The main cause of fuses melting is from poor/loose contact between the fuse and the holder, causing arcing and/or high resistance.
A good quality replacement fuse holder is hard to find. What I usually do is take my pliers and squeeze the holders terminals together ( before you insert the fuse ) so as to grip the fuse blades a bit tighter, or you can also ditch the fuse holder and just use individual crimp on terminals and tape to secure em.

 

Replace it with this. Problem solved.

 

Is that a breaker, similar to a circuit breaker in a house? Does it automatically reset itself?

 

Is that a breaker, similar to a circuit breaker in a house? Does it automatically reset itself?

I did a bit of searching. Would you recommend manual reset or auto reset?

 

I did a bit of searching. Would you recommend manual reset or auto reset?

Auto, after it cools down it resets it's self.

 

Maybe the fuse is too small. Or something is drawing too much current. Or there is a short.
But yes, as you suspect--you need to get the "charging issue " fixed. Voltage is supposed to be about 14.5 when the engine is running. About 12.8 when engine is not running.
Have the voltage regulator checked--or replaced.

 

Check for bad ground connections too. They will cause all sorts of issues.

 

Replace it with this. Problem solved.

That will work. BUT, when installed in the charge wire/ circuit ya need to make sure the "bat." terminal ( on the circ. bkr. ) is connected to the wire coming from the regulator/ rectifier. Which is opposite of how they are normally installed in a circuit.

Once again, the problem is not a short in yer wiring, but rather, poor/ loose connections between the fuse and the holder.

 

That will work. BUT, when installed in the charge wire/ circuit ya need to make sure the "bat." terminal ( on the circ. bkr. ) is connected to the wire coming from the regulator/ rectifier. Which is opposite of how they are normally installed in a circuit.

Once again, the problem is not a short in yer wiring, but rather, poor/ loose connections between the fuse and the holder.

OK, thanks to everyone for your thoughts and advice. I installed a new blade style fuse holder and everything seems to be working now. It is showing about 14 volts when running so I'm definitely getting charging! With the voltmeter in the dash I can keep my eye on the voltage and know if something goes wrong. I also removed the dust cap from the fuse holder so I can keep my eye on the fuse and fuse holder easier.

Big Fish: Do you believe my ONLY problem is the connection between the fuse and the fuse holder? I'm surprised the original tube type fuse holder had the same problem as my replacement blade type fuse holder. In defense of your theory, the first replacement lasted two plus years and around 100 hours or so. I HOPE this is my only problem but I fear there is something else.

 

This time, the fuse blew. Because I now have volt meter installed, I could see I was not getting 13+ volts at WOT so knew there was a problem. I replaced the fuse and all seems good. The way it blew seems a bit strange. See pics??? Why is it intermittently blowing or melting fuses. Voltage regulator?

 

Notice the grooves in the blades of the fuse. It sure looks like it is making a tight connection..... Anyhow, I decided to use an auto reset circuit breaker and see what happens. Since I have voltmeter in the dash, I can keep my eye on the voltage.

 

Almost looks like it may have shorted across the 2 blades where the fuse plugs into the fuse block. See the holes of missing metal on the inside top part of each fuse blade - that's not normally there on the blade fuses I've seen. I wonder if it is somehow shorting between the 2 blades where it plugs into the block.