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Fuse block melted

13K views 40 replies 19 participants last post by  Dave Bejbl 
#1 ·
Just had my SS fixed. The main fuse block back by the battery completely melted after the fuse in the back. When it failed I had no lights, and not other electronics. The engine worked so I could drive but without all the electronics it was like driving an old truck. The 50 amp fuse was not melted but the fuse plastic was melted in place. The dealer went out of his way to fix it, but he thinks Polaris may say it' not under warrantee because I have extra lights installed up front, which would be crazy. If the fuse stayed intact and the fuse block after the fuse melted, that would be something they should look at as a recall.
 

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#2 ·
Yes, this is a fairly common issue actually. I have seen 3 just like this in person.

It is very possible that Polaris can/will deny your warranty because you have aftermarket lights installed. How are they to know what they are and if they were installed correctly?! Most people do it right, but other have had complete rats nests of lights.

From what I have seen, the fuse and gauge of wire used doesn't match correctly.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I would believe it falls into the federal law that require the manufacture to prove that the aftermarket add on caused the issue, it' not my requirement to prove it didn't.
Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act makes it illegal for companies to void your warranty or deny
coverage under the warranty simply because you used an aftermarket part.

Knowing electronics, if the 50 amp fuse is in tact and the block melted, it tells me the fuse block itself could not handle the amps and it melted before the fuse that is designed to save the circuit.
 
#4 ·
I would believe it falls into the federal law that require the manufacture to prove that the aftermarket add on caused the issue, it' not my requirement to prove it didn't.
Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act makes it illegal for companies to void your warranty or deny
coverage under the warranty simply because you used an aftermarket part.

Knowing electronics, if the 50 amp fuse is in tact and the block melted, it tells me the fuse block itself could not handle the amps and it melted before the fuse that is designed to save the circuit.
Just to play a wee bit of devils advocate looking at things from Polaris' prospective, how would Polaris know that you had the correct fuse installed when this damage occurred, many a folk have been known to stick in paper clips and such to bypass if a fuse persistently blows?

Bill
 
#6 ·
From the pic ONLY one Prong looks fried, I would want to follow that wire on the other end of the prong and see where it leads, because you my friend have an issue there I see........BUT i would surely want to follow that one wire....And as far as your aftermarket lights who did the install......and where are these lights connected ....
 
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#12 ·
Normally, when designing a circuit fused for 20 Amps, the typical max load the circuit would normally operate at should only be aroun 14 - 15A max to allow a safety cushion. What really got me about the original headlight circuit was using a breaker that should blow at 30A to protect a relay that was only rated at 20A! Kinda backwards since the relay should stress out long before the breaker would "protect" it!
 
#14 ·
There are many postings of dealers being denied Polaris warranty on a unit. Polaris may ask for pictures and require it be plugged into the digital wrench for service warranty. They will ask the dealer if it has any aftermarket parts on the unit and may choose not to cover it without removal and back to oem. Read the fine print in the warranty clause. My fuse block under the hood melted in the light fuse, but I found a used box and replaced it myself because I have many aftermarket parts.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Good post, I do not understand when it is written directly into the warranty that installing aftermarket parts may void that warranty, (I can fully understand their reasoning for doing this), but knowing this somebody still takes it upon themselves to go ahead and install aftermarket parts anyways, and then they get all sorts of upset when Polaris does void the warranty?

Bill
 
#17 ·
My slingshot has been in the shop for two months now with a melted fuse block. All of my aftermarket accessories run off an independent fuse block connected directly to the battery and only pulls a total of about 7 amps if everything was on all at once. Before my dealer would touch it under warranty, I had to pull the fuse block I installed even though it was completely separate. Obviously removing this did not change the problem with all other electronics dying while driving, so they got Polaris 'out of good faith' to agree to the replacement of the fuse block and main wiring harness. We'll see if that works.
They are charging me $275 for removal and reinstalling my rollcage, luggage racks and madstad windshield, because those are aftermarket and interfere with the wiring harness replacement. So if you're having the same problem, you may want to remove those yourself before you turn it in.
 
#18 ·
Even if the circuit was over loaded, the fuse should have blown first should it not?
 
#20 ·
Well, the power comes from the battery and to the fuse block, through the three fuses out to the sling wiring. The fuse block melted after the 50 amp fuse and before it ran the wire that goes the the front fuse box and every other electronic thing on the Sling, with the exception of the ABS brake circuit and the Engine circuit. If the attached electronics were the cause the fuse would blow and it didn.t it was still good except the melted fuse block was melted to it. So, how can anyone justify putting a 50 amp fuse in a fuse block that completely melts in under 50 amps? That is bad engineering and has zero to do with anything added to the circuit. If Polaris would do the right thing they would perform an ortopsy on that fuse block to identify the flaw in the production or design of that block. Think about it, if you were cooking eggs in a pan and the pan melted, would you be look at the eggs or the pan as the problem?
 
#21 ·
I cannot give details but my fuse block melted on my 2015 SL 2 seasons ago. Got it fixed after being in shop for 51 days. Don't count on Polaris stepping up to the plate. Only accessory I had was the Slingmods plug & play horn wired directly to the battery with its own inline fuse. Maybe be time for a class action suit? Not sure how you go about this.
 
#24 ·
"Don't count on Polaris stepping up to the plate."

If I am correct, you are the one who says Polaris will not step up to the plate. I only stated in the affirmative that the manufacturer only knows what the dealer tells them. If they don't step up to the plate it is because the messaging from the dealer is not on point. So what are you talking about?
 
#25 ·
I don't know how much clearer I can be. Fuse block melted, dealer worked for 5 hours on phone with Polais and could not fix. 51 days later after I found the silver bullet to got polaris off its ass it was fixed in one day. Dealer showed me all the correspondence between them and Polaris over the

I don't know how more specific I can be. Broke down 100+ ,miles form home with melted fuse block. Got it to dealer and dealer called Polaris immediately. Waited at the dealer for 5 hours while they and Polaris tried to do a temp fix to get me home. No luck, had to rent a car to get home. Dealer was in contact with Polaris constantly over the next 50 days to get a fix. I finally found the silver bullet to get Polaris off their ass and it was fixed 1 day after that. Dealer showed me all the correspondence that they had with Polaris over the 50 days in the shop. Polaris was definitely at fault for not fixing this in a timely manner. So your comment Polaris only knows what the dealer tells them does not fit this situation.
 
#37 ·
I've yet to study this circuitry, but it seems a case of undersized terminals for the amperage load potential under worst-case conditions, such as in a not-ideal terminal-to-terminal fitment. We see this from time to time on modern automobiles as well. The "plug and ship" modular approach to modern vehicle assembly line operations means we have more and more instances of such terminal pins carrying high current than we would have had back in the day, when there were more continuous conductors and ring-terminal connections on such circuits...slide-together terminals were eschewed for such heavy lifting back then, but ring-style terminals and continuous conductors impart more labor time to install during vehicle assembly. It's a tightrope they walk between excellence and expediency.

That said, chances are excellent that the miscue here was not strictly inadequate terminal size vs. current. It's inadequate terminal tension and/or contact that's usually the bugaboo, although larger terminals are more unlikely to develop such maladies. During assembly, most of the terminals will seat and contact quite adequately, thus causing no problem over the life of a machine. Then there will be the few that didn't, where the terminals simply did not achieve a quality connection when slid together. In such an instance, sufficient contact is made to transmit power across the connection, but resistance caused by the inadequate contact will create a voltage drop which manifests itself in heat, heat that will ultimately exceed the thermal deformation characteristic of the polymer used for the housing...and so it begins to melt. The downfall of this process is that it is self-worsening as well as self-perpetuating: the more the connection heats up, the worse it gets...and so the more the connection heats up.

It's just a product of some of these connections when they don't go together great, and as I mention, it's commonplace in today's "snap-together" vehicle manufacturing. It's a roll of the dice: Save time in assembly, hope for the best down the road. Sometimes the equation falters.

I doubt it poses a notable fire hazard, but all the same, I'm pleased Polaris is treating it as a safety feature and replacing them all. It's another example of a responsible company with integrity seeing their obligations through to the finish line. No machine is perfect. What matters is what a manufacturer does when imperfections surface. Polaris has proved over and over that they remain true to the cause.
 
#38 ·
My SS which is 5 weeks old, is sitting at the dealer becausr the alternator and battery went bad.
The dealer got “approval” from Polaris to replace both. This is going into its third week now.
Yes, Polaris stepped up and stood brhind their product, but its taken 2 weeks so far to get to this point.
I hope it doesn’t take weeks for the recall parts to be installed!
 
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