Connector Melt-down: Who Has Had One?

[Guest]

I switched batteries with the other bike; no change. An Internet search for troubleshooting information turned up a diagnostic flowchart produced by ElectroSport Industries. According to the chart, my charging system is "perfectly OK". I have disconnected and cleaned all connections I can easily access with no result.

Pserve,

Your statement about the stator makes sense in light of the history of my problem. I don't know what else to try, so I'll focus on the stator.

Thanks,

Jon

[Guest]

Jon - I'm basically in the same boat as you with my 6th gen. Stator wires getting to hot for comfort,

but everything else checks out, including stator test. So, I'm hoping it's just a bum connector. I'll

just have to replace it and see. Good luck with yours...

[Guest]

Guys I have a new upgraded R/R from Ricks, and the VFRness installed...my connector from R/R to stator burnt crispy..so I hard wired together...The wires do get very hot...I just been riding with it like that...they used to get hot before as they do now so I figured t was normal heat......I figure everyone wires gets hot?????

[Guest]

JJ,

I have two 5th gens, both now have Rick's R/R and Tightwad's VFRness. The wires only get hot on the bike that suffered the melt-down.

Jon

[Guest]

JJ,

I have two 5th gens, both now have Rick's R/R and Tightwad's VFRness. The wires only get hot on the bike that suffered the melt-down.

Jon

Good to know...

[fastbroshi]

Hey guys, just thought I'd chime in here as I've had a little experience with troubleshooting these electrical gremlins, 2 situations very similar to yours.

With all due respect, it sounds like your just throwing parts, and money, at the bike. The fried connectors and such seem to be just symptoms of what's happening, not the problem.

Have you gotten out the voltmeter and done any testing? I think you'll have to do this to make any progress. It does seem daunting at first, but the internet can teach you a lot and Tightwad can probably answer any specific questions you have.

I had Tightwad install a VFRness on my 4th gen a while back just because after reading the forums for a bit after I first purchased my bike. After the electrical problems I had on my old 550, I wanted to know what I was getting into. And sure enough, the VFR's have their kryptonite. And I wanted to avoid this, so I contacted Josh even though I hadn't been having any problems. Sure enough, when we got the bodywork off and started testing, my system was down a full volt charging across the rpm range. The starter relay was toast. We cleaned up the connectors, scraped out the melted plastic, and beefed up the guage on the wiring in that section (this was part of the VFRness in Tightwad's sig). Tested out above spec afterward.

If those wires you spliced together to get rid of that connector are still getting hot, I'd say the problem lies further up the harness. And I can attest to the dielectric grease trick, it helps a lot. I picked up about .5 or a full volt on my charging on my 550 if I remember correctly by just cleaning all the connectors and using the grease.

Good luck with it, and we're all here for you.

[Guest]

Ok so Im starting to get the idea the starter relay is the heart of a group of problems???? If we replace the starter relay would that cure the heating wires problem???? Electrical gremlins suck!!!!!

[Tightwad]

Ok so Im starting to get the idea the starter relay is the heart of a group of problems???? If we replace the starter relay would that cure the heating wires problem???? Electrical gremlins suck!!!!!

I can't see how the starter relay has anything to do with it, especially if the VFRness or "Beef up Dem Wires" mods are done, as they bypass the starter relay anyway. Always good to look at it, and clean it up of course.

[Guest]

fastb,

Thanks for your input, but, yes, I have been checking out voltages. All check out according to spec.

re the wires from the stator:

1. resistance among all 3 wires is the same at about 0.7 ohms.

2. there is no continuity between any of the 3 stator wires and the engine block

3. at 5K RPM's the AC voltage among all 3 stator wires is identical at 64 volts.

Based on these numbers, it appears that the stator is OK.

I tried switching batteries with my other bike, but noticed no effect. However, I did notice that the batteries are different. Could that contribute to the problem? I haven't seen any tendency for the battery to fail to hold a charge. Would an undersized battery (YTX9 vs. X12 or X14) make a difference? The battery in the bike is a YTX9-BS.

Still working on it; won't give up until it is SOLVED!

Jon

[Tightwad]

you should have a 12, but the size shouldn't matter (at least that's what she keeps telling me)

[spud786]

The standard vfr battery is just adaquate imo , the st 1300 battery is the way to go, same size physically.

While I ride my bike, the voltage reads 14 to 15 volt, what is everyone else seeing? if sitting at a light the voltage may drop down to 13 idling if running electric vest. i can let my bike sit a week and the battery still reads over 13 volt on my 6 month old st1300 yusau.

I'm completely stock wiring and set up at 58,000 mile

I just used wd40 on my wiring connections, IMO, being dielectric grease is non conductive, I prefer the wd40, even though it wont take a hurricane like dielectric grease. But I've had no issue

[swas]

Blackbuell,

The "bad earths" I was referring to are a loose, dirty or improper connection to the frame or negative terminal of the battery - anywhere, but especially the battery and the RR circuits. I have yet to experience this, but models following the 3rd and 4th have had problems with blue earth connectors under the front fairings somewhere - a search will get details, and some other earth connections within plug and socket joints. Problems in these areas have caused charging problems and/or engine management problems. Mind you the same plugs and sockets probably have bad connections in lots of other circuits and the process of opening and then remaking the connection cleans the mating surfaces, if they aren't burnt. So that becomes a good routine maintenance method. The addition of dielectric grease only assists to keep out oxidising agents, air, salt, water whose corrosive action is assisted by engine heat trapped under fairings.

From the figures you have obtained and the battery swaps results, I would forget about the stator wires getting warm and go ride. The current flowing in wires of arguably too small a size is the reason for the warm feeling and that current is what exposes the weakness in the plug and socket Honda provided. Some have replaced the wires all the way from the stator to the RR with larger diameter wire, that would certainly lessen the temperature rise.

Cheers

Mike

[Tightwad]

The standard vfr battery is just adaquate imo , the st 1300 battery is the way to go, same size physically.

While I ride my bike, the voltage reads 14 to 15 volt, what is everyone else seeing? if sitting at a light the voltage may drop down to 13 idling if running electric vest. i can let my bike sit a week and the battery still reads over 13 volt on my 6 month old st1300 yusau.

I'm completely stock wiring and set up at 58,000 mile

I just used wd40 on my wiring connections, IMO, being dielectric grease is non conductive, I prefer the wd40, even though it wont take a hurricane like dielectric grease. But I've had no issue

The only time the ST1300 version, which has a few more CCA will ever show it's benefit would be extreme cold weather, or times when your bike sits with the lights on etc, and then you start it. The reserve power is nice, but means nothing once the bike is running. You could run a much smaller battery if you didn't need to start the bike.

[VFR Capt.Bob]

The stator wire connector was burnt toast with only one of the three wire not burned. I started with the starter relay. Made sure it was securely connected. It did seem to connect further when I first pushed it down. I pulled all connectors that were not fused together. Inspected and applied dialectric grease liberally to each prong female connector. I then zip tied these connectors tight. Took photo then when to work with the solder gun and the stator wire connector. I soldered new ring connectors to each wire, heat shrinked and used the terminal strip pictured earlier in this post. I little painstaking but I got better at soldering in the process. I took the RR off and cleaned up the grounding surfaces to create the biggest ground surface for the vfrness connection and applied dial. greas. Fired up the bike and have no wires getting hot like before. Taking a ride tomorrow and will re inspect after the ride for evidence of overheating wires then and report.

CaptBob out

[spud786]

The standard vfr battery is just adaquate imo , the st 1300 battery is the way to go, same size physically.

While I ride my bike, the voltage reads 14 to 15 volt, what is everyone else seeing? if sitting at a light the voltage may drop down to 13 idling if running electric vest. i can let my bike sit a week and the battery still reads over 13 volt on my 6 month old st1300 yusau.

I'm completely stock wiring and set up at 58,000 mile

I just used wd40 on my wiring connections, IMO, being dielectric grease is non conductive, I prefer the wd40, even though it wont take a hurricane like dielectric grease. But I've had no issue

The only time the ST1300 version, which has a few more CCA will ever show it's benefit would be extreme cold weather, or times when your bike sits with the lights on etc, and then you start it. The reserve power is nice, but means nothing once the bike is running. You could run a much smaller battery if you didn't need to start the bike.

Well having ran both and the differences, I'd advise anyone to get the st battery, its worth the extra $20 , I wont hesitate next time either.

True, my original OEM batter also worked okay orginally(replaced at 45,000 mile when it got weak), but I always felt it was just adaquate, on cca spin, st1300 bat spins nice definitely worth it. I never seen that cold of temps, and I do see the value in the st 1300 battery

[Guest]

Capt.Bob,

Where did you buy those connectors?

Jon

[VFR Capt.Bob]

Capt.Bob,

Where did you buy those connectors?

Jon

Radio Shack has them for $3. ea. I took a ride yesterday and can see no evidence of overheating wires. I wrapped the terminal strip up in yellow electrical tape, same as the wires.

Before this the bike was getting hard to start at times especially on cold damp mornings. I strongly suggest creating the best possible connections when completing either the R/R replacement or the VFRness upgrade. The green wire that grounds to the R/R connection and frame should have a verry clean surface to ground. Think I cheesed out when I first did the upgrade.

Finally the starter selenoid connection may have worked itself loose with all the strenuouse routing of the vfrness and all the connectors and wires that have to be stuffed back out of the way of the tail body section.

I've still got to install the voltmeter but the bike seems to start stronger with no hint of wanting to stall on cold damp AM start ups.

[Tightwad]

so the terminal strip seems to be the ticket? good to know!

[Guest]

so the terminal strip seems to be the ticket? good to know!

I'll find out soon. Went to Radio shack and got one. I will also continue to pull apart and clean connectors--must get under tank and inside upper cowl to look for more.

I'll report back,

Jon

[Guest]

Ok so Im starting to get the idea the starter relay is the heart of a group of problems???? If we replace the starter relay would that cure the heating wires problem???? Electrical gremlins suck!!!!!

I can't see how the starter relay has anything to do with it, especially if the VFRness or "Beef up Dem Wires" mods are done, as they bypass the starter relay anyway. Always good to look at it, and clean it up of course.

So is the heat generated by the wires from the stator to r/r normal and should be ignored???? And why are some bikes not experiencing the heat while others are??????

[Tightwad]

I would say excessive heat is NOT normal or good. They might get mildly warm, but anything more is concerning. Heck, even just the heat cycles themselves won't be good for the wires, let alone the burning etc.

[Guest]

Ok, I am starting to freak out a little. I have a 99 VFR that I bought two years ago with 3200 miles on it. It has 15,500 on it now and I have an issue. I went to start it the other day and it turned over a few times but wouldn’t start…the battery was low. My clock and trip odometer reset when this happened. I put a charger on it and everything was fine. It started the rest of that day and the next. It sat for three days and I went to start it this morning and the same thing happened. I have not looked at any of the wiring or anything else yet. It is the original battery in it so it is ten years old. Should I be worried about the wiring, stator, R/R etc…at this point or am I just over reacting from reading all this stuff. Should I replace all the above as a preventative measure?

Thanks,

Rod

[Tightwad]

Ok, I am starting to freak out a little. I have a 99 VFR that I bought two years ago with 3200 miles on it. It has 15,500 on it now and I have an issue. I went to start it the other day and it turned over a few times but wouldn’t start…the battery was low. My clock and trip odometer reset when this happened. I put a charger on it and everything was fine. It started the rest of that day and the next. It sat for three days and I went to start it this morning and the same thing happened. I have not looked at any of the wiring or anything else yet. It is the original battery in it so it is ten years old. Should I be worried about the wiring, stator, R/R etc…at this point or am I just over reacting from reading all this stuff. Should I replace all the above as a preventative measure?

Thanks,

Rod

Battery first, check the Starter Relay connection, and look into doing the "Beef up Dem Wires" mod, or buying a VFRness to do it.

[VFR Capt.Bob]

so the terminal strip seems to be the ticket? good to know!

Soldering the wires to the connector rings may help too. The heavier wires on the upgraded R/R to the thinner wires of the stock stator with lots of loose connections must create a serious heat source. ON mine I noticed also that one of the ground wires in the vfrness connector to the R/R also started to burn the connector. I'm keeping and eye on them until I can say for sure there is no problem. I'll post if anything develops

[VFR Capt.Bob]

Ok, I am starting to freak out a little. I have a 99 VFR that I bought two years ago with 3200 miles on it. It has 15,500 on it now and I have an issue. I went to start it the other day and it turned over a few times but wouldn’t start…the battery was low. My clock and trip odometer reset when this happened. I put a charger on it and everything was fine. It started the rest of that day and the next. It sat for three days and I went to start it this morning and the same thing happened. I have not looked at any of the wiring or anything else yet. It is the original battery in it so it is ten years old. Should I be worried about the wiring, stator, R/R etc…at this point or am I just over reacting from reading all this stuff. Should I replace all the above as a preventative measure?

Thanks,

Rod

Go for the simple stuff first. New battery clean up connectors. Buy some dialectic grease and go through the connectors. Seriously doubt your looking at a burnt R/R or stator at that low miles. VFRness might be good insurance against future problems. You can even get it with a fuse bus built in to add accessories later. I've never had a battery last longer than a few years.