Hot Plastic/wire smell

tiogajoe

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Anyone else get a hot plastic/ electric wire smell in the area just below their battery? I have a battery tender hooked up that I found the connection of the lead from the battery tender had melted? The battery tender conection to the bike itself looks fine? I also am running an FZ1 fuze block that has heated grips, heat troller and aux lights connected at the fuze block. All wiring looks fine and all the fuses are fine. All accessories are working fine. The smell seems to be coming from the wiring that runs down to some sensor on the exhaust system? This wire bundle runs from the sensor up along side the battery. I can smell it if I let the bike sit at idle for a few minutes from the wiring in that area. The battery tender is several years old and maybe the conection just went bad from repeated use. The tender connection on the bike is brand new. I have all side panels removed and cannot find anything out of the ordinary? All my accessory connections are solid and have been soldered. All my wiring is 12ga. automotive grade. Any thoughts?
 

stevepsd

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The wiring coming up from the exhaust system is the Oxygen sensors.

Since this problem appears to have started after the addition of the battery tender lead, I would completely remove the battery tender lead and see if the smell goes away.

Is your battery tender lead connected directly to the battery or thru the FZ-1? Completely check the battery tender lead for any areas where it might be frayed, have exposed conductors or possibly shorting out on a frame member.
 

tiogajoe

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The battery tender has been on the bike since the day I got it. I still have not figured out why the connection melted on the lead coming from the battery tender itself. The connector on the bike itself is fine along with all the wiring going to both terminals on the battery. Further examination of the actual brain of the battery tender showed the case itself was cracked. (It has been dropped several times) I guessing there might have been some kind of failure in the brain that caused the connector to melt. I've since ran the bike and I get a slight odor down it the area of the O2 sensor and where the main ground wire is connected to the engine case behind the cyclinders. It gets mighty hot down there!
 

motocephalic

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Be sure to check around your exhaust good. I picked up a plastic cup that jammed inside there, and slowly melted, 10 days went by and I found it eventually. It was hidden initially, and each time I ran my bike short distances, it would melt just a little, and start to stink. I was worried it was wires, but nothing but a plastic cup melting on the exhaust.

have a look
 

Don in Lodi

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Wires and smell equal heat. You should be able to feel the hot wires. As posted, check for debris.
 

tiogajoe

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....seems to have go away?? I'm starting to believe I was smelling the melted plastic from the battery tender connection. I'll be keeping a close eye on it. Thanks for all the imput
 

Tremor38

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tiogajoe said:
....seems to have go away?? I'm starting to believe I was smelling the melted plastic from the battery tender connection. I'll be keeping a close eye on it. Thanks for all the imput
That was kinda/sorta my theory, but figured it would work its way out if so. As far as the melted connector goes, that is a localized problem that most likely resulted from a short happening right at that connector in some way shape or form. Could either be from something like salt water intrusion or some other type of conductive material getting in that side of the connector...or the plastic being broken internally causing the pins to touch. Whatever the offending party was, it happened right at the connector and was not an issue with the actual charger.
 
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