I think I have a short...

[Franchise_24]

Was driving the leatherback with the lights on, pulled into a parking lot, and the lights flickered, went out and the car went dead. I have a circuit breaker fuse on the car, so after a bit the lights came back on and I was able to start the car again. Did this 2 or 3 more times before I got home. Any ideas where I would even being to check to see what is tripping the breaker?

Thanks,
Neal

[V4F]

first i would check to see if you do have a short . pull one of the battery cables off & put a test lite from post to cable . any lite means you do have a draw . turn everything off except the key & see if the breaker breaks . if not then it is in another circuit , maybe lights .......

[sethkestenbaum]

If it works and then don't works and works and then don't work, you may have a short that is the result of a loose connection that only "sometimes shorts". V4F gives a great way to start if the short is something that is consistently short.

I've found the headlight sockets were the weak link on my car and would sometime short. Check the sockets and make certain that the plungers are bumping around too much.

[Phil]

You say you have a circuit breaker fuse. Is this a auto resetting circuit breaker? Drive it with the lights off and see if you still have the problem. If you have a auto resetting breaker might put a fuse holder and fuse in place of it and see if it is a breaker problem.

[kwisor]

hello
there was a thread not to long ago that the circuit breaker type fuse will get hot and trip and when it cools it will rest and work again till it get hot again then trip i would put a reg type fuse back in and if blows then you may have a short if not it was the breaker fuse tripping when hot
kevin
1930 model a tudor
1923 model t roadster p/u

[Mitch//pa]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

agree to nix the breaker and try a fuse

ck the headlight pigtails and sockets

[eagle]

Before jumping to conclusions, why not put a good ammeter in line and SEE what kind of current draw there is. It could be that your thermal breaker is bad, they do that occasionally but usually because of improper sizing. It could be that you have too much current draw and the breaker is just doing its job... So often when a fuse blows, the first reaction is to put a larger fuse in place. That is not a fix, only makes the problem worse. Find out WHY the breaker is opening, then fix the problem. The last thing you want is an electrical fire.

[Patrick L.]

I think if I remember correctly, you stated previously you used a 30 amp breaker. If the breaker isn't tripping unless the lights are on, then thats where I would start looking. The headlight connectors are famous for grounding/shorting.
What type of head lights are you using ? What does the ammeter say when you just turn the lights ?
Some of us, me included, eliminate those pesky connectors and straight wire the lights and run a separate ground wire. You need the original large conduits [ 5/8" I think] to fit the extra wire.

[Franchise_24]

Well the 2 times it has happened was with the lights on, so that may narrow it down. I have never heard of the circuit breaker fuses tripping from it getting too hot. I have had one on the coupe for years now with no issues, but I do feel my leatherback runs a little hotter than my coupe. I will try driving it around with no lights on and go from there. The head lights were rewired to avoid the shabby connectors, so I'm not sure.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Franchise_24

Well the 2 times it has happened was with the lights on, so that may narrow it down. I have never heard of the circuit breaker fuses tripping from it getting too hot. I have had one on the coupe for years now with no issues, but I do feel my leatherback runs a little hotter than my coupe. I will try driving it around with no lights on and go from there. The head lights were rewired to avoid the shabby connectors, so I'm not sure.

The breakers in a house are electromagnetic and trip when the current is too high, which makes the magnetic pull enough to trip the breaker. You must manually reset it.

The small automobile breaker, (which is often built into the headlamp switch) has a bimetalic strip which bends as it's heated by the current flowing through it. When the current is too much it heats enough to open, but will close again as it cools off.

[Franchise_24]

Put a glass fuse in and drove her tonight. No issues, but I didn't run the lights. Will try more this week.

[Phil]

Good luck and carry some spare fuse.

[bettlesr]

Hi!
If you are running an alternator, you might find as I did the hard way, when I turned on my lights (halogen) and reved the engine, the chaarging current went over the 30 amps and blew the fuse. When this problem first showed up I still had the 20A fuse I used with the generator. This fuse blew as soon as I started the car. Just a thought.
Good Luck
Dick

[Franchise_24]

Originally Posted by bettlesr

Hi!
If you are running an alternator, you might find as I did the hard way, when I turned on my lights (halogen) and reved the engine, the chaarging current went over the 30 amps and blew the fuse. When this problem first showed up I still had the 20A fuse I used with the generator. This fuse blew as soon as I started the car. Just a thought.
Good Luck
Dick

Thanks for the info. I'm running a generator on a stock 6v positive ground system. I'm going to try to drive around in the next few days around the neighborhood with the lights on and see what happens with a glass fuse in. Sure would be nice if it was just something as simple as that.