Kicker Modded for DS - How Should I Fuse It?

[full7879]

I've added LED+incandescent blinkers, illuminated speedometer, and LED brake light on the same newly-wired circuit on my 2002 DR-Z400 kicker to make it a bit safer & (at least somewhat) legal on the highway.

Given the wiring scheme depicted below, what capacity of fuse should I be using to protect the system against a short due to my wacky homebrew mods (I got wires running everywhere)?

I originally installed a 20A, but I understand the entire charging system on a kicker is only capable of generating 15A at max. So should I be fusing it at 10A; 5A?

Any Suggestions? Mucho thanks.

[William1]

If memory serves, a kicker stator puts out 150 watts. That is a tad under 13 amps output.

I notice your headlight is not on the fuse, how come?

What I suggest is adding up the total draw of your system. Headlight on hi, blingers on, brake light activated, horn on. Divide the total wattage by 12. That will give you a realitvely accurate amperage draw.

For example, if your total came to 8 amps, then a ten amp fuse should be ok.

Nicely done wiring diagram, btw. If you ever sell your bike, be sure to include it. ?

[full7879]

If memory serves, a kicker stator puts out 150 watts. That is a tad under 13 amps output.

I notice your headlight is not on the fuse, how come?

What I suggest is adding up the total draw of your system. Headlight on hi, blingers on, brake light activated, horn on. Divide the total wattage by 12. That will give you a realitvely accurate amperage draw.

For example, if your total came to 8 amps, then a ten amp fuse should be ok.

Nicely done wiring diagram, btw. If you ever sell your bike, be sure to include it. ?

William, thanks for the input. Your advice is appreciated.

I did not fuse the H3 bulb because I simply ran it to the existing headlight connector rather than run a separate hot lead to it. It was much easier to do that. Perhaps I should have run it on a separate circuit & fused it. To the best of my knowledge, the kicker wiring harness is not fused. Do you know if that assumption is correct? If there is a fusable link in the harness, would you know where it is & what capacity?

Part of my problem is, I do not have any information to indicate the current draw of the blinkers and I don't have an amp meter with which to check it. Would you expect the thermal flasher arcing on/off to result in a temporary current spike?

[William1]

I have no idea if a kicker is fused, never seen a oem wiring diagram or a kicker in real life!

Simply look at the bulbs you are using in the signals, get the wattage X 2. Add 20% for spikes. Figure 10 watts for the LED brake light. After you figure out the draw, use a fuse about 20% than the draw, provided it is less than the headlight and the fuse. Not to clear, I know.

Lets say your signals draw 18 watts each. That is 36 a side plus 20% (7) so you have signals at 43 watts.

10 for the brake, that is 20.

I'll guess and say the horn draws 20.

This equals 73 watts or just about 6 amps at 12 volts. I'd use a fuse of a 7.5 amps, assuming my guessed draws were accurate.

Your headlight draws 55 and the tail light (which is on the same circuit) may draw 10. For a total of 65 watts or about 5.5 amps. I would fuse this (if you decided to, I reccomend it) also with a 7.5 amp fuse.

You'll never melt a wire with a 7.5 amp fuse.

[full7879]

William, yep, that sounds like pretty reasonable assumptions & advice to me.

I'd definately like to fuse everything to the minimum possible. I'd much rather replace a 20-cent fuse, than the wiring or a damaged component.

7.5A it is for both blinker/speedo circuit and for headlight/tail light circuit.

Thanks for the advice!

[William1]

Confirm the lamp size on the blinkers. If you cannot tell, give me the bulb info and I'll see what I can dig up.

[full7879]

Confirm the lamp size on the blinkers. If you cannot tell, give me the bulb info and I'll see what I can dig up.

Will do. I'll open up the incandescent blinkers tonight & check the bulbs.

BTW, the incandescent blinkers on the rear are low-profile Targa blinkers obtained from SurfSideMoto:

http://www.surfsidemoto.com/store/product/TGACL.html

And the blinkers on front are two-LED Peterson V168XA amber units purchased at Wal-Mart (I did everything on the cheap!) :

http://www.pmlights.com/products.cfm?cId=1&fId=54&pId=1438#V168XA

And the flasher is a Bussman 575 model. No idea what the minimum draw is to get it to flash, but the blinkers flash just fine (not too fast).

Also I couldn't find any mfg info to indicate what the amp draw or voltage drop across either the incandescent or LED blinkers is.

One other thing. On this circuit also is the illuminating lamp contained within the analog speedometer. Don't have a clue what this lamp consists of. The speedo came from Baja Designs.

https://www.bajadesigns.com/NET/P-370002/Speedo%2c+Analog

I really like it cause it is way cheaper than a Vapor, plugs directly into the OEM odometer cable, and has an old-school look I really go for.

[William1]

The LED front signals draw next to nothing (maybe 2 watts each) and the speedo is probably a 5 watt bulb.

[Noble]

A kicker is not fused. As long as there is no constant source of power (battery) a fuse is not required. Even an S or SM is only fuses off the battery not the alternator output.

Keep in mind the purpose of a fuse is to protect the wires from over heating in the event of a short and reduce fire hazard not to protect the load. Fuse size is determined from wire size, wire size is determined by load size. For all practical purposes, your motorcycle will be wired with 14, 16 and 18 gage wire. A 20 amp fuse is fine (same as S and SM). And if you use a fuse, locate it in the system as a "main" fuse. That is, it disconnects all loads at 1 location from the source of all power. That would be the red wire near the RR. There is no point in only protecting half the system.

[full7879]

And if you use a fuse, locate it in the system as a "main" fuse. That is, it disconnects all loads at 1 location from the source of all power. That would be the red wire near the RR. There is no point in only protecting half the system.

Well, perhaps. But I guess I have to disagree with that for a couple of reasons. I've already wired it, & I have no intention of desoldering & rewiring the main line at this point. Also, I have high confidence in the OEM harness. At this stage, not worried about it shorting. My work? - not so much. I just want to protect the system against what I've done. Besides, if I fuse the entire system right after the rectifier, and my work shorts it out, the bike dies - grave-yard dead! And I hate walkin. If I fuse only my add-on and it blows, the blinkers & brake light head south, but bike otherwise runs fine and the flow of current to my screwup is stopped by fuse.

BTW, William, the incandescent bulbs in the Targa blinkers are stamped 12v23w. That's it.

[Souperfly]

Could you email me the full size pic of the wiring diagram? I'd love to have that for my records!

bkey79@yahoo.com

Thanks!

[full7879]

Could you email me the full size pic of the wiring diagram? I'd love to have that for my records!

bkey79@yahoo.com

Thanks!

With the greatest of pleasure!

Sent .jpg & .pdf versions. Was drawn with CorelDraw v.10. If you have any use for the editable version, let me know & will provide the .cdr. It is very large file. Enjoy

[Souperfly]

Got the email!, Thanks a ton! Good gas for you!