electrical problem

[wayne grenier]

technical problem-the hot wire from my battery wsitch to my starter went up in smoke last week. I replaced all of the hot and ground cables and the switch, There is nothing else hooked up at this point Why when I turn on the battery does eveything heat up again? Without the starter engaged I draw 12 volts between the ground wire to the block, I suspected my starter but we becnh tested it and it works fine. If it was grounded out or shorted out internally I doubt it would work. This is a strange problem that manifested itself very suddenly for no apparent reason-how am I getting a direct short through my engine block when the only positive connection is to the starter?



grenier@ma.ultranet.com

[Dana]

technical problem-the hot wire from my battery wsitch to my starter went up in smoke last week. I replaced all of the hot and ground cables and the switch, There is nothing else hooked up at this point Why when I turn on the battery does eveything heat up again? Without the starter engaged I draw 12 volts between the ground wire to the block, I suspected my starter but we becnh tested it and it works fine. If it was grounded out or shorted out internally I doubt it would work. This is a strange problem that manifested itself very suddenly for no apparent reason-how am I getting a direct short through my engine block when the only positive connection is to the starter?

____________________________

I hear what you are saying but a cable only becomes hot or burns up when excess current is being draw thru it up to the partial or dead short location. A bench test of the starter only checks function. It does not draw the same amount of cranking current that it would under load..i.e trying to turn the engine. You would only draw the fault leakage (partial short) current and very little normal starting current on top of that. It may appear normal. I believe your starter motor winding insulation is starting to break down. Time for a new one.



darenius@aol.com

[wayne grenier]

technical problem-the hot wire from my battery wsitch to my starter went up in smoke last week. I replaced all of the hot and ground cables and the switch, There is nothing else hooked up at this point Why when I turn on the battery does eveything heat up again? Without the starter engaged I draw 12 volts between the ground wire to the block, I suspected my starter but we becnh tested it and it works fine. If it was grounded out or shorted out internally I doubt it would work. This is a strange problem that manifested itself very suddenly for no apparent reason-how am I getting a direct short through my engine block when the only positive connection is to the starter?

____________________________

I hear what you are saying but a cable only becomes hot or burns up when excess current is being draw thru it up to the partial or dead short location. A bench test of the starter only checks function. It does not draw the same amount of cranking current that it would under load..i.e trying to turn the engine. You would only draw the fault leakage (partial short) current and very little normal starting current on top of that. It may appear normal. I believe your starter motor winding insulation is starting to break down. Time for a new one.

I may have to buy you a beer or three! I came to a similiar conclusion after ruling out everything except the starter and demonic possesion. I was planning on having the starter professionally torn down and looked at tommorrow-now I have more specifics-too bad a new starter is $800! but in the meantime I have upgraded the entire starting circuit including a new battery switch and all new hot and ground cables-#2 gauge-soldered and crimped-but I hope this does not happen to anyone else-I was within seconds of seriously starting the boat on fire-from now on-every winter the starter gets torn down along with the alternator wether it needs to or not-thanks!!



grenier@ma.ultranet.com

[wayne grenier]

technical problem-the hot wire from my battery wsitch to my starter went up in smoke last week. I replaced all of the hot and ground cables and the switch, There is nothing else hooked up at this point Why when I turn on the battery does eveything heat up again? Without the starter engaged I draw 12 volts between the ground wire to the block, I suspected my starter but we becnh tested it and it works fine. If it was grounded out or shorted out internally I doubt it would work. This is a strange problem that manifested itself very suddenly for no apparent reason-how am I getting a direct short through my engine block when the only positive connection is to the starter?

____________________________

I hear what you are saying but a cable only becomes hot or burns up when excess current is being draw thru it up to the partial or dead short location. A bench test of the starter only checks function. It does not draw the same amount of cranking current that it would under load..i.e trying to turn the engine. You would only draw the fault leakage (partial short) current and very little normal starting current on top of that. It may appear normal. I believe your starter motor winding insulation is starting to break down. Time for a new one.

I may have to buy you a beer or three! I came to a similiar conclusion after ruling out everything except the starter and demonic possesion. I was planning on having the starter professionally torn down and looked at tommorrow-now I have more specifics-too bad a new starter is $800! but in the meantime I have upgraded the entire starting circuit including a new battery switch and all new hot and ground cables-#2 gauge-soldered and crimped-but I hope this does not happen to anyone else-I was within seconds of seriously starting the boat on fire-from now on-every winter the starter gets torn down along with the alternator wether it needs to or not-thanks!!



grenier@ma.ultranet.com

[Al Levesque]

I wasn't sure whether your last reply means that the problem is solved.
I was confused about the problem. Does your starting system have a starter solenoid? Was it the wire from the solenoid to the starter that burned? Or was it the wire from the ignition switch to the solenoid that burned? Is it possible that the solenoid is integral with the starter with a separate heavy cable to the solenoid? Is that the one that burned?
Thanks for any follow-up info. The problem sounds scary enough to try to understand it better.

Al



albertlevesque@cove.com

[grenier]

I wasn't sure whether your last reply means that the problem is solved.
I was confused about the problem. Does your starting system have a starter solenoid? Was it the wire from the solenoid to the starter that burned? Or was it the wire from the ignition switch to the solenoid that burned? Is it possible that the solenoid is integral with the starter with a separate heavy cable to the solenoid? Is that the one that burned?
Thanks for any follow-up info. The problem sounds scary enough to try to understand it better.

Al

sorry-my solenoid and starter are mounted on each other grounded we assume internally-the wire that cooked was the hot wire from the batterry switch to the solenoid-this had nothing to do with the wires from the ignition switch to the solenoid-if as dana theorizes I have an internal short that grounds the starter to the block during load we will find out shortly as I am having the starter torn down