wiring issue
Author
Discussion

colin 82

Original Poster:

237 posts

226 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
Hello guys

Just a quick one...or two.
My car is running a Honda Fireblade engine. But it is has a car batter installed. Is this normal?
Also there is slight smoldering and smelling coming off one big plug under the dash. the wires look burnt and hte plug is melting a tad.
Any ideas on what I can do?

cheers

singlecoil

35,805 posts

270 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
The battery isn't really a problem, bike batteries are smaller and lighter (and hold less charge) simply because that's better for a bike.

The other problem is a real problem, and needs to be dealt with promptly (do you carry a fire extinguisher in the car?). Has it always been like that, or is it a recent problem, has anything else changed? It could be a high resistance joint on a current carrying circuit but my guess is it's more likely a wiring fault, IOW it wasn't wired up correctly from the start.

colin 82

Original Poster:

237 posts

226 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
Singlecoil- Thanks for the reply.

I bought the car about 5 weeks ago. Driven it a couple of times. It has smoldered once.....then nothing. Started it today and it smoldered almost instantly. Car was turned off and put back into the garage.
I carry an extingusher (spelling) from my brothers TVR.

Im a bit pissed off as its a lovely day up here. I know nothing about wiring or kit cars. I think this plug is running off the regulator rectofire but really unsure.

arghhhhhhhhh

colin 82

Original Poster:

237 posts

226 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
singlecoil= nothing else has changed at all since buying it. didnt know if its got anything to do with the power commander etc??

Just looks like the big whits plug is melting from the wires in side it.


singlecoil

35,805 posts

270 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
colin 82 said:
I know nothing about wiring or kit cars.
Then you need to get it looked at by somebody who does. You should put some location info in your profile, whereabouts in the country are you, I might be able to recommend somebody.

colin 82

Original Poster:

237 posts

226 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
Hello singlecoil.

Live up in Aberdeen Scotland. Im going to my garage now to investagate the plug more!! make sure not wires are touching.

cheers

migwell

76 posts

237 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
If the wiring plug shows any sign of melting or burnt then either cut out the damaged wire and replace or replace the plug completely, if its damaged then the conection in the plug may not be able to carry the ampage thats required and causing it to get hot and burnt, or alternatively there could be a short, definately have checked immediately before using car again.

mr_fibuli

1,109 posts

219 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
I had similar with my Megablade - the rectifiers on them get seriously hot even in normal use, but when they go wrong they will start to cook your car. Mine started charring nearby wires, and had masses of smoke pouring out choking my passenger!

I fixed mine with a new regulator - some of the pattern parts are probably better than the Honda ones as they have more cooling fins built in. I also used thermal heatsink paste to mount it back on to the ally panel, so that would help dissipate the heat better. Finally I made sure there were no other wires anywhere near the regulator.

I suspect mine overheated because my battery was in a really bad state, not holding it's charge, which meant the bike charging system was over loaded. I replaced the large car style battery with a cheaper and lighter bike one - I just went the next size up from the Fireblade to give a bit more capacity. Not had any problems since!





colin 82

Original Poster:

237 posts

226 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
mr_fibuli said:
I had similar with my Megablade - the rectifiers on them get seriously hot even in normal use, but when they go wrong they will start to cook your car. Mine started charring nearby wires, and had masses of smoke pouring out choking my passenger!

I fixed mine with a new regulator - some of the pattern parts are probably better than the Honda ones as they have more cooling fins built in. I also used thermal heatsink paste to mount it back on to the ally panel, so that would help dissipate the heat better. Finally I made sure there were no other wires anywhere near the regulator.

I suspect mine overheated because my battery was in a really bad state, not holding it's charge, which meant the bike charging system was over loaded. I replaced the large car style battery with a cheaper and lighter bike one - I just went the next size up from the Fireblade to give a bit more capacity. Not had any problems since!

Awsome. Cheers mate

Tim.C

342 posts

221 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
Yep - totally - very well known fault.

You can get upgraded ones, which have fins as heat sinks.

The Honda Superdream Reg/Rec is also like this and is a well known fix.

colin 82

Original Poster:

237 posts

226 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
Tim

have you bought one before?? if so from where??

thanks again guys

Colin

singlecoil

35,805 posts

270 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
The regulator might well be faulty and overheating, but is it adjacent to the connector block? If it isn't it would suggest that the connector block needs sorting out first.

Migwell's advice is well worth looking into. If the circuit is carrying a fair current AND the connection is poor, then that will be a high resistance joint and will be creating heat whenever current is passing through it.

colin 82

Original Poster:

237 posts

226 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
singlecoil said:
The regulator might well be faulty and overheating, but is it adjacent to the connector block? If it isn't it would suggest that the connector block needs sorting out first.

Migwell's advice is well worth looking into. If the circuit is carrying a fair current AND the connection is poor, then that will be a high resistance joint and will be creating heat whenever current is passing through it.
Cheers mate

I will be getting all the connections checked out mate.
Appriciate all the help today. thanks singlecoil

Jon Ison

1,304 posts

257 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2010
quotequote all
My experience of Blade installs would concur with others above.

The connector you have a issue with definitely needs looking at and sorting but almost certainly the problem with that was caused by your rectifier, when they go they fry everything if left.

Sort the dodgy connector, source a repalcement rectifier, if its not currently mounted on a heat sink then mount it on one, I find the best place to mount them on blade engined cars is on a ally heat sink fixed to a bottom chassis rail where it gets plenty of airflow.

A car battery is not a must on a BEC, the fact you have a car battery is probably masking a fault with the rectifier to some degree.