901 Meltdown

[2CoolWheels]

Hey Bruce (and other administrators),
  I went to start 901 one morning, 250 miles from home at it cranked very slowly. I tried again, and smoke began to billow from under the seat. The battery had become completely discharged and was rather hot. I removed the seat and found melted wires and plug p40 partially melted.
  The wire in question was the black ground circuit that goes from the chassis ground to the front of the bike. I pulled the harnesses apart and repaired all the damaged sections of wire, and replaced the ground up past plug p40.
   Yay, 901 lives!
   
   I was never really sure what caused the melt down, it was hard to tell if a hot (12v) wire had somehow made contact with the ground that was melted. Have you heard of this or similar situations in the past?
   I also observed that although the wires appear to be 16 ga. they have rather thin insulation (compared to automotive wiring). Was this to minimize space occupied by wire harnesses?

[wytfut]

Mike,
      I've heard similar stories out there buddy..... But i'm not inclined to say our X's are notorious for this...
      As you may heard me say before.....  With the small numbers built, I believe our bikes to be prototypes of sort. Each X to a point is an individual, each of  our own 3 are different from each other. I'd guess you have noticed your 2 have some differences.

      My issues with the wiring are:
              the wiring is just a bit too short, especially for this old telephone company guy. 
              I also have noticed the thin skin insulation.

       These have with my experience created electrical problems that I have worked on, on other X's.
       1 was a pin prick in the insulation at the ECU steel mounting.... Caused chaffing, by the wire being just a bit too short and the thin skin issue.
        Another was a connector that appeared "connected", but in actuality wasn't, caused again by the wires just a bit too short.

         Getting an auxiliary good ground I think is important on our beauties, because of these issues. 
          Josh's DWS (my youngest sons X) before we owned it obviously had a problem inside the battery box as the lid has quite a bit of  smoke heat scarring on it.

          I also remember back in the "dealer 38" days of a report from a owner from Nebraska (I'm guessing the first) and his X did a total meltdown, as the throttle cables grounded out underneath the tank.

         Ok.... So what am I saying?...
         Clean that ground bolt on top of the case by the electrical box of loc tite. Loc tite will not conduct electricity.
          Anytime you are working on your X, and you can see wiring...... Try to keep it neat, AND loose.... Whether that was what you were working on or not.... You are there, why not?
         And lastly..... Get a good ground ran..... Maybe even 2.'

        Mike I know you personally and your skills... I didn't mean to over simplify my response... But i know there are new owners constantly reading these posts.

        Did I answer your thoughts Mike?    Although that is one ugly picture, it appears it wasn't as bad as it could have been?

Bruce
         
         

[2CoolWheels]

Bruce,
    Yes, I was very happy it didn't send a voltage spike or something to the ECU. Not only that, the bike could have actually caught fire. A few hours of disassembly and wire repair and she's as good as new....could have been worse.
     And I still wouldn't trade my X for a Harley!

[Jumper]

That 'Ol Mike.... A little meltdown won't stop him!
Jumper

 

[wytfut]

Lol!!