wires heatring up...

b_bear58 · Post by **b_bear58** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:39 pm

This is my first post to the group. I just got my 72 coupe off of
ebay (actually this is my second car. my first was my very first car
when I was 16 years old a long time age)
I've been following the discussion on the generator, and I think
this may be a relevant question.
At first, the car wasn't charging properly, only showing 12.3 +/-
volts at the battery with the car running. We noticed that some of
the wires were chaffed and that there was a little bit of smoke
coming from some melting wire casing coming from the generator
We recovered the wires all the way from the bottom front of the
generator up to the rectifier. Also cleaned up the connection on the
bolt holding the rectifier to the battery tray.
The car now shows 13.5 - 13.8 volts when the car is running.
BUT the wires are still heating up and starting to melt the
electrical tape. I assume this is NOT normal.
What did we miss?
Any help appreciated. :)
Thanks
Alan

Lyle · Post by **Lyle** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 6:38 pm

Hi Alan;
Look at all grounds, clean everything all connections, plug-in's and bolt
on-s. There is some resistance in your electrical circuit some where and
this may clean it up.
Bill

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:09 am

I was also going to say that the original ground cable didn't have
any insulation on it. It was rounted from Battery then pinched
between the coil and front sheetmetal then to the engine.
If you notice the plastic insulation has burned off the throttle or
choke cables it's a sure sign that you have a bad ground. The
starter draws a tremendous amount of power even though it goes
through a solenoid. If your ground is bad it will fry the cables and
very common as Bill said the small black wire that goes from the
brushes to the back of the voltage regulator.
Miles

discrete85 · Post by **discrete85** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:13 pm

I have checked the grounds. I cleaned and re screwed things in. I did
insulate the main ground wire from the battery to the engine... The small
black wire is still getting really hot. Could it be the rectifier? if so,
how would you test.
I'm pretty mechanically inclined, but not so much when it comes to the
electric stuff.

>From: "Miles Chappell" Reply-To:
2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
>To:
2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [2cylinderhondas] Re: wires heating up...
>Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 08:07:46 -0000
>I was also going to say that the original ground cable didn't have
>any insulation on it. It was rounted from Battery then pinched
>between the coil and front sheetmetal then to the engine.
>If you notice the plastic insulation has burned off the throttle or
>choke cables it's a sure sign that you have a bad ground. The
>starter draws a tremendous amount of power even though it goes
>through a solenoid. If your ground is bad it will fry the cables and
>very common as Bill said the small black wire that goes from the
>brushes to the back of the voltage regulator.
>Miles
>--- In
2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
, "Bill Colford"
> wrote:
> > Hi Alan;
> > �� Look at all grounds, clean everything all connections, plug-
>in's and bolt
> > on-s.� There is some resistance in your electrical circuit some
>where and
> > this may clean it up.
> > Bill
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:
2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> > [mailto:
2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
]On Behalf Of kingofdworks
> > Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 5:38 PM
> > To:
2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [2cylinderhondas] wires heatring up...
> > This is my first post to the group. I just got my 72 coupe off of
> > ebay (actually this is my second car. my first was my very first
>car
> > when I was 16 years old a long time age)
> > I've been following the discussion on the generator, and I think
> > this may be a relevant question.
> > At first, the car wasn't charging properly, only showing 12.3 +/-
> > volts at the battery with the car running. We noticed that some of
> > the wires were chaffed and that there was a little bit of smoke
> > coming from some melting wire casing coming from the generator
> > We recovered the wires all the way from the bottom front of the
> > generator up to the rectifier. Also cleaned up the connection on
>the
> > bolt holding the rectifier to the battery tray.
> > The car now shows 13.5 - 13.8 volts when the car is running.
> > BUT the wires are still heating up and starting to melt the
> > electrical tape. I assume this is NOT normal.
> > What did we miss?
> > Any help appreciated. :)
> > Thanks
> > Alan

tommyjayallen · Post by **tommyjayallen** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:11 pm

Have you made sure the ground wire from your battery is grounded to the body and the engine? It should have an intermediate connection mid way down the cable that goes on the mount bolt for the coil.
ALAN FLORSHEIM wrote:

> I have checked the grounds. I cleaned and re screwed things in. I did > insulate the main ground wire from the battery to the engine... The small > black wire is still getting really hot. Could it be the rectifier? if so, > how would you test.
> I'm pretty mechanically inclined, but not so much when it comes to the > electric stuff.
> >From: "Miles Chappell"
> >Reply-To: 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> >To: 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> >Subject: [2cylinderhondas] Re: wires heating up...
> >Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 08:07:46
> -0000
> >I was also going to say that the original ground cable didn't have
> >any insulation on it. It was rounted from Battery then pinched
> >between the coil and front sheetmetal then to the engine.
> >If you notice the plastic insulation has burned off the throttle or
> >choke cables it's a sure sign that you have a bad ground. The
> >starter draws a tremendous amount of power even though it goes
> >through a solenoid. If your ground is bad it will fry the cables and
> >very common as Bill said the small black wire that goes from the
> >brushes to the back of the voltage regulator.
> >Miles
> >--- In 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com, "Bill Colford"
> > wrote:
> > > Hi Alan;
> > Look at all grounds, clean everything all connections, plug-
> >in's and bolt
> > > on-s. There is some resistance in your electrical circuit some
> >where and
> > > this may clean it up.
> > > Bill
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> > > [mailto:2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of kingofdworks
> > > Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 5:38 PM
> > > To: 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> > > Subject: [2cylinderhondas] wires heatring up...
> > > This is my first post to the group. I just got my 72 coupe off of
> > > ebay (actually this is my second car. my first was my very > first
> >car
> > > when I was 16 years old a long time age)
> > > I've been following the discussion on the generator, and I think
> > > this may be a relevant question.
> > > At first, the car wasn't charging properly, only showing 12.3 +/-
> > > volts at the battery with the car running. We noticed that some of
> > > the wires were chaffed and that there was a little bit of smoke
> > > coming from some melting wire casing coming from the generator
> > > We recovered the wires all the way from the bottom front of the
> > > generator up to the rectifier. Also cleaned up the connection on
> >the
> > > bolt holding the rectifier to the battery tray.
> > > The car now shows 13.5 - 13.8 volts when the car is
> running.
> > > BUT the wires are still heating up and starting to melt the
> > > electrical tape. I assume this is NOT normal.
> > > What did we miss?
> > > Any help appreciated. :)
> > > Thanks
> > > Alan

Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

craft59 · Post by **craft59** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:22 pm

Did you make sure you have a good ground to the Body of the car from the battery? If you're using a replacement insulated ground cable, you've probably eliminated the key body grounding point -- the bracket in the middle of the original uninsulated cable that attaches to the body on the coil mounting screw. Connecting the ground cable to the engine allows the starter to work, but (I believe) most everything else relies on the body ground to function correctly, and there's too much insulation from motor mounts for an engine ground alone to provide a good body ground.
ALAN FLORSHEIM wrote:

> I have checked the grounds. I cleaned and re screwed things in. I did > insulate the main ground wire from the battery to the engine... The small > black wire is still getting really hot.
> Could it be the rectifier? if so,
> how would you test.
> I'm pretty mechanically inclined, but not so much when it comes to the > electric stuff.
> >From: "Miles Chappell"
> >Reply-To: 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> >To: 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> >Subject: [2cylinderhondas] Re: wires heating up...
> >Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 08:07:46 -0000
> >I was also going to say that the original ground cable didn't have
> >any insulation on it. It was rounted from Battery then pinched
> >between the coil and front sheetmetal then to the engine.
> >If you notice the plastic insulation has burned off the throttle or
> >choke cables it's a sure sign that you have a bad ground. The
> >starter draws a tremendous amount of power even though it goes
> >through a solenoid. If your ground is bad it will
> fry the cables and
> >very common as Bill said the small black wire that goes from the
> >brushes to the back of the voltage regulator.
> >Miles
> >--- In 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com, "Bill Colford"
> > wrote:
> > > Hi Alan;
> > > Look at all grounds, clean everything all connections, plug-
> >in's and bolt
> > > on-s. There is some resistance in your electrical circuit some
> >where and
> > > this may clean it up.
> > > Bill
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> > > [mailto:2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of kingofdworks
> Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 5:38 PM
> > > To: 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> > > Subject: [2cylinderhondas] wires heatring up...
> > > This is my first post to the group. I just got my 72 coupe off of
> > > ebay (actually this is my second car. my first was my very first
> >car
> > > when I was 16 years old a long time age)
> > > I've been following the discussion on the generator, and I think
> > > this may be a relevant question.
> > > At first, the car wasn't charging properly, only showing 12.3 +/-
> > > volts at the battery with the car running. We noticed that some of
> > > the wires were chaffed and that there was a little bit of smoke
> > > coming from some melting wire casing coming from the
> generator
> > > We recovered the wires all the way from the bottom front of the
> > > generator up to the rectifier. Also cleaned up the connection on
> >the
> > > bolt holding the rectifier to the battery tray.
> > > The car now shows 13.5 - 13.8 volts when the car is running.
> > > BUT the wires are still heating up and starting to melt the
> > > electrical tape. I assume this is NOT normal.
> > > What did we miss?
> > > Any help appreciated. :)
> > > Thanks
> > > Alan

Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

Lyle · Post by **Lyle** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 1:20 am

You are still missing something. Or it wouldn't be getting that hot. I
would unwrap all the wiring and see if something has melted the wiring where
it is touching.
Bill

discrete85 · Post by **discrete85** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 10:34 am

All of the grounds seem to be fine, and the case on the throttle cable is
fine as well.
I've looked at everything people have said, and looked at the wiring. It
appears that the heat is bad right at the connection between the wires that
come up from the bottom of the generator and connect to the rectifier. they
are cool down at the bottom where they come from the case, and cooler coming
from the rectifier. I'm going to try and replace the connectors with new,
clean ones. maybe that will fix it.
Thanks for the the advice. I hope this works.

>From: "Miles Chappell" Reply-To:
2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
>To:
2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [2cylinderhondas] Re: wires heating up...
>Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 08:07:46 -0000
>I was also going to say that the original ground cable didn't have
>any insulation on it. It was rounted from Battery then pinched
>between the coil and front sheetmetal then to the engine.
>If you notice the plastic insulation has burned off the throttle or
>choke cables it's a sure sign that you have a bad ground. The
>starter draws a tremendous amount of power even though it goes
>through a solenoid. If your ground is bad it will fry the cables and
>very common as Bill said the small black wire that goes from the
>brushes to the back of the voltage regulator.
>Miles
>--- In
2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
, "Bill Colford"
> wrote:
> > Hi Alan;
> > �� Look at all grounds, clean everything all connections, plug-
>in's and bolt
> > on-s.� There is some resistance in your electrical circuit some
>where and
> > this may clean it up.
> > Bill
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:
2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> > [mailto:
2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
]On Behalf Of kingofdworks
> > Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 5:38 PM
> > To:
2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [2cylinderhondas] wires heatring up...
> > This is my first post to the group. I just got my 72 coupe off of
> > ebay (actually this is my second car. my first was my very first
>car
> > when I was 16 years old a long time age)
> > I've been following the discussion on the generator, and I think
> > this may be a relevant question.
> > At first, the car wasn't charging properly, only showing 12.3 +/-
> > volts at the battery with the car running. We noticed that some of
> > the wires were chaffed and that there was a little bit of smoke
> > coming from some melting wire casing coming from the generator
> > We recovered the wires all the way from the bottom front of the
> > generator up to the rectifier. Also cleaned up the connection on
>the
> > bolt holding the rectifier to the battery tray.
> > The car now shows 13.5 - 13.8 volts when the car is running.
> > BUT the wires are still heating up and starting to melt the
> > electrical tape. I assume this is NOT normal.
> > What did we miss?
> > Any help appreciated. :)
> > Thanks
> > Alan