I just purchased a used AC 300 (99) and yesterday I
blew the ignition fuse just by squeezing the hand brake.
(I have blown a couple more fuses just to validate it)
Physically I don't see anything pinched or bad. Has anyone
else ran across this problem??? Or have ideas for me?

THX

 

Well, your hand brake's not going to be the problem but some wiring is. Did someone do some modifications to the unit you now own? Or you can look for pinched wires. I would look where there are mechanical motion, like the hand brake actuator, foot brake wiring, handlebars, etc. Check connectors to make sure they're not going to ground.
Good luck,
Chuck

 

Here's some additional information:

I use the atv unconventionally as I have a bunch of dogs
pull me on it. I am generally in training mode so engaging the
parking brake is commonplace (otherwise the dogs would take off
with it.)

I now believe the the foot brake will blow the fuse also, but I have
not verified that yet.

It all looks like original wiring. I bought it a month ago and have used
it daily. This is the first occurance of the problem.

I knew it is some sort of wiring problem and I mainly was looking to see if
there was a common wire (or spot in the wiring) that others had seen it fail.

Thanks,

Dave

 

Yep, you're right! I didn't know I was stepping on your toe...
Good luck again.
Chuck

 

Yeah, had the same problem on my 2000 400 a/c . On the foot and hand brake you will find a small switch, (button that pushes in) they tend to stick, and when they do the parking brake stays on, if any moisture is present, it over heats and shorts out, blowing fuse. I was stuck in the middle of the cottonwood river in southern minnesota due to this once. You need to make sure the small swith on the brakes that activates the brake light is not sticking and your problems will be solved. Or unplug the wiring at the brake levers, no brake lights but also no blown fuses.

 

Hey thanks to both!

The unhooking may work just fine for me, ultimately.

I have looked at the switch on the hand brake. I guess
what I am not understanding about the response is you seem
to insinuate that the switch is stuck in the ON position and eventually
heats up to blow the fuse, but in practice the switch button seems to be
fully extended (OFF) and blows the fuse immediately upon a very
slight depression.

I'll check the foot one though as it is possible I instinctfully use both and
I did blow the one fuse yesterday where I thought only the foot brake was
used.

Wish we had some snow here, then I could switch to my dog sled and
worry about this come spring.

Later...I'm in Monticello BTW...New Ulms baseball team kicked butt on my
Son's baseball team (St. Francis) at the state tourney this year. They were
a machine and the Saints didn't know what hit them.

 

A couple more things...

The switches, hand and foot, seem to be functioning mechanically fine
(button pops out fully when brake engaged). Electronically they both
still short the fuse...every time. I've traced a much as possible without
removing plastic (guess whats next?).

Shooter, did your switches "look" like they were functionally sound when
they were not???

In the mean time I think I am going to disable, but the foot one I have
not removed yet although I did attempt to a little. Felt like I was going to
break the round clip it snaps into. Is there a trick to that?

 

FYI...Well I have not gone deep yet and the fuse blowing is still a
problem. Did buy a circuit breaker fuse in the mean time which is getting
me by for now? All in all it is pissing me OFF.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img]

 

Take apart the back light , the bulb can be shorting out, or the socket can also have a short, if it got wet or something pulled on the wires causing the two wires to touch each other.

 

Dogrunner

If taking out the brake light bulb didn't help maybe you should try to take off the switches again.
Even though the switches look like they are working fine, they still may have an internal problem which causes it to ground as soon as the switch is pressed (even lightly). I think you should try to remove one at a time, but I don't know how they come off.