Changed the speedo, so after 11 years of ownership I will know how "fast " I'm going. Chickened out of changing full instrument pod, so left all wires connected. When putting dash back in, on trying to start, blew no.11 fuse...that seems to be all the connections that I tried not to disturb....so I was just a little clumsy putting it back and earthed something to metal dash........this is where you all say yes !
So you did all that without disconnecting the battery? Probably told this one before but... Could have been worse, a neighbour of mine decided to change his battery isolator switch on his narrowboat, he had 3 or 4 135Ah batteries attached. The switch was fitted in a steel box with no bottom, made as part of the hull. So he undid the switch mounting nut, pushed it back through and...Oh dear. His hotch-potch wiring held up with cable ties caught fire, melted the ties and one sliced the corner off a battery. Meanwhile he didn't even have a spanner the right size to disconnect the batteries, maybe that's why he didn't. First I knew about it his missus politely knocked and calmly asked if I could help. He was out their trying to tear red-not cables off ...anything he could with his bare hands, there was acid and smoke everywhere, insulation burning, it then melted through a live 240V extension on his back deck to his washing machine which was running under a tarp and that luckily popped the fuse. Unfortunately I couldn't stop laughing enough to be much help, but I got him a spanner. If he'd just pulled the switch back through at the first sign of trouble... Yeah, I know I shouldn't have laughed, it was a serious situation, but it was just so extreme I couldn't find a better reaction, I certainly wasn't going to pander his ego with sympathy. Gotta be cruel to be kind sometimes.
No, I put it all back together, reconnected battery and fuse went pop when I turned key to check which lights did/didn't work. It's only 240v I leave turned on while working on it !
Instruments out of pod at moment, but insulated them from metal dash and no fuses popped..... one of dash lights out, so Ebay to the rescue!
