Crash recovery, wiring issues

[Nepix]

Hey everyone


So as most of you know I got in an accident last week and I have been making trips to the junkyard and picking up used parts so I can get back on the road. Everything is going well the bike starts but is having an issue with wiring

here is a pic of the wiring diagram where I am having trouble



the coupling was smashed that hold those wires together, so I spliced them and re-connected them 2 days  ago and wrapped them in electrical tape. Bike did fine for about 40 mins then just shut off due to the problem of the wires melting through the electrical tape and disconnecting.

any ideas?

Nepix

[frankieG]

plastic quick connects? i use them

[Nepix]

ill give em a try, think they would melt?

[bucks1605]

ill give em a try, think they would melt?

my step dad just used some to wire up his new horn, so far so good. they should be fine.

[Affschnozel]

I wonder how much current the alternator generates as to melt electrical tape....

[dgyver]

A bad connection will create resistance which in turn creates heat.

The stator only produces around 75 volts AC.

[nastynate6695]

gee man sorry to hear about your accident.  been out of town for a week and trying to catchup.    Yea the d-man is right though  bad or loose wiring can cause resistance  which in turn will cause heat.  Use connectors but when you do cut new splices so you know you have clean copper and if you can, solder them onto the connectors just for good measure.

[mach1]

A bad connection will create resistance which in turn creates heat.

The stator only produces around 75 volts AC.

gee man sorry to hear about your accident.  been out of town for a week and trying to catchup.    Yea the d-man is right though  bad or loose wiring can cause resistance  which in turn will cause heat.  Use connectors but when you do cut new splices so you know you have clean copper and if you can, solder them onto the connectors just for good measure.

+1 what both these guy said, something had to be loose to cause some sort of short and have them melt the tape. Good luck, hope you g et her fixed before sunday.

[average]

Found out where you are grounding out and get yourself some bunt connectors and a set of crimps. Total of about $6

Diaz

[sledge]

Its one of two things. Given you have replaced the connectors the most likely is a poor or high resistance joint, its unable to handle the current passing through it and overheating as a result. They should be replaced with items of a similar design and more importantly the same physical size.
When the engine is at high revs, the battery fully charged and there is little or no current demand placed on the generator ie: lights etc off. the voltage regulator/rectifier returns the unused and excess voltage back to the generator. The upshot of this is that this voltage circulates between the R/R and the generator and increases with engine speed. If the joints cant handle the increase in voltage and current flow they will overheat. The other option is a faulty R/R, it could be allowing voltage to leak to earth and causing a low resistance or even a dead-short across one or more phases of the generator. This would also dramatically increase current flow between the R/R and also cause connections to overheat.

I invite the comments of my esteemed friend Mr Doug Starwalt in this matter.

[starwalt]

I invite the comments of my esteemed friend Mr Doug Starwalt in this matter.

I think the youth of today are shiftless, aimless, and in general do not deserve the benefits of an affluent society.

Oh wait...we are talking about electricity aren't we?   

Dgyver and Sledge are spot on in that you probably have  a resistive connection that is getting hot and causing this.
Average also has a great idea I will expand upon later.

Think of it this way:
Bad/dirty connection - resistive  - heat source
Clean/tight connection - little to no resistance  - almost no heat

You can get excellent connections hot if you exceed their designed currrent rating.

We are assuming you haven't made a wiring mistake. 

If you cannot replace the connections with orignal types, use the male/female insulated types typically found at auto parts store. If you don't know what they look like...CLICK HERE for a "bullet" type. You will need to crimp the connector onto the wire on both sides.

Make sure to put all the females on one side and use the males on the matching wire for the other side. And make certain you do not crimp the metal of the connector onto the insulation, but rather on the copper of the wire. This will cause you agony also.

If you are unsure about how to do this...I cannot recall an FAQ here on GSTwin on wiring basics. I have considered this a dozen times, but I seem to recall John Bates showing some of the process in one of his posts.

There is a company that sells complete connector kits for Jap bikes, but the cost is usually reserved for restoration buffs or shops that can absorb the cost with multiple repairs.

You also maybe able to pickup a wiring harness on ebay fairly cheap. Many of the connectors are similar for all makes of bikes, but you have to know what bikes have those connectors. Werase or Dgyver may know some of that information.

EDITED

Here's a picture of that section of the wiring harness (I forgot I made this a while back)

[dgyver]

....
You also maybe able to pickup a wiring harness on ebay fairly cheap. Many of the connectors are similar for all makes of bikes, but you have to know what bikes have those connectors. Werase or Dgyver may know some of that information.

89
90-02
04+

These are the wire harness compatible years as I know them. I cannot completely confirm that all the years of 90-02 are the same. I do know that 89 and are 04+ are different. Most of the harnesses I have are of unknown year, typically early 90's (90-96).

[Mk1inCali]

If you need help soldering, let me know.

Wiring, I am fairly decent at.