Voltage Fix - 955 Tigers .......better known as the SASQUATCH MOD

[Tom Herold]

It was probably the fuse holder itself rather than the wires. The in-line fuse holders just can't handle the heat, I'm guessing your old fuse looked good but the plastic around it had melted?  That's usually the case. The Maxi helps disperse the heat much better and the fuse is more durable. I'm running 10ga wires off the regulator into 8ga wire to the fuse holder and battery. A consistent 14.4 without any accessories on and the engine above 2500 - 3000 rpm. At a warm low idle, I'm running 12.6.  

I can't comment on the line rating and the recommended fuse, I'm just not that smart on this stuff. I'm running a 30 amp Maxi because that's what Triumph originally rated the system for. I'm not sure what running a 40 or 50 will do for you, but someone on here might have some input.

[stopwatch]

I'm not real sure what happened first. The gauges and lights died, then the motor. I'm thinking the fuse had heated up and cooled off so many times over the past 7 months the resistance became worse and it finally just heated up and melted/ snapped the element inside the fuse.
The fuse literally came out in two pieces. Tom, where did you find that 8ga inline fuse holder? Or maybe you made your own by connecting an 8ga wire with female spade terminals directly to and from your maxi fuse?

[Nimrod11]

Good comments, Tom. The little fuse simply can't take the current.

Just to give you guys an idea, a regular household plug is usually rated at 10A. 30 or 40A is a huge amount of current. It would melt away any domestic plug or outlet.

I was corrected by Stretch in a previous post that the Tiger has a fuse to the battery. I am only guessing here, since I don't have the wiring diagrams, but that fuse doesn't take all the power that comes out of the R/R. It only take she surplus to the battery. With the fix, the new fuse will carry all the power out of the R/R. I figure that, since the R/R is rated at 40A, you should at least have that rating. You also get a few peaks of current, just for a fraction of a second, when you turn some accessory on or off.

Since these discussions, I have put in a 40A fuse in mine. I'd rather change a fuse every now and then than have to change the R/R. Seems to be OK but I don't have any heating equipment.

My recommendation: use a maxi fuse with at least a 10 gauge wire. For the splice, 12 gauge should be fine as you will be dividing the current in 2.

Good luck!

[oxnsox]

Nimrod is on the right track.  The maxi fuse holder has a larger contact surface area, which at higher currents will not get as warm.... so the holder shouldn't melt.  But it is important to remember the fuse is an important part of the charging and electrical system.

The job of the fuse is to protect this associated wiring from carrying too much current, over-heating, melting and.... worse.  The fuse is designed to be the weakest part of the system, to protect it.

Using a bigger fuse won't change the output of your RR or charging system.

[Stretch]

I am only guessing here, since I don't have the wiring diagrams, but that fuse doesn't take all the power that comes out of the R/R. It only take she surplus to the battery.

Nope, that fuse takes all the power coming from the R/R.  A couple members here have reported a melted charging fuse connector (#2) in the stock fuse holder, for the same reason we've been discussing in regard to the smaller ATC inline holder, and have experienced a complete loss of charging voltage to the battery.  The bike was then running solely on battery voltage, until it went dead in the road after running the battery down.

Note that the two brown wires (3 and 4) coming from the R/R (#70) are tied together at the black dot, and then go straight to Fuse #2.  Pull that fuse, and you will have zero Volts going into the battery.



All you're doing with the Voltage Fix is removing a few feet of wire from between the R/R and battery, and substituting an inline fuse holder for the one in the stock fuse box.

[Tom Herold]

I picked up my Maxi and the 8ga wire at a local stereo installation shop. They had a couple of different types of fuse holders, I went with the weather proof one and put a brass connector on the battery end.  The 8ga wire is spiral wound copper coated in rubber for flexibility.

[oxnsox]

Tom...  and all
Where you can buy your electrical stuff from Auto electrical or better yet (but more costly) Marine electrical stores.

Car Audio is about bling and the cables they use, whilst OK reflect this. A really flexible cable usually has a larger diameter rubber/plastic sheath... if the cable does get warm this works better to keep the heat in.  The sheath won't weather well.
Auto Cable is usually practical and cost effective, it has a sheath that usually has a better temperature and abrasion rating than Audio stuff.
Marine cable of good quality uses tinned copper, this is corrosion resistant.  Like Auto cable it usually has a thinner sheath that has good resistance to heat, abrasion and solvents.

For ring terminals (as on the battery end) use a plated type if you can (plated copper or cadmium plated steel are the most common), as these are corrosion resistant.

Hope my training an experience can help you all....

[Nimrod11]

Note that the two brown wires (3 and 4) coming from the R/R (#70) are tied together at the black dot, and then go straight to Fuse #2.  Pull that fuse, and you will have zero Volts going into the battery.

Stretch, once again I stand corrected, thanks for the diagram. BTW, where do you have that from? I wanted to get myself the service manual, so I don't have to keep asking you the dumb questions, and just want to make sure I get the good manual.

Anyway, part of what I thought is true. Not all the current goes to the battery. At the fuse block itself, the power is connected directly to other loads, before it goes to the battery. Now looking at the diagram, it also occured to me that you could then use the discarded bike harness that was bypassed by the fix as a good source of power for connecting other auxiliary loads, without having to make other precarious connections. It is, however, constantly connected to the battery and would need a relay.

What is the rating of fuse 66? I must say I am puzzled by the rating of fuse 2 (30A). I would have expected that it be 40A, equivalent to the R/R. Do you think that a 40A (or even 50A as previously discussed) may risk burning out the R/R? That could ruin a day...

[haulin' daze]

Now looking at the diagram, it also occured to me that you could then use the discarded bike harness that was bypassed by the fix as a good source of power for connecting other auxiliary loads, without having to make other precarious connections

I thought of this too. Would using this harness just complicate things and due more harm than good?

[iansoady]

Now looking at the diagram, it also occured to me that you could then use the discarded bike harness that was bypassed by the fix as a good source of power for connecting other auxiliary loads, without having to make other precarious connections

I thought of this too. Would using this harness just complicate things and due more harm than good?

I did exactly that on mine to power a couple of things and it works fine.

[Stretch]

What is the rating of fuse 66? I must say I am puzzled by the rating of fuse 2 (30A). I would have expected that it be 40A, equivalent to the R/R. Do you think that a 40A (or even 50A as previously discussed) may risk burning out the R/R? That could ruin a day...

Fuse 66 (the bike's master fuse) is a 30-amp ATC fuse, located on the left outer side of the battery box.  When this fuse blows or is otherwise rendered inoperable, the whole wiring harness is dead.

Naturally, any aftermarket accessories or fuse blocks connected directly to the battery operate independently from the master fuse.

The diagram is from the Triumph manual.




I would be hesitant to increase the amperage of either Fuse 2 or the Sasquatch Fix (if fitted) fuse.  The stock R/R and Stator are rated for similar loads, so if you increase the fuse amperage rating and subsequently draw too much from the charging system, you run the risk of frying the Stator.  

The Regulator side of the R/R works by dumping excess voltage to ground (within the R/R box).  The more voltage you draw from the battery, the less current the regulator has to dump, so it actually runs cooler at heavy draw.  But heavy current draws do adversely affect the Stator.


You're not going to increase the charging capacity by installing bigger fuses, so why bother?

[haulin' daze]

You're not going to increase the charging capacity by installing bigger fuses, so why bother?
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The marine store I went to only had 50 amps. They were out of 30 and 40s. So you're saying to stick with the 30 and get the 50 out ASAP? What you wrote makes sense (even to me!) and the last thing I want is to fry anything because of a fuse that's too big.

I've NEVER been accused of being too big, but this is a family site so... :lol:

[Stretch]

The fuse rating should be less than the overall system capacity.  If you run a 40-amp (or greater) fuse on a 40-amp system, you'll come dangerously close to overloading the system before the fuse gets hot enough to blow.

If you're not going to run a 30-amp fuse, you'll need to be very careful to never overload the charging system, since the 30-amp fuse isn't there to safely stop a 35+ amp current draw before it overtaxes the charging system.

I found a 30-amp Maxi fuse at Autozone, but maybe they're not carried at all their stores.

[Tom Herold]

You can look at the car stereo stores for the Maxi fuses too. I've even seen them at the larger Best Buy stores in their stereo departments.

[haulin' daze]

Once again, thanks for making it clear Stretch. I'll be swaping it out for a 30 amp ASAP.