New battery shorted internally-almost lost the chopper.

Energy One
Bmarchant

Bmarchant

Active Member
Thursday was a scary day for me. At the gas station, hit the starter, and the battery craps out, sending steam out the seam. The starter stays engaged, and I can't get it to stop. Hit the kill switch, turn the key off, still stayed engaged. Now I'm in trouble.......I pull spark plug wires off(I know but I was in a panic) , then go for my tool bag and the 10mm wrench. Finally got the positive off the battery and it stops.

Drag specialities 320 battery, only one month old. Been using them since I bought the chopper in 2009. Terminals look brand new. Something inside battery grounded out, causing the starter to stay engaged.

Luckily all I lost was my battery, regulator, and the starter. No other damage. WHY do these bikes not have a real kill switch to kill power from the battery? Mine is going to after this. It's going in, Roth under the seat and frame, where I can get at it quickly. Bike could have caught on fire from what happened. The shop that works on my bike told me I'm not the first one this has happened to.

Good news is, once this is done, my electrical system will all be new after having the thunder heart EHC installed, two months ago, and now a new regulator and starter.
 
blacktopper

blacktopper

Active Member
Bmarchant said:
Thursday was a scary day for me. At the gas station, hit the starter, and the battery craps out, sending steam out the seam. The starter stays engaged, and I can't get it to stop. Hit the kill switch, turn the key off, still stayed engaged. Now I'm in trouble.......I pull spark plug wires off(I know but I was in a panic) , then go for my tool bag and the 10mm wrench. Finally got the positive off the battery and it stops.

Drag specialities 320 battery, only one month old. Been using them since I bought the chopper in 2009. Terminals look brand new. Something inside battery grounded out, causing the starter to stay engaged.

Luckily all I lost was my battery, regulator, and the starter. No other damage. WHY do these bikes not have a real kill switch to kill power from the battery? Mine is going to after this. It's going in, Roth under the seat and frame, where I can get at it quickly. Bike could have caught on fire from what happened. The shop that works on my bike told me I'm not the first one this has happened to.

Good news is, once this is done, my electrical system will all be new after having the thunder heart EHC installed, two months ago, and now a new regulator and starter.
Click to expand...
Are you sure it wasn't the solenoid stuck?
 
Bmarchant

Bmarchant

Active Member
I wondered about that, but for a new battery, it never had the power I expected to turn over the motor. When I hit the starter, it was like it had no power, then steam came up from the top seam of the battery, as the starter stayed engaged. It was all real quick. Never had an issue with the starter.

So yes, I would agree, the starter solenoid stayed stuck, but it seamed to be caused from the battery. Once battery was removed, starter solenoid disengaged. They got it to the shop, put a new battery in, and fired up the bike. Now the bike isn't charging, only getting a little over 12 Amps. He took the starter out, and the plunger is damaged, regulator not working. Battery post look brand new, so it wasn't from the terminals being loose.
 
Bmarchant

Bmarchant

Active Member
Jwooky said:
Solenoid had to be stuck. Battery is hard wired live all the time, can't make the solenoid activate.
Click to expand...
So once solenoid stuck, it kept going until I took off positive terminal? Isn't it a bad idea to have the battery hard wired live all the time?

Is a kill switch to actually kill the power a good idea then? Took too long to get battery unhooked. What do you guys think? It was not a fun time while it was going on. Has anyone else installed a kill switch?
 
BadDawg Bill

BadDawg Bill

Well-Known Member
Bmarchant said:
So once solenoid stuck, it kept going until I took off positive terminal? Isn't it a bad idea to have the battery hard wired live all the time?

Is a kill switch to actually kill the power a good idea then? Took too long to get battery unhooked. What do you guys think? It was not a fun time while it was going on. Has anyone else installed a kill switch?
Click to expand...
I've never had that happen on a bike but my zero turn lawnmower does that all the time. I put in a kill switch and it works fine. I know I need a new starter but for now it works. Getting that 10m wrench and taking off the ground was a pain. If you do install a kill switch I'd put it on the ground wire. It was your solenoid that got stuck just like my mower.
 
Chillin

Chillin

Active Member
Lots of advice given, once again it was NOT the battery, the starter solenoid stuck, that's all.
I would pull the starter , check it out and replace the solenoid.......simple
Once the solenoid is kicked in there is NO KIND of shutoff except a battery dis-connect
like on race cars.
 
blacktopper

blacktopper

Active Member
Bmarchant said:
I wondered about that, but for a new battery, it never had the power I expected to turn over the motor. When I hit the starter, it was like it had no power, then steam came up from the top seam of the battery, as the starter stayed engaged. It was all real quick. Never had an issue with the starter.

So yes, I would agree, the starter solenoid stayed stuck, but it seamed to be caused from the battery. Once battery was removed, starter solenoid disengaged. They got it to the shop, put a new battery in, and fired up the bike. Now the bike isn't charging, only getting a little over 12 Amps. He took the starter out, and the plunger is damaged, regulator not working. Battery post look brand new, so it wasn't from the terminals being loose.
Click to expand...
If if the battery voltage is low, the amperage draw will be high. Probably arched across the contacts and welded the contact plate to the terminals
 
TapioK

TapioK

Well-Known Member
Yeah agree on solenoid. If you plan to put a manual switch on the positive cable between a battery and starter, that would be a rather nice size of the switch to handle 300 cca.


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Bmarchant

Bmarchant

Active Member
blacktopper said:
If if the battery voltage is low, the amperage draw will be high. Probably arched across the contacts and welded the contact plate to the terminals
Click to expand...
This is exactly what my shop said happened. They sold me the battery, and gave me another one for free. Thanks everyone for the advise, as always.
 
Bmarchant

Bmarchant

Active Member
TapioK said:
Yeah agree on solenoid. If you plan to put a manual switch on the positive cable between a battery and starter, that would be a rather nice size of the switch to handle 300 cca.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Would a switch on the negative be the way to go then.
 
TapioK

TapioK

Well-Known Member
I'm not a mechanic, but I wouldn't put it into either. What are the chances that happens again in your lifetime? Every extra switch or connector will just make bike more complex and will bite your ass eventually.



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Last edited:
Bmarchant

Bmarchant

Active Member
TapioK said:
I'm not a mechanic, but I wouldn't put it into either. What are the chances that happens again in your lifetime? Every extra switch or connector will just make bike more complex and will bite your ass eventually.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Your probably right. What are the chances. At least I'm aware of it now, and know what to do, instead of trying everything until I got it to stop.
 
TapioK

TapioK

Well-Known Member
Just thinking, would you want to have a battery disconnect on ground, you would need to have all the ground wires connected to the connector, not to battery. Starter is grounded to the frame and it would then try to ground via all the other ground wires... big mess. Am I right?
Also I wonder why your VR went, when you hit the kill, engine died, thus no charging.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
blacktopper

blacktopper

Active Member
TapioK said:
Just thinking, would you want to have a battery disconnect on ground, you would need to have all the ground wires connected to the connector, not to battery. Starter is grounded to the frame and it would then try to ground via all the other ground wires... big mess. Am I right?
Also I wonder why your VR went, when you hit the kill, engine died, thus no charging.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I think the voltage regulator went out, caused the battery voltage to drop and then caused the solenoid to stick.
 
BadDawg Bill

BadDawg Bill

Well-Known Member
TapioK said:
Just thinking, would you want to have a battery disconnect on ground, you would need to have all the ground wires connected to the connector, not to battery. Starter is grounded to the frame and it would then try to ground via all the other ground wires... big mess. Am I right?
Also I wonder why your VR went, when you hit the kill, engine died, thus no charging.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
No, the main ground comes from the battery to the frame. Once disconnected ALL ground wires are disconnected...
 
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