How do I locate a short?
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,755
Likes: 253
From: Northern Los Angeles area.
How do I locate a short?
Hi peeps,
Been unable to ride lately cuz old sporty's dead; turn on ignition, no power, nothing lights up. I thought I had identified a loose horn wire or a bad horn switch relay but that was not it.
So now I have a short somewhere in the electrical wiring (and it killed the battery too). How would you go about identifying where that short is?
Thank you for reading me. 07 XL1200L if that matters. Battery was replaced in 2016.
Been unable to ride lately cuz old sporty's dead; turn on ignition, no power, nothing lights up. I thought I had identified a loose horn wire or a bad horn switch relay but that was not it.
So now I have a short somewhere in the electrical wiring (and it killed the battery too). How would you go about identifying where that short is?
Thank you for reading me. 07 XL1200L if that matters. Battery was replaced in 2016.
Club Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 15,424
Likes: 7,120
From: Beyond Fucital
Start at your main 30 amp breaker. If the whole bike is dead, as there are multiple breakers in the system and to have them all go bad at once is highly unlikly.
Even if you have fuses the same would apply.
Even if you have fuses the same would apply.
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,755
Likes: 253
From: Northern Los Angeles area.
- I turned on the ignition
- Everything lights up.
- I hear a buzzz and the bike goes completely dark
- Turn ignition off and on again. Nothing lights up.
I don't know anything for sure. I am just suspecting it's a short because after I heard that buzz, my 2016 battery was completely dead. I put it on trickle tender to be recharged but 4 days later, it's is still not charged. The tender LED is still solid yellow. And just to make sure nothing keeps draining, I pulled out the main fuse, the one that's right next to the battery inside the left cover.
Thanks, where is that main 30 amp breaker located? Whole bike is definitely dead.
Road Master
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 1,051
Likes: 399
From: Bournemouth United Kingdom
Disconnect the battery positive. Remove all your fuses including the 30 amp maxi fuse and check to ensure none of them have blown. Make sure the disconnected positive terminal is isolated from the frame. Using an insulation/continuity tester carry out an insulation/continuity check either side of the maxi fuse terminals A and B to ground, this will check that the main feeds are not shorting. I suspect that a short of that magnitude will be before the 30 amp fuse or the fuse would have blown. If you find nothing connect the battery and turn on the ignition then using an ammeter check across the terminals of the maxi fuse again for current draw, there should be none. Refit the maxi fuse again using the ammeter check momentarily for current draw across the terminals of all the remaining removed fuses. These simple checks if you have access to a multimeter should point you in the right direction in under half an hour.
Last edited by K9F; Sep 21, 2017 at 11:23 AM.
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Club Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,320
Likes: 306
From: Boynton Beach, FloriDuh
"Battery tenders" are designed to keep a charged battery charged and often don't put out enough current (amps) to charge (recover) a stone dead battery. You may need to get a ~2 amp charger to do the job and it should be charged in 6-7 hours at 2 amps. Once charged, take it to an auto parts store and have it "load tested". Yes, even though the battery was replaced last year, if it got totally drained (killed), it may need to be replaced.
This may not solve a possible "short", but you're not going anywhere without a good battery.
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Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Bedford UK
Some good tips above. As cHarley points out we cannot solve anything without a sound battery, so sort that out first, as suggested. 72 points out that the sound you heard could be from a bad main battery connection, the most likely culprits being the other ends of each main battery cable, away from the battery.
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,755
Likes: 253
From: Northern Los Angeles area.
Thanks, I can check that. I just don't know where to start, so any and every suggestion is helpful!
Will do. Of course, fuses are a prime suspect.
This sounds involved. Time to get a multimeter it seems...
Good point, Thanks. Ordered a 2-4A 12V charger from walmart.com, arriving in 2 days.
Agreed. This is the first thing I addressed.
I am really hoping it's gonna be something that simple. I am soooo not a mechanic/electrician 
Thanks guys, will report back on what I find in due time.
... Using an insulation/continuity tester carry out an insulation/continuity check either side of the maxi fuse terminals A and B to ground, this will check that the main feeds are not shorting. I suspect that a short of that magnitude will be before the 30 amp fuse or the fuse would have blown. If you find nothing connect the battery and turn on the ignition then using an ammeter check across the terminals of the maxi fuse again for current draw, there should be none. Refit the maxi fuse again using the ammeter check momentarily for current draw across the terminals of all the remaining removed fuses. These simple checks if you have access to a multimeter should point you in the right direction in under half an hour.
Thanks guys, will report back on what I find in due time.
Last edited by lewk; Sep 21, 2017 at 11:41 PM.
