Ascalon Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 My ST4s has had an odd problem for a while now. While carefully observing the speed limits on motorways, I have the found that using the flash (pass) button for the high beams, when the head light is already on dipped beam, will often drop the bike onto one cylinder. You then I have to turn of the lights completely, close the throttle, open it again and she fires back on two and then you can turn the lights on again. That's OK in daylight but a bit hairy at night. It has done this for a while now and I've checked the charging system (OK), the battery (OK), the battery leads and earths (OK) and changed the coil for the cylinder that goes (always the horizontal cylinder, in Ducati parlance), to no avail. However, I have noticed that fuse for the head lights, a 20a one, will melt its casing without blowing the fuse (see pic). What would do this and what's the best thing to avoid it? Out of necessity yesterday I only had a 25A fuse to use instead of the 20, is this a bad idea and will it result in a fireball? A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougW Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 Firstly the contacts in your fusebox look like they could do with a good clean, as to melt the fuse casing you`ve either got high resistance between fuse and holder contacts , or pulling enough current to nearly blow the fuse . 12 volt at 20A gives you 240W , thinking aloud if you have got two 60/55W H4 using all filaments on flash is 230W , pretty close to the fuse limit once you have added anything else that runs off the fuse like sidelight and taillight ? Are you running any high wattage headlamp bulbs ? I`d sort out the overheating fuse problem first then see how the cutting out goes. Having a 4 year old enduro bike I`ve just got some proper contact cleaner / lube for when the electrical problems set in , but don`t know how good it is as I`ve not had to use it yet . ( Kiss of death to the loom then ) Depending on the rating of your cables the 25A may result in melted cables, but sorry really dont know . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gusset Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 I used to hold the flasher on on my old CBR6 at night, simply because it kept the dipped and full beams on at once, ie much more light. If you used the Hi-Lo switch it would cut the dipped and, counterintuitively, make it seem darker. To me, like. Anyway, I remember the Honda manual saying you must not do this under any circs, otherwise death by fireball would ensue, etc. Prob a similar issue to the melted fusebox above, though why it should cut cylinders is weird, agreed. Not much help am I .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ascalon Posted June 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 Contacts I did clean. They are discoloured but appear to be clean. Used fancy contact cleaner, EM something or other. Made no odds. A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwakbiker Posted June 4, 2014 Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 Have you took apart the switch gear? Could be a short in the wiring leading to over drawing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noely02 Posted June 4, 2014 Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 +1 what kwakbiker said, i had a z1000j that developed the same sort of fault, cut out when you had the lights on and dared to use the indicators, not much fun on the a27 in the rain in october prev owner had put a 30a fuse in and it ended up melting parts of the loom, local shop traced it to the rh hand controls, re wired and bypassed it all till i got another loom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudgetBoy Posted June 4, 2014 Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 Also look at the switchgear connections. open it up as well as these can get rusty due to the elements.Don't put a higher rated fuse in as you might do more damage. Track n trace :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ascalon Posted June 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 Righto chaps, will do. Hadn't checked the switch gear so will do that next. A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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