BrianF Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 No wonder I never touch electric anything...for 20,000 miles I've had a 12v outlet wired directly to the battery and it works fine. But I finally added a harness for my Gerbing's, and now neither of them work. When I remove the Gerbing's harness, it's business as usual. How is this possible? The fuses are fine, the posts are long enough (as is this one, already!) and there's metal-on-metal contact everywhere. So I'm either cold or my cell phone is dead. I suppose I should probably check if the bike works despite the plugs not working. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer crazybrother Posted February 8, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 8, 2013 No wonder I never touch electric anything...for 20,000 miles I've had a 12v outlet wired directly to the battery and it works fine. But I finally added a harness for my Gerbing's, and now neither of them work. When I remove the Gerbing's harness, it's business as usual. How is this possible? The fuses are fine, the posts are long enough (as is this one, already!) and there's metal-on-metal contact everywhere. So I'm either cold or my cell phone is dead. I suppose I should probably check if the bike works despite the plugs not working. Any thoughts? Use a VOM and check all your connections one at a time until you find the culprit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer 2thdr Posted February 8, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 8, 2013 It may be overkill, but on my bikes I always use a small fuse box and have a relay wired in the circuit. That way each device has it's own fused circuit, and I don't have a rat's nest of leads going directly to the battery. VFRD member Tightwad sells a very small fuse box that fits in tight spaces. I love the Fuze Bloc that I have on my ST1300...about 3X as big, but has the nice feature of the relay on board with switched and unswitched circuits. You can also get battery post "bus" from Powerlet (Tightwad sells it), that puts one connection to the battery post and allows you to hook up about three separate leads to the "bus". http://www.powerlet.com/product/termin8-easier-than-fuseblock/409 http://www.wiremybike.com/vfr-specific-parts-2000-2001-vfr-parts-accessory-fuse-panel-kit-p-269.html http://www.fuzeblocks.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dae Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Hey Brian are you sure your didn't hook the Gerbing harness backwards to the battery? Check and see that + to + positive and - to -. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianF Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 It may be overkill, but on my bikes I always use a small fuse box and have a relay wired in the circuit. I know...this is what I should do. And in all reality, I probably will. I don't wanna add the box to the pile of electrical-related bike accessories I have in the corner of my garage that were never installed because I'm too dumb to make them work. Maybe I'll try again. crazybro I'm borrowing a volt meter from my neighbor this weekend. Hopefully that'll help. If not, it's fuse box time I guess. Hey Brian are you sure your didn't hook the Gerbing harness backwards to the battery? Check and see that + to + positive and - to -. I should laugh at that and say "you think I'm that dumb?" but I am so don't put it past me. Yeah, I double checked both, then swapped them for good measure. No dice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dae Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Hey Brian I'm sorry if I offended you in anyway, didn't have any bad intentions. I have 3 items wired directly to the battery for the past 2 years. Heated grip with relay from tail light battery charger quick connect Heated gear for Warm N Safe. I installed a slightly longer bolt to the battery post connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianF Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 Hey Brian I'm sorry if I offended you in anyway, didn't have any bad intentions. Haha, no worries man! When it comes to electrical stuff, I really am that dumb so I can't be offended. Electricity and cooking are the two things in life I can't get my head around. I'm the guy you see in the commercials who's pouring pancake batter into the toaster. Need your valves adjusted? I got it. Need some carrots chopped? See you in the emergency room. Don't worry man, not offended at all. I never am, by anything. No joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer crazybrother Posted February 8, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 8, 2013 Hey, if you can't get it sorted. Come on over to my garage and we'll get-er-done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianF Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 Will do, actually. I wanna get this figured out before our first spring ride. I've been riding the WR all winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer TheBigCheese Posted February 9, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 9, 2013 Along with the meter you'll need a plan of attack. As you've described it, your 12V outlet is direct wired to the battery. When you connect the Gerbings harness, that outlet doesn't work. And by doesn't work, I assume that means your cell phone is saying it can't charge? It would be good to have an exact reading but we can call your cell phone charge indicator a low tech voltage meter. That's a pretty good indicator that your battery voltage is sagging pretty low which means a short across it. Do you smell anything burning? Is the bike pretty much dead when the Gerbings is connected? Another test - is your clock resetting? Before doing any meter work, take a hard look to see if any wires are pinched or metal parts touching. I'm sure you've already done this but try again. If you've tied the Gerbings wiring in, or routed it through any tight spaces, seriously consider pulling the whole thing out before proceeding. If nothing is obvious, simplify your rig as much as possible. Are you trying this with just the Gerbings harness connected, nothing plugged into it? Do you have a temperature control? If so can you unplug it too? If not turn it to "off" if it has an off position. Does the harness have an in-line fuse? If so try pulling out the fuse and see what happens then. Only add components back in after you've verified the simpler setup works properly. Your main use of the meter is to check voltage across the battery with and without the Gerbings rig. If that's OK (same voltage with and without), use the meter to check the outlet voltage. Be careful not to short, wrap the probe with tape to expose only the tip. That's not a bad idea in general, I started doing that after an "incident". Hopefully that gets you started, good hunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tightwad Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Did you solve this? It sounds like an intriguing puzzle! btw...I can cook and I can do electrical but my valve adjustment went WAY bad.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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