17.4V with nothing connected would be normal as there is no load. Conversely, a very high load would drag the voltage down, so nothing wrong there. The fact that you are seeing that 17.4 V, presumably measured at the battery connectors, would indicate that the inline fuse is OK.
There could be a problem with the electronics in the BIP unit which is not sensing the battery properly.
I have a 2007 Triton and was not happy with the BIP battery charging. I have since by- passed the charging section of the BIP and installed a CTek smart charger.