Who needs A Fuse Block?

[Louie Louie]

I've seen a lot of people here install fuse blocks. At what point do you need one of these "fuse blocks"?. I thought the Honda power supplied by the ST was sufficient. I have a Jastek powerlet, Honda grips, Gps(Connected to powerlet), XM, Gerbing's, & battery tender. I use ther quartet harness.I plan on installing a comm sytem soon, but heard they dont drain too much power. I've never had any issues and the battery is 3 years old.

[ccryder]

The only issue is where to hook everything up. You can add only so many wires to the battery posts. I just wanted to reduce the number of connection on the battery post and have somewhere to power high current items like: heated clothes, driving lights, HID etc.

Time2Play with Indigo
Neil S.

[Bones]

I currently (good pun there) have 4 terminal rings connected to my hot battery post. There's plenty of room since I went to the hardware store and bought a bolt that's 1/4" longer than the one that came with the battery. Perhaps not as elegant as a fuse block, but it works very well.

[georgeorge]

The beauty of using a fuse block, though, is that you can use a relay to power the fuse block only when the ignition is on and then have somewhere to get switched power for all those toys instead of having to turn each one off every time you turn off the bike.

[crazykz]

If you can figure out how to attach everything to the type of power that you need and they all have their own fuses that are accessible then you can get buy without one. I power all my dash components out of a fuseblock in the front of the bike. I power all the stuff in the rear with a rear fuseblock. Any high current stuff tends to come from directly from the battery.

http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8804

Curt

[John Anthony]

The beauty of using a fuse block, though, is that you can use a relay to power the fuse block only when the ignition is on and then have somewhere to get switched power for all those toys instead of having to turn each one off every time you turn off the bike.
Amen. It's too easy to forget to turn stuff off during a break or at the end of the day. And fuse blocks are realtively inexpensive. Depending on the model, one of the fringe benefits is that the connection for your battery tender will be automatically disconnected when you turn on your ignition.

John

[crazykz]

Amen. It's too easy to forget to turn stuff off during a break or at the end of the day. And fuse blocks are realtively inexpensive. Depending on the model, one of the fringe benefits is that the connection for your battery tender will be automatically disconnected when you turn on your ignition.

John

That's two uses for a normally open circuit connection I've learned this weekend. Very cool.

Curt

[Kempo-STer]

I have the fuse block..

Big pluses are ease of connection/adding of items and what Brian said about powering up.

Plus the thing was pretty cheap.

[crazykz]

Both fuse blocks are in the tail section as I don't want to remove the fairing to change a fuse.
Paul

Hey Paul,

I made a trade off on mine since I had so much crap up in the front. I added about 2 feet of extra wiring to get to my fuseblock. The wiring tucks up inside between the left fairing pocket and the cowling nicely. It is more of a pain to get to than under the seat but removing 4 pop rivets and a phillips screw allow me to access the fuseblock from the inner fairing cover without actually removing it. It's still held on by the two pop rivets at the top of the inner cowling where they fasten by the fairing pocket. Plus if I mount a fuel cell in the back I'm going to have to figure out how to gain access to the fuse panel back there. Ugh. It never ends man.

The extra allows me to pull it out in the open to change the fuses. The ***** of all this planning is that it still doesn't solve the problem of the heated grips fuse and the 12V Honda Accessory plug fuse that are still up in there. I just know they are going to fail on me causing me to have to dig up in there further although I can reach them through the same way.

http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3205

This weekend I also started getting rid of all of the tube style fuses because some of them also have a fuse on the fuse block. Plus it's nice to just carry blade styles. I removed the one for the radar detector all together. I got tired of it being in the wire run and there's a fuse in the fuseblock for it anyway. Now here's where the Posi-Fuse is a plus. I had the tube style one in the wire run for the GPS since it doesn't go through the fuseblock because I wanted it to have constant 12V. I just unscrewed the ends of the tube style posi-fuse and screwed in the new blade style posi-fuse. BAM! DONE! Kick ***. No soldering required at it's just as solid IMO.

Curt

[jdpfms]

I'm actually running two fuse blocks and a master ground block. I have one fuse block switched with the key for those items I want off when the bike is shut off, XM radio for one. The other fuse block is hot always for those items I want running with the key off, GPS for one.
Both fuse blocks are in the tail section as I don't want to remove the fairing to change a fuse. All wiring runs through either the black plastic wire proctor if it is not anywhere heat is a problem or through black Techflex braided sheeving where heat might be an issue.

Paul

Paul, I don't have a service manual yet, and I'm wiring an electrical connection master fuse block and ground block to the ST. Which wire do I use on the ST (color) that allows shut off when starting the bike, and off when ignition is off. I may run a hot wire like you have for GPS that is hot all the time but want to put the fuse block on the other. I'd appreciate the advice on which wire to use.

JDP

[STeve1300]

Paul, I don't have a service manual yet, and I'm wiring an electrical connection master fuse block and ground block to the ST. Which wire do I use on the ST (color) that allows shut off when starting the bike, and off when ignition is off. I may run a hot wire like you have for GPS that is hot all the time but want to put the fuse block on the other. I'd appreciate the advice on which wire to use.

JDP

Hope this helps

[nunns]

Sounds like there's quite a bit of confusion out there on how to wire up extra stuff on your bike. Fortunately, crazykz recently did an outstanding primer on more that you could ever want to know about fuse blocks, wiring, relays, etc. Do a search on "Farkle/Accessory Wiring Primer" and you'll get his thread on this subject. Through a series of several postings in this thread he does an OUTSTANDING job of clarifying this voodoo subject for laymen like us. After reading his primer, you'll be wiring up stuff like a pro!!!
Nunns

[ligito]

"After reading his primer, you'll be wiring up stuff like a pro!!!"

Would that be a PROfessional, or a PROletariat?:D

[Louie Louie]

It got loST somewhere in the thread...Can someone recommend a good fuse block for Louie Louie please..The bike I mean..

[Kempo-STer]

It got loST somewhere in the thread...Can someone recommend a good fuse block for Louie Louie please..The bike I mean..

Here you go Louie-STer...
http://www.electricalconnection.com/power-distribution/pplate.htm

Its the 'universal' model

[Louie Louie]

Here you go Louie-STer...
http://www.electricalconnection.com/power-distribution/pplate.htm
Its the 'universal' model

Thanks..I like EC a lot!

[ccryder]

Come on Curt, you told me about the front fuse box but you told me that the back goodies were powered by b--ns. Now which is it? We don't want to confuse people. What brand was it?????? LOL

Time2Play

Neil S.

BTW the Blue Sea is also a nice box with plenty of room for your farkles unless you are like me an Curt.

[crazykz]

The back box is a homemade job unless you mean what brand of beans.

The Centech is the one I really like which is in the front on mine.

http://www.centechwire.com/catalog/panels/ap1.shtml

http://www.centechwire.com/catalog/images/ap1.jpg

I'm actually working on a fuseblock design that if I can find a CAD person to draw it up and save me some money I might actually be able to have it manufactured at some point.

Curt

[wjbertrand]

I've got my GPS, 8500 / screamer, heated grips and Audiovox CCS-100 all powered off of various points in the quartet harness. I used a Littlefuse "Add-a-circuit" adapter in the acc fuse slot under the left side cover to power both my Starcom and my XM radio. The STebel horn and 12V cigarette outlet are powered directly from the battery through a 15A in-line fuse and 12GA wire. The outlet is always hot, which is what I wanted, and of course even though main lead to the horn is also hot, it can't be honked with the ignition off because the OEM leads used to activate the relay are cold with the key in that position.

So far I've avoided the use of a separate fuse box, kept the appearance of the wiring clean and preserved space for tools and farkles. This would not have been as easily accomplished with my '93 ST1100 as there were no factory provided provisions for accessories on that bike.

[Louie Louie]

I've got my GPS, 8500 / screamer, heated grips and Audiovox CCS-100 all powered off of various points in the quartet harness. I used a Littlefuse "Add-a-circuit" adapter in the acc fuse slot under the left side cover to power both my Starcom and my XM radio. The STebel horn and 12V cigarette outlet are powered directly from the battery through a 15A in-line fuse and 12GA wire. The outlet is always hot, which is what I wanted, and of course even though main lead to the horn is also hot, it can't be honked with the ignition off because the OEM leads used to activate the relay are cold with the key in that position.
So far I've avoided the use of a separate fuse box, kept the appearance of the wiring clean and preserved space for tools and farkles. This would not have been as easily accomplished with my '93 ST1100 as there were no factory provided provisions for accessories on that bike.


Thats great Jeff. I also ordered the "Littlefuse". Will be InSTalling my Autocom Pro this weekend. I ordered a Fuse Block from EC just in case.

[EASt]

I've got a question for the Überfarklers here:

I've added the DualStars heated grip kit to my ST, but I hate the way I have to draw power by driving a power spike/clip through my headlight power wire.

Could the power for the grips go directly into a fuse block? Also, if I remove the clip that's on the headlight power currently, would it be a good idea to replace that wire (now that it's been punctured)? :shrug1:

[STeve1300]

....I hate the way I ...draw power ... through my headlight power wire.

Could the power for the grips go directly into a fuse block? Also, if I remove the clip that's on the headlight power currently, would it be a good idea to replace that wire (now that it's been punctured)?

I was surprized the instructions for the symtec grips also say to tap a headlight and hope for the best. They don't draw excessive current, and shouldn't be a problem....BUT when you blow a fuse, no lights??? Also, are your grips only on with low beams or high beams?

Get the damn fuse block!! :D

As for the wire tap, I wouldn't worry, but I would tape it with electric tape after removal. Otherwise cut it, strip it, and use a posi lock connector there. Eventually you may want to tap that spot for a relay for additional driving or fog lights.

[EASt]

I was surprized the instructions for the symtec grips also say to tap a headlight and hope for the best. They don't draw excessive current, and shouldn't be a problem....BUT when you blow a fuse, no lights??? Also, are your grips only on with low beams or high beams?

Get the damn fuse block!! :D

As for the wire tap, I wouldn't worry, but I would tape it with electric tape after removal. Otherwise cut it, strip it, and use a posi lock connector there. Eventually you may want to tap that spot for a relay for additional driving or fog lights.

The grips work regardless of where my headlight switch is moved.

So the DualStars will work fine if wired directly into a fuse block, then?

[STeve1300]

Yep. They'll work.