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Check your connectors!!!

tkent02

tkent02

Forum LongTimer
Past Site Supporter
Before I went for a ride this beautiful sunny morning, I decided to put my new '78 1000 through the tests in the stator papers. Test good, all is well, good to go, flying colors...almost.

Looked at the connectors hidden inside that rubber sleeve under the air filter, all showed signs of heat, several were partly melted and stuck together, and two were so badly damaged I don't see how they were not shorted. Connector insulators completely melted and stuck together, wire insulation burnt.

Interestingly, it has a Suzuki rectifier and a Mitsubishi regulator. WTF?

So now new spade connectors all around, separate ground from the regulator to the battery, and it is snowing.
 
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Yep, BTDT
BEFORE
Suzukiwires003.jpg

AFTER
2002.jpg
 
bonanzadave said:
Yep, BTDT
BEFORE

AFTER
Click to expand...

I got "lucky". My bike caught on fire (long story told in another thread) the 3rd day after I got it home. The resulting damage to the wiring harness prompted me to just buy a whole new harness. At $150.00 I'm really glad I did it. New wiring front to back now.
 
Check your shorts

Check your shorts

Hi Mr. tkent02,

Thanks for the reminder to do a periodic visual inspection of all the bike's systems, fluid levels, tire pressure, etc.

Here's my "before" picture. (Actually, this is after I cleaned it up just a bit.)

DSCF2492.jpg


And here is my "after" picture:

DSCF2525_cleanconnections.jpg


You may notice the charred green remains of the loop going up to the non-existent headlight switch. Those wires were just cut back and taped off, out of the circuit.

Mr. duaneage's Honda r/r, new stator, new AGM battery, cleaned up wiring, zip, zam, zowie, and SWOOSH! \\:D/

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
Zip, zam, zowie, and SWOOSH!

Zip, zam, zowie, and SWOOSH!

TheCafeKid said:
BassCliff said:
...zip, zam, zowie, and SWOOSH!
Click to expand...

Cliff, you gotta stop watching those old Batman episodes..its really starting to get to you :P :shock:
Click to expand...

Heheh. I'm going to show my age here. Do you remember this guy?



He is Super Bwoing of the Super Six. He's a clumsy super-hero who flies around on his guitar and shoots laser beams from his eyes. It's his battle cry I quoted.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
Great!!

Great!!

Your wiring looks great, Clifford!!\\:D/ I've just recently become a true believer in that it makes a lot of difference!!:-D
 
I changed a stator connector this year. While I was at it I put on a new base gasket, head gasket, head and gonna do it all over again cause someone set my end ring gap to large. Thanks Kris V for picking me up rings from APE for me since he lives next door practically.
 
Why are the spade's recommended over bullets? I'm just curious, I'm going to redo some of mine in the near future.
 
Cause when you push bullets together ,the female socket spreads on eventually become loose.Basscliff old mate, when you use zip ties,cut the tail off flush with a box cutter(??--we call them 'Stanley' knives),then roll the buckle around so it's hidden.Makes your wiring much more tidierer.Cheers,Simon.:-D
 
True

True

simon kuether said:
Cause when you push bullets together ,the female socket spreads on eventually become loose.Basscliff old mate, when you use zip ties,cut the tail off flush with a box cutter(??--we call them 'Stanley' knives),then roll the buckle around so it's hidden.Makes your wiring much more tidierer.Cheers,Simon.:-D
Click to expand...

I think it's probably also because with spades, there is more surface area in contact with each side.
 
Bullets are brass, when it tarnishes it does not conduct electricity. Spades are some form of steel which doesn't seem to rust, it conducts even when it's old. Also when the two halves are slid together the female part digs into the surface of the male part baring fresh metal. Just a better design overall.
 
Connectors, both spade and bullet, have current ratings. As long as you have the appropriate capacity it doesn’t matter what you use.

When installing the CBR R/R on my 850 I went around the local auto part suppliers and was very disappointed in the quality of available connectors; none are water proof and most are just cheap junk. The better quality stuff, such as from 3M, is quite expensive for what it is and still not water proof. In the end I just soldered the stator wires direct to the R/R with heat shrink tubing over the joint. Not what I wanted to do but the best solution I could come up with.
 
Nessism said:
Connectors, both spade and bullet, have current ratings. As long as you have the appropriate capacity it doesn’t matter what you use.
Click to expand...

I'm sure Suzuki used appropriately rated connectors for the current requirements, and yet they are mostly all burning up. Spades don't burn up, unless a short circuit or electrical fire sends way too much current through it.
Bullets suck when they get old.
Agreed the available stuff is of poor quality.
 
tkent02 said:
Bullets are brass, when it tarnishes it does not conduct electricity. Spades are some form of steel which doesn't seem to rust, it conducts even when it's old. Also when the two halves are slid together the female part digs into the surface of the male part baring fresh metal. Just a better design overall.
Click to expand...

Silver colored spade terminals are typically brass with a tin or lead-tin outer coating. Tin alloyed with lead used to be the standard plating (and is still standard for high reliability type connections such as used in aerospace and medical equipment) but pure tin has become the defacto standard these days since lead is being phased out.
 
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Nessism said:
Silver colored spade terminals are typically brass with a tin or lead-tin outer coating. Tin alloyed with lead used to be standard plating (and still standard for high reliability type connections such as used in aerospace and medical equipment) but pure tin has become the defacto standard these days since lead is being phased out.
Click to expand...

Whatever it is it seems to work fine and last a long time.
Aren't the female halves of spade connectors made of some form of steel??
 
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Thanks so much for the explanation!!

I know what you're saying about what was available. I kept looking to find some connectors with waterproofing material on them like basscliff's, but I couldn't find any. What's a good alternative? Electrical tape?
 
tkent02 said:
Whatever it is it seems to work fine and last a long time.
Aren't the female halves of spade connectors made of some form of steel??
Click to expand...

I'm almost certain they are either tin/tin-lead plated brass/copper or aluminum.
 
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J_C said:
Thanks so much for the explanation!!

I know what you're saying about what was available. I kept looking to find some connectors with waterproofing material on them like basscliff's, but I couldn't find any. What's a good alternative? Electrical tape?
Click to expand...

I like to use uninsulated connectors, and use heat shrink tubing to insulate/waterproof them. I put a small tube over each crimp, push the two halves together and use a bigger piece of shrink around the fat part of the connector.

On connectors that must be disconnected occasionally I put the larger shrink only up to the end of the female half, on the ones that will only stay connected I put it out 3/16" or so past both ends of the sliding part.

Electrical tape is fair if you get the good stuff, not as reliable as shrink.
 
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