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Shovel Head battery "meltdown"

The4opps1

The4opps1

Junior Member
I actually think I have the answer to my problem, but want to get some forum input. Took the Shovel out for a short spin today and after 4 or 5 miles she started to miss and then died. Pulled over and noted some smoke from under the seat (never a good sign). Popped the seat off and the negative battery terminal was toast! I mean this thing had melted right down to the battery case. After thing cooed down, the only thing that I could see was the small lead coming off the positive terminal (regulator/rectifier lead, I think) had rubbed off it's insulation and grounded on the frame. With the ignition on, and this lead still rubbing on the frame, when you touched the negative battery terminal to what was left of the terminal, sparks flew like crazy. After I moved the small lead away from the frame, the negative sparking stopped. When I got the bike home, with the leads safely away from the frame, you could touch the negative cable to the terminal stub and the bike would start and run without incident. Nothing heating up or sparking. Anyway, I think I found the culprit, but any thoughts? Anything else that I should check for damage? Thanks guys and gals......
 
The4opps1 said:
I actually think I have the answer to my problem, but want to get some forum input. Took the Shovel out for a short spin today and after 4 or 5 miles she started to miss and then died. Pulled over and noted some smoke from under the seat (never a good sign). Popped the seat off and the negative battery terminal was toast! I mean this thing had melted right down to the battery case. After thing cooed down, the only thing that I could see was the small lead coming off the positive terminal (regulator/rectifier lead, I think) had rubbed off it's insulation and grounded on the frame. With the ignition on, and this lead still rubbing on the frame, when you touched the negative battery terminal to what was left of the terminal, sparks flew like crazy. After I moved the small lead away from the frame, the negative sparking stopped. When I got the bike home, with the leads safely away from the frame, you could touch the negative cable to the terminal stub and the bike would start and run without incident. Nothing heating up or sparking. Anyway, I think I found the culprit, but any thoughts? Anything else that I should check for damage? Thanks guys and gals......
Click to expand...

After replacing the battery and repairing the wiring permanently you need to check your charging system, never good results when wires short to ground http://www.hdtimeline.com/archive/t-47714.html
 
Sounds like you did find the problem. After you replace the Battery Grnd. cable,if needed and repair the Reg./Rect. wire you may want to check your charging voltage.With the battery charged you should read approx. 12.5 VDC(motor off),running, at 2k rpm it should be in in the 13.5-14.5 range. Hopefully it didn't fry your Reg./Rect. I think the wire from the Reg. usually goes to the load side of 30amp. main breaker on a shovel. You may want to look at schematic.Hope this helps.
tourbox
 
Great advice guys. Hopefully, a few bad wires is all I will end up with. Here's hoping.....Thanks for the input....
 
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