Charging cables

[bryanchurch06]

The charging cables I installed on both the trail and the Supercub are non fused, should I add a fuse holder?

 

[DJ427]

I have charger leads on both my cub and trail, nonfused

 

[dmonkey]

A fuse would be useful if you were running accessories on the plug that had the potential to draw more current than the wire is rated for. The fuse would blow to save the wire.

 

[jimzpsd]

If your added cables go directly to the battery, then a fuse is a must. If the positive wire were to ever make contact to the negative circuit (wire or chassis) it will not end well. So to answer your question...yes, add a fuse.

 

[DJ427]

If your added cables go directly to the battery, then a fuse is a must. If the positive wire were to ever make contact to the negative circuit (wire or chassis) it will not end well. So to answer your question...yes, add a fuse.

My leads use connectors compatible with my charger. There is no danger the leads will ever cross, but I would agree with you otherwise

 

[sieg]

The charging cables I installed on both the trail and the Supercub are non fused, should I add a fuse holder?

Yes, as close to the battery as posable.

 

[bryanchurch06]

Thanks for all the replies, I have these mini fuse holders I am going to splice in with 5amp fuses as the wires I've used are only rated for 5 amps. And battery charger is the only use right now.

 

[m in sc]

all good till you try charging it on quick mode skip the fuse on a charge lead if you will use it to charge the battery. my Schumacher charger killed a fuse on angies supercub with a fused lead, swapped it to a non fused one, its fine, the + is shielded, zero chance of shorting. they also cone with caps to seal them when not in use.

 

[Cpd419]

If you have a good trickle charger it will go into protect mode if something goes wrong. If that’s what you are worried about. I made an accessory plug for my trickle charger and charge through my accessory port that is fused.

 

[m in sc]

if you guys are -really- worried about it, add a thermal breaker. that way you don't have to pull bodywork to change a fuse. .02 there's room under the top body cover where the battery sits to mount one. use vacuum caps on the threaded ends to protect them if you are worried about it. https://wiringproducts.com/products/10-amp-short-stop-auto-reset-circuit-breaker-12-volt-right-angle

 

[bryanchurch06]

if you guys are -really- worried about it, add a thermal breaker. that way you don't have to pull bodywork to change a fuse. .02 there's room under the top body cover where the battery sits to mount one. use vacuum caps on the threaded ends to protect them if you are worried about it. https://wiringproducts.com/products/10-amp-short-stop-auto-reset-circuit-breaker-12-volt-right-angle

For us slow kids, how does that install?

 

[m in sc]

inline. eyelet to eyelet cable needs to be made, short. + from battery to breaker. then, hook up the + cable of the charge cable to the other side of the breaker. the ground stays to ground. if for some reason you over load the wire, the breaker will get warm internally, and disconnect. when it cools back down will automatically reset. no muss no fuss. Id probably use 2 small screws and find a section in there to mount it to. I use one in my car for the fan controller just in case. no more than a 10a rated, remember its for a sudden short or spike.

 

[bryanchurch06]

inline. eyelet to eyelet cable needs to be made, short. + from battery to breaker. then, hook up the + cable of the charge cable to the other side of the breaker. the ground stays to ground. if for some reason you over load the wire, the breaker will get warm internally, and disconnect. when it cools back down will automatically reset. no muss no fuss. Id probably use 2 small screws and find a section in there to mount it to. I use one in my car for the fan controller just in case. no more than a 10a rated, remember its for a sudden short or spike.

As always thanks for your help and patience. I greatly appreciate it.

 

[AZ7000']

If your added cables go directly to the battery, then a fuse is a must. If the positive wire were to ever make contact to the negative circuit (wire or chassis) it will not end well. So to answer your question...yes, add a fuse.

Honest question, what does “it will not end well” mean for possibilities? Fries the battery. Cooks the computer? Burns down the bike?? Aren’t they lead acid batteries? I’ve never released a panel yet

 

[Zeke]

Honest question, what does “it will not end well” mean for possibilities? Fries the battery. Cooks the computer? Burns down the bike?? Aren’t they lead acid batteries? I’ve never released a panel yet

If you have a chafe in the wire that rubs the positive wire through and it touches the metal of the bike, you are completing a circuit to ground with no load. Without a fuse it will keep shorting to ground until the insulation burns off the wire and can catch adjacent parts on fire, and lead to burning down the bike/garage.

 

[dmonkey]

The stock battery (Yuasa YTZ5S-BS) is lead-acid, but it is an AGM type battery which is designed to be safer, more reliable, and a maintenance-free improvement from older flooded batteries. AGM batteries are less likely to explode (hydrogen and oxygen off-gas igniting) than a flooded battery, but they can still explode, and the thermal runaway caused by an external short can cause it to get hot enough to melt and light on fire. That is kind of a worst case scenario for if the short isn't something that will just resolve itself by burning up the thin wire and preventing the flow to ground. It's best to not count on the wire burning up though, a fuse is a safer bet.

 

[m in sc]

honestly, you would just smoke the wire and kill the battery, i've had dead shorts on bikes with 4 &5 ah batteries. the likely hood of this happening on a trail is so minimal due to most of what the wire will pass thru or near is plastic, the amount of worry is really over exaggerated. .02.

 

[jimzpsd]

If you have a chafe in the wire that rubs the positive wire through and it touches the metal of the bike, you are completing a circuit to ground with no load. Without a fuse it will keep shorting to ground until the insulation burns off the wire and can catch adjacent parts on fire, and lead to burning down the bike/garage.

Exactly this, accidents can happen. Its why I advised a fuse in the beginning.

 

[m in sc]

when you look at the routing on this bike, where it would go, its nowhere near metal. all plastic. if it does go near metal, zip tie it to it. no movement, no chafing. just like the battery cable to the starter relay. its not fused either. just saying. I do not feel its necessary, and it you ever overload it charging the battery on the bike, which is easy to do, you will be pulling the body work off replacing the fuse which defeats the purpose of having a remote charge cable in the 1st place. IF, however, its for an accessory only and you'll never charge the battery off of it, then yes, a fuse is a a good option. These are just my opinions, and ive built harnesses for over 10 bikes from scratch and yes, i believe in fuses, breakers and fusable links..., but to each their own.

 

[Kev250R]

honestly, you would just smoke the wire and kill the battery, i've had dead shorts on bikes with 4 &5 ah batteries. the likely hood of this happening on a trail is so minimal due to most of what the wire will pass thru or near is plastic, the amount of worry is really over exaggerated. .02.

Exactly this^ is the most-likely scenario. Remember, whatever outlet you're plugging into is protected by a Breaker which should trip if anything bad happens. Only have high-amperage Breakers in your garage? (guilty, my welder and machine tools like to eat) there are other options. Personally I don't worry about it.

Here's another thought which will likely blow some minds; I don't leave everything on a Trickle Charger 24/7. For my purposes I have four Battery Tenders which monthly get used to top-off the charge on the batteries in my ATV's, My two classic VW's are the on the same schedule if I haven't run them in a while. I make a point to ride my Street-legal bikes monthly (even if it's just to the store) so they rarely see a battery charger, but all have SAE ports and cables on them if I do need to charge them. FYI Battery Tender makes a neat little digital battery gauge which plugs into those same SAE ports and will tell you the state of your charge. With this set-up I rarely have battery chargers running all night (though it doesn't bother me if they do) and I rarely have to replace a battery (it's not uncommon for me to get 5+ years out of a battery) plus I don't have cords and battery chargers all over the place, all the time.