Oy vay... charred wires, RR, melted connectors

[whereiwannabe]

Well, appears I have a bit of a mess on my hands. A few days ago I started up my 1100ES and while it was warming up it suddenly died, along with the smell of burnt electrical. I am thankful I hadn't left my garage.

Today I pulled fuse cover and the Main 15a fuse was blown. I could also smell burnt so I was pretty sure there was more to it. The wires into the RR were charred, and when I pulled the airbox to disconnect the battery the connector from the RR wire bundle to the main wiring harness was melted. I had to clip the wires on the main wiring harness side to remove it.

Here's what I am aware of:

1) 4 clipped wires coming from the main harness that are supposed to end in a connector, said connector to couple up with the RR connector.

2) A charred RR with a melted connector on the end

3) a burnt out 15a fuse (I have spares, yay for me)

I'm seeking recommendations on a) best way to fix said mess, and b) how to make sure there isn't something else going on which caused said mess, which could be lurking to make the mess again.

Here are some pics:


Charred RR, wires and some of the busted connector


RR wire connector + friends


Clipped wires on main harness

Thanks in advance!

[posplayr]

your R/R obvioulsy shorted out.

Replace the R/R after Read about GS Charging Health; follow the directions

[Nessism]

I've repeated myself so many times I feel like a broken record, imploring you guys to clean up your charging system wiring. Alas, most people just wait for their charging system to melt down...which this one apparently has.

Basic rules to reduce this sort of thing happening...

- wire stator directly into R/R, bypassing the factory harness.

- R/R ground direct to battery or to a SOLID frame mounting point - not the battery box or electrical side panel

- R/R positive direct to battery w/15A fuse added, or though fuse block after you verify there is no extra resistance in the circuit (see Jim's link above).

GOOD LUCK.

[whereiwannabe]

Right, figured that. Thanks for the link btw. Any recs on best way to reconnect the RR to the main wiring harness? I'm thinking I have two options:

1) use 4 barrel connectors and clip the connector off the new RR end

2) find someone willing to part with that connector section of the main wiring harness and use 4 barrel connectors there so I can still use connectors to couple up to the RR. I guess this would be my preferred approach.

[whereiwannabe]

Ed,

>I've repeated myself so many times I feel like a broken record, imploring you guys to clean up your charging system wiring. Alas, most people just wait for their charging system to melt down...which this one apparently has.

It's been on my long laundry list. I was still working on my carb rebuild. Unfortunately it beat me to it .

Mike

[whereiwannabe]

I'm reading Jim's link to the R/R papers right now. Just to clarify, if I hook up the power directly to the battery will I even need to reconnect the replacement R/R wiring harness to the main harness?

[koolaid_kid]

No. Factory harness is bypassed.
3 wires go the the stator
12V output fused directly to the battery
Ground to a solid frame ground or directly to the battery
If you have a sense wire, to a switched wire.

[Nessism]

Stator to R/R wires can be connected by solder. The positive can go back into the factory fuse block, but before you do that check resistance using Pos's link. Connecting the R/R positive to the battery direct (with fuse added) is simple so do that if you don't know how to check resistance in the fuse block and circuit.

[tom203]

And no more mini R/R's- these things have lots of heat to dissipate, perferably in a controlled fashion.

[whereiwannabe]

Thanks fellas, appreciate your input. I seem to remember reading somewhere in the posts awhile back that a Honda R/R is big and beefy and should do the trick.