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F650 heated grips: fuses blowing all the time!!! F650 heated grips: fuses blowing all the time!!!
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  #1  
Old 3 Nov 2007
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F650 heated grips: fuses blowing all the time!!!
Any one knows why the fuses on our 2 F650GS blow?
We replaced them but they keep blowing! This is happening on both bikes. We replaced the original 4 amp fuses for 10amp fuses but it keeps happening!
Any suggestion? We wil need those soon when in Patagonia !

Thanks all,
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  #2  
Old 3 Nov 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maria41 View Post
Any one knows why the fuses on our 2 F650GS blow?
We replaced them but they keep blowing! This is happening on both bikes. We replaced the original 4 amp fuses for 10amp fuses but it keeps happening!
Any suggestion? We wil need those soon when in Patagonia !

Thanks all,
Maria
If it wasn't happening before, has some of that rain you've been experiencing got in somewhere it shouldn't? I 'd give the area under my seat and all the wiring I can reach a good dousing with WD-40 and see if that makes a difference.
Stephan
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  #3  
Old 3 Nov 2007
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Indeed a strange coincidence that both bikes are blowing the fuse - does that fuse serve only the heated grips or is something else routed through it?

As Stephano indicates, there appears to be an electrical shorting, so what has changed, on both bikes, to cause it?

Uping the fuse rating without finding the cause is not the best thing to do - the wire harness may be getting hot!
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Old 4 Nov 2007
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Hi ya,

Right which fuse is it?

Top
2nd
3rd
Bottom ?

I will dig out my wiring diagrams to have a look for you.
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  #5  
Old 13 Dec 2007
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F650 Fuses
Maria- late I know but just saw your post
Juddadredd must still be cat-napping.... must be his hibernation period!

Under your seat 4 fuses inside small cube with clip lid
From the top
1 BMS Compact 20A
2 Headlight, brake light, turn indis and horn 15A
3 Fan 7.5A
4 Heated Grips 7.5A

If the fuses are blowing, there there is a short somewhere or one of the grips is goosed.

Better late than never Hope all else is going well.
BTW Juddadredd is still cap-napping....
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Old 13 Dec 2007
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were the heated grips fitted recently?
They draw quite a bit of juice so you might want to try fitting a relay from the grip control then direct to the battery, this should take some load of the fuses - but if all the fuses are going then it is porobably a big short somewehere - check the throttle grip for wear that might have exposed a heating element

Best of luck, I've heard that patagonia can get a bit parky!
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Old 13 Dec 2007
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Guys,

yes there is a short on mine! To cut a long story short (and after investigation) when I got the handle bars straightened in Brazil (after the theft of my bike) the guy who worked on the bike had no concept of heated grips and pulled the grips out (I guess!). As a result the cables snapped! Beyond repairs for the time being, so I am crossing Patagonia without heated grips! Shame, could have been useful!
For the Dakar, I don't know what the cause is. Anyway, the adventure continue!

Thanks!
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Old 13 Dec 2007
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Method
Heated grips .. should be around 40 watts .. say 4 Amps .. bit more before they warm up.

If you blow a fuse (rather than the fuse getting old and just breaking .. look at it to see if it has burnt ends) then something caused it to blow .. you need to find the cause rather than just replace the fuse (should not use a larger one - that could cause a fire!) wire a headlamp globe in place of the fuse ... one filament = 60 watts - 5 amps .. two filaments (both hi and low beam) = 10 amps .. this way if the fault occurs the lamp will light up .. and limit the current - telling you the fault has just occurred again .. handy to experiment with .. pull and prod until the globe lights to find the fault. Of course this did not work at home for me - so I wired the globe up to the handle bars and went riding ... only happened when braking hard .. rear brake switch wires had rubbed through on the swing arm .. but only shorted when the suspension was unloaded (braking) and the brakes were applied .. two things needed to blow the fuse ..
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Old 14 Dec 2007
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Hi Sorry,

I've been trying to get Direct Line to fix my car to the standard that they said they would, which is BullPoo they have Polish or Litvers working on my car and they haven't done a good job, but you can read all aobut it here if you want to. F650 Ride the World - A journey of Global Proportions But to cut a long story short I'm having to drive back home to get it fixed, a 5-6 day rush from the south of Italy to get things running. Arrrghhhhh I don't want to miss the Dakar....

Frank is completely right on how to find the short, and is even more so when he says FIRE RISK.... so get things sorted asap

I have rewired my heated grips after my handle bars came off and snapped the wires inside the bars. Just open the bars, thread some thin speaker type wire through the bottom hole until it comes out of the grips and then patch it up to the thermal pads thingys they should work fine. Were they shorting out in the bars?

But it sounds like you have fixed one bike is the other one still shorting out? if so let me know and I will dig about in my manuals and FAQ's.

Ride safe

Lee
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