Blown fuze

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bookman51
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Blown fuze

Post by bookman51 » Sat Jan 25, 2020 8:41 pm

I put new lights on my 420 crawler, but when I turn them on, I blow a fuse. Just by visual inspection I am not seeing any shorts. Any advice on tracing down the solution to the problem?

dtoots1
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Re: Blown fuze

Post by dtoots1 » Sat Jan 25, 2020 9:55 pm

disconnect all lights and test each individual light at a time, may find which one causing issue. then try larger fuse if find short and fixed if all lights blow fuse after fixed.

EDIT>>by the way, anytime you move some of these old wires, you can easily get a short, had a loose nut on starter solenoid and simply tightened it up and literarily burnt wiring clear up to alternator, before could disconnect battery.. needless to say i replaced all that!! tho still have some old wiring hanging around the old girl.
Last edited by dtoots1 on Sun Jan 26, 2020 8:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

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gregjo1948
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Re: Blown fuze

Post by gregjo1948 » Sun Jan 26, 2020 4:32 am

I've found a short by replacing the fuse with a jumper and looking for the smoke. It can be a bit risky because a fire could start. BE CAREFUL!
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bookman51
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Re: Blown fuze

Post by bookman51 » Sun Jan 26, 2020 11:32 am

Thanks for advice. I suspect I probably need to take the dash off and the hood off, and then trace the wires from the switch to the lights. I think I will disconnect the lights and put a test light on them. I do not want to blow a bulb. I do not recall if I replaced all the wiring when I put in the lights or not, but there are plenty of wires running to the front. The old girl is only about 62 years old, so I suppose could easily be bad wiring in there somewhere or I miss wired something. I wonder if it would work if I tested it with just a 1.5 battery instead of using the six volt battery. I know the six volt will blow the fuse. I suppose it could be as simple as some wires touching in the switch that I missed. Kind of a minor pain to go through everything but sounds like no easy (or no easy and safe) way. Thanks much.

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Re: Blown fuze

Post by Jim B » Sun Jan 26, 2020 2:21 pm

From your description I think your front lights use a bulb like a 1133. You could have a problem in the socket(s) of the old lights. I have seen pigtails short inside lamp sockets. A wire could be pinched or the insulation chafed through somewhere along the way and it can be hard to find. It looks like you have been chasing this since last July. Unless you are wanting to keep original, I would upgrade to seal beams on front, like you have on the rear.

Personally for 25 feet, or less, of wire and a few terminals I would remove the old light wires and put in new. I'd actually rewire the entire crawler. I've tried chasing old brittle wires before and its not worth it on machines with electrical systems as simple as these. JMHO.
Jim

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bookman51
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Re: Blown fuze

Post by bookman51 » Sun Jan 26, 2020 4:51 pm

Jim, Yes I have been chasing it off and on for quite awhile. Just when I think I found the problem, I test it and blow another fuse. Larry

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Re: Blown fuze

Post by Lavoy » Sun Jan 26, 2020 5:40 pm

If you have been fighting it this long, time for a new wiring harness and eliminate the problem.
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shinnery
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Re: Blown fuze

Post by shinnery » Sun Jan 26, 2020 7:44 pm

Use a test bulb in place of the fuse. If it is bright you still have the short somewhere. Cheaper than blowing fuses to test. When it gets sorta dim and the other lights light dimly also you are probably working and will not blow the fuse.
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Ray III
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Re: Blown fuze

Post by Ray III » Tue Jan 28, 2020 5:47 pm

New wiring harness was one of the best things I've done to it. Used to have a break in the ignition wire, inside the insulation, that I didn't know about for a couple years. It would shut off in the middle of doing something and no amount of cussing was enough to restart it.

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bookman51
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Re: Blown fuze

Post by bookman51 » Thu Jan 30, 2020 7:08 pm

Thanks folks for all the good advice.

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