Connector and wires melted

[mixongw]

On the right side of the bike under the tank near the front is a connector that has melted. There are two jumpers in the mating connector that were melted into a glob so I couldn't determine what went where. Any help would be appreciated.

[gremlin]

need some more info. can you tell the color of the wires.

[Redman]

How many wires total in the connector?

If only two then it could be one of the two connectors going to each ignition coil. You mentioned two "jumpers", dont know if you mean two jumpers in addition to other wires, or if you mean two wires in total.

Yah, tell us the total number of wires and colors, and some of us with schematics can lend some assistance. (Well, I would have to look at schematic, others may just remember from experience.)

[Evil Hobbit]

I found the schematics in the Clymer manual to be marginally helpful. The wire colors on the bike are occasionally different then in the manual. with a little thought and some wire tracing with an ohm meter I was able to adjust the color differences.

BTW Hi Redman! I was in your town in November for the weekend. Eat at the Snug. I haven't been there in 2 years and THINGS HAVE CHANGED downtown and by the river. Did you see the damage from the Mackinaw hitting the pier? I saw the pictures on the internet.

[Redman]

Mixon,
I happen to have the tank off my 82 1100GK. I took a look at the wiring in the area you described and I see a connector that has two jumpers on a connector of 9 possible wires. THe wires go to the right handlebar controls (kill switch and starter button). Let me know if that is the connector you are talking about, and I'll look again and try to describe those jumpers better.

EH,
Yep, that happend here, and, yep, have seen damage to pier.
Just the other day announced that the investigation to the Admiral recommend the captain be permanitly relieved of duty for failure to adaquatly train the new crew and for being out with the crew in a bar a couple days later.

[wayne cooper]

fried wire

Think I might of had the same problem. The jumper wires are related to the charging system( the dreaded regufrier). I know I joined the two without going through the connector. This was done in conjunction with the replacement of the regufrier and ignition system. I should add that I found a shorted wire in the right handlebar switch, (kill switch)hole was just a pinpoint in size. To pass on the best advice I have recieved on the subject " check all connections front to back for corrosion and double check all grounds". May the" Resource" be with you.

[mach]

This is typical in old vehicle electrical systems.

Any time you see this at a connector, the cause is uaually a loose connection or intermittent short.

Dead shorts can cause this also, but will result in something not working anymore thus easier to resolve.
Hopefully a fuse will blow before a wire or connector smokes unless the fuse happens to be the improper value or bypassed alltogether....

Loose connections (and intermittent shorts) increase resistance which results in heat.
This is why a good electrician will scan his work an Infra-Red tester after an installation..
It’s is the main cause of electrical fires in old houses…. (Which is why you should have a complete Infra-Red done every few years if you happen to own one).

Anyway, the problem is more likely to manifest in systems which draw high current (like the headlight, turn signals, starter, …).

Check all your connectors for corrosion and make sure they are tight! You should actually do this every 2 or years or so….
Check the crimp point on each connector for corrosion or a wire frayed to the point of near breakage.
Check areas where wires bundles bend or have excessive stress (like at the neck) for cracks & splits in the insulation.
Check areas where wires and bundles make contact with metal for cracks & splits in the insulation.

Also in places of excessive stress or movement, the wire can actually start to break within the insulation which will raise resistance in the circuit.
Wires can also break completely within the insulation resulting in an intermittent connection when movement occurs…
These are the most annoying and time consuming electrical problem to trace out…..

Hope this helps…

[mixongw]

Murphy's law bit me in the butt again! I have a schematic from a Clymer manual. Unfortunately, there is an error in the diagram. If you look at the diagram near the top where the horn is, there is a connector below it. That's the connector in question. The error is that the two jumpers shown as green/yellow being connected to gray and red/white connected to orange/yellow is reversed. The green/white wire should jump to the red/white wire and the orange/yellow should connect to the gray wire. Fortunately, I had rewired the stator wiring at the fuse block so it didn't hurt anything. The lamps connected to the gray circuit just didn't work. Anyone who has a Clymer manual for this bike should make a note. If it was wired the way the diagram is drawn, it would definately cause some problems.

Anyway, I found the problem and all is fixed again on the old GS!

[Road_Clam]

This must be an issue with GS's, because I have the exact same issue. My 2 connectors under the tank are slightly melted, and I cannot separate the connectors. I like dabbing silicone di-electric grease inside the factory connectors, but I will have to leave the two under the tank alone. I bet the melted connectors result from excessive engine heat, when the bike got stuck in traffic, and no air was able to pass through to keep the connectors cool.

[mixongw]

This must be an issue with GS's, because I have the exact same issue. My 2 connectors under the tank are slightly melted, and I cannot separate the connectors. I like dabbing silicone di-electric grease inside the factory connectors, but I will have to leave the two under the tank alone. I bet the melted connectors result from excessive engine heat, when the bike got stuck in traffic, and no air was able to pass through to keep the connectors cool.

Mine looked like an issue with ambient temperature rather than a short or a high resistance connection. I think you are right about the engine heat.