handlebars, tugging on the wiring harness in various locations. etc. As soon as the fuse pops you'll know it. If it is a tiny light bulb and you wire it carefully it can even be in place as you ride to let you know what contributes to the fuse blowing. This only works if some appliance which is powered from the fuse is turned on to supply a current path. A dimly glowing tiny bulb indicates a small load, a brightly glowing bulb indicates a heavier one.
Hope this helps. I've sued it on cars a few times and it can point you in the right direction sometimes.

[hayeswade]

Same issue, I read the post and tried to find a short but no such luck. Finally I just cut a few of the ties and got the wire suppling right grip power some slack and walaa! No more problems.

[chibbert]

xray - that's a great test method - thanks for the info

[CycleRob]

I have 2 blown H-4 Halogen headlight bulbs where the other filament is still good and they make excellent short circuit detectors. Just find which 2 of the 3 terminals operate the remaining good filament, take a pair of pliers and bend each of the 2 good terminals so they are inline, just like the blown fuse it will replace. Then break off the unused 3rd terminal so it's out of the way.

Presto! You have a first rate, totally free, short circuit tester. Just be sure to clean the glass bulb with alcohol or brake cleaner on a tissue or toilet paper before each use. A fingerprint or oily smudge could cause a crack & explosion when the glass gets smoke'n hot.

To test where the short is, just plug the customized bulb into the fuse socket, turn the power on and move things around. In the case of the heated grips, turn the bars and twist the throttle. Move the wiring harnesses around. When the light is bright, there is a short to ground that would have immediately blown a fuse, but now it only lights the light bulb and tells you exactly where and when the short occurred. Because the bulb draws about 4 amps to operate, that is sufficient operate the system it is testing, at least partially - - - although in test mode that may not matter.

Here's one of my free, and easy to make, short circuit testers:

[Anger]

hayeswade, I saw your post last month. The weather here in Michigan has been absolutely horrible until today. I finally got out to the garage, dusted off the winterized R and took a look at the grip wires. Not having read this thread directly, I started off by taking off the right grip cap. The wires immediately looked like they're chafing on the metal core of the throttle assy. The left looked fine. I came back in here to the house to read this forum for advise on how to remove the grip, get access to the wires, etc. I'll try to create a little slack and goop a small amount of silicone caulk on the right side wires as the insulation looks to be chafed.


If that doesn't work, I'll try xray's and CycleRob's method and do some more hunting and pecking.

The thing that really burns my gord is the dealer charging me $30 to take a look at the wiring and find nothing. Me in my 5 min of poking around, immediately see a problem worth investigating.

Bill

[OU812]

Once again, He stands as "THE ONE".

[azimuth551]

I have a 2008 BMW R1200R and I just hooked up a remote battery lead connector to the battery terminals so I can connect to the battery without removing the seat. I think I might have "Short Circuited" it because the key will not even turn on the bike now. Both keys are not reading, I cannot turn on the steering lock. Is there a simple solution to this problem. Is there a fuse to look at or do I just have to have the bike towed to the dealer?

[Anger]

Azimuth, you might want to start a new thread for that question. Welcome to the board. Resolution on this old topic that was nicely resurrected by Azimuth. My pulling a little slack in the right grip wiring and gouping with silicone caulk did the trick. The dealer was no help on this maintenance item.

[digga]

The dealer was no help on this maintenance item.

as is becoming the case...

The guys working in the dealers are known as 'Fitters'.. thats because ( in most instances!) thats all they do...FIT new parts. They are not allocated time to investigate,prod, poke and peck until they resolve a problem. If the diagnostics say there's no problem...there is no problem