THAT will ruin your day !

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How many bloody times on how many Hondas have you seen this almost incendiary sight ??

Count this connector, the R/R itself, and the radiator thermoswitch as the most reliable components Honda ever used--- reliable to fail frequently

Strange thing, she was still charging fine.

 

That, my friend, is the price we pay for being adherents to Sochiro's legacy. It may seem like a lot to put up with, but in the big scheme of things, and since we all know it going in, we must learn to deal with it.

 

Honda quality at its worst. Here's what mine looked like a couple of months ago. Still started and ran!!! Replaced the connectors and wiring, and installed a new battery, stator, and R/R (got tired of replacing stuff piecemeal).

 

:faint2:Wow! Ithought that only happened on the old Suzuki GS series. I was a Honda motorcycle mechanic and never seen that.

 

Bizarre, isn't it? Electrical is so much more straightforward, with regard to functionality/reliability, than a high RPM engine and transmission. How manufacturers manage to overlook or under-rate components still surprises me, particularly when it is a well known system. There isn't much that has changed in the world of battery charging over the last several decades, other than replacing mechanical points in the regulator with electronic components. Electrons haven't changed in size or energy (assumption on my part), and the same basic rules that have been used for... a long, long, time?... :smile: still apply when designing an electrical circuit today.

 

Your so right on how electrons haven't change. I think we can walk away from this knowing one thing. Resistance causes heat, and heat is BAD!

 

As we see the melting/resistance is always at the connectors. After mine started to melt years back. I took the connectors off and soldered and shrunk wrapped the wires together. I've never had a problem since. Even of the wires heating up. The connectors create the bottle neck for the electron flow at that point. Which generates heat to melt things.


I'd say in this instance it was the squirrels that caused this problem. Just like with the electric companies.:smile:

 

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What, like this??:

Squirrel Causes Power Outage
by Meghan Hayward · Aug 07th 2010 · See more Local News

More than 3,000 Bangor Hydro customers in Penobscot County were without power Saturday morning.

Officials tell TV 5 the outage was due to a squirrel at a substation.

Bangor Hydro crews repaired the equipment at the substation, and had power back to most customers by 11a.m..

Customers can report outages by calling 1-800-440-1111.

 

Why do they fail ? Is it a buildup of corrosion creating a high resistance spot or is it that the connectors are not designed to handle the current they are carrying ?
If it's corrosion we could seal the connectors. There are also lots of well made connectors that could be substituted but then your non standard and repairs become more difficult. What percentage of VFRs exhibit these problems? Mine lives in a car port so moisture is a real concern for me (along with Cats that like to cozy up to a warm bike, but that's another story). I guess my real question is how concerned should I be ?

Dave

 

Unless I miss my guess, it would have to do with corrosion (or anything else) that would make it a point of higher-than-planned for resistance. The highest rating I've ever seen on "quick connect" flat style connectors in that approximate size is 20A maximum, which means that a continuous safe rating would probably be around 13 - 15A somewhere (if it was me choosing the connector, anyway). Given the rating of the charging system (488W, I think; less than 500...), they should be fine if they stay clean and dry. Between moisture, dirt, vibration and heat, that will change.

If they aren't too bad, just unplugging/plugging in the connectors a few times every year or two should probably keep them clean enough to work without problems, given a reasonably "normal" environment. If the bike sees a lot of rain and dust, it would be more prone to failure.

After I re-read the above, I seem to be stating the obvious, which is not my intent. Since I do my own maintenance, I'm in the habit of looking at connection points for heat related problems. If none are apparent, I'm inclined to leave well enough alone. If you are concerned, the best thing to do is locate the connector and give it a look. If you ride in the rain a lot, it wouldn't be a bad idea to unplug it inspect the insides.

 

Lgn001 has it right! If you live nexy to the ocean, it is even worse. That's the reason that car manufacturers went to the weatherpak style of connectors. Some even use a little dielectric grease to keep the connection free from moisture inside the weatherpak. I've taken parts off of junked cars, and the connector insides were like new. Do any of the newer bikes use better connectors now days?

 

Copper is expensive, and the whole auto/mc industry has historically gone with the minimum gauge wiring for a given amperage load, which means that it's fine from the factory, but if the connectors don't stay full of dielectric grease, they'll eventually corrode, and then the resistance goes up more, and all that resistance just becomes a big electric heater... Too bad they won't ever hard-gold plate all the connectors (won't even corrode in salt water), but the crimp connectors are a possible corrosion point (air/water between the copper wiring and tinned copper connectors). Solder gives a MUCH better electrical connection, if you do it right (hard to get it clean enough and fluxed enough to keep the air out and the joint hot enough). But, solder is awful for vibration, as the solder doesn't flex like copper, and so the point where the solder ends in the copper stranding becomes a strain point. Bad on a bike.

::sigh::

A really good wiring harness would be very high count stranding (for flexibility), assembled in a near clean-room environment with some very hefty crimp tools to ensure a full displacement of air out of the connector (gooping it all in dielectric grease first wouldn't be a bad idea). And then you should use sealing connectors (both on the male-to-female connector connector and the wire to the connector side, and THEN pack it all with grease... Bikes should be treated like marine equipment, especially if you ride all-year/all-weather.

Electrons are easy to deal with, just like water under pressure in a pipe. Problem is you can't see it, and so people can't see it leaking out or hear it rushing through constrictions. But the analogy is nearly perfect. Voltage == pressure, amperage == flow. Restrict water flow and it gets warm, too. Just not the kind of warm that starts fires.