The Gremlin of winter biking - fuses

As we head toward the spring equinox (yay!), we've made it, in the main, thru another season of winter biking.

The problem i'm about to outline has happened to me toward the end of the last couple of winters, so am jotting this down in case it's helpful to others.

Last spring, the guys at Cycle Electric saved me a world of pain and expenditure by identifying the  stalling out problem i'd been having came from a cracked fuse in the battery. Mitchell showed it to me - cracked right across. He said as i hit bumps, the  fuse would go in and out of sync. Pretty cheap fix.

This fall, the motor started cutting out again. By December, the bike was downright unreliable. While partner in crime was spotting me on a ride, it occurred to me to check the fuse again - it was completely burnt out. See the brown at one end of fuse in first pic at left.

I had been worried the batt was at the end of its lifespan, and would cost me a few hundred $$. Soulmate found a pak of 4 fuses at Can Tire in assorted sizes for $5.  Aaaaahhhh!

So i'm not sure why i keep blowing fuses. I have been riding all winter - so unusual amounts of salt and water? I do bring the battery  in when the nite are minus 10 - 20. But i do leave it out in the garage overnite in 0 to minus 8 temps. So maybe extreme hot and cold fluctuations crack the glass of the fuse  I do pull weird loads with the trike - like  canoes, etc. I was using this battery on 2 bikes. So lots of use. Not the most rugged rides, but it gets charged most nites overnite.

I've had this battery for maybe 4 - 5 years.  So, sure, it's getting older. But for now, a $5 fix is worth checking on to get you thru the winter!

<This pic shows fresh fuse (top left), burnt out fuse (lower left), and $5 pak of fuses from Can Tire.