electrical tragedy

I was almost finished with an "82" 650 maxim build. I just installed the new battery and hooked up
a small charger to it set on 2 amps. I was away for a couple of days and when I got back it looked like
someone had tripped over the cord and the positive lead of the charger came off the positive pole on the battery
and was touching the frame. The battery was dead and when I hooked the charger to it again and turned the key
the neutral light came on, the horn worked and the starter relay clicked when I pressed the starter button.
( the clicking sound was the same as with an almost dead battery) What wasn't OK as that the tail light
came on and stayed on until I disconected the battery. Also when I pressed the starter button the
Tach needle jumped to the 5k rpm mark. Please someone,If this happened to you what circuits would
you check ? There were no blown fuses, I happen to have spares of all the relays and a spare diode.
I also have a spare igniter and voltage regulator. Since the tail light is energised by a short where
would you look for it ?

 

Should your bike come with some type of safety fuse incase of a short?

Also your neutral light would/ should come on with the on position.

 

so the tail lights would not shut off with you turning the key off?
the tail light is controled by the key one of the wires from the ignition switch sends power to the tail lights the tail lights are run off of the main fuse
look at your ignition switch as a possible problem

red wire from main fuse is always hot at the switch

 

wiring diagram shows a blue wire from ignition switch to tail lights

 

could be when the charger wire fell off it came into contact with the solenoid wires the 2 small ones and cooked the coil in the solenoid

if you connected the positive from your battery charger to the frame of the bike the voltage would flow to ground through the frame ground wire back to the battery negitive wire check to see if the frame ground has fried.

 

I expected to read that your bike burnt down because of a short etc. LOL. Glad it didn't!

Did the bike run/harness work prior to your rebuild? For the brake light being on, was the key turned back to the park position instead of off?

I highly doubt having the charger short to the frame would wreck anything on the bike itself unless there was something else going on.

Ground. The main harness is grounded at a bolt to where the ignition coils mount. Need to be sure that point is clean along with the bolt to frame and ground wire that mounts the TCI/regulator plate.

 

I had just finished assembling the bike last week. The harness seemed to be ok. The bike started right up but I had
a problem with the carbs over revving. I had planned to pull them this week. The mishap with the battery happened
this weekend past. Thanks XJ550h The diagram is really great but what are the unlabeled white double rectangles
that cross some of the wires? And what are the single white rectangles that sit over some of the wires? Some of them
indicate direction and some don't.

 

those white blocks are connectors, and the numbered ones are components.
most of the single wire connectors will be bullet connectors, the black wire connectors from bulbs are double bullet connectors. exception (wouldbullet style) be the connector on the red battery wire. white blocks in the blubs are the bulb holders.
if by directions you mean notes that is for certain models.
the bullet connectors with > on them indicate male/female, the arrow end should be male connector. All conectors with the > on them are bullets, connectors without > are block style


Clean and lube the ignition switch

 

Thanks, That's really helpful, Now I will isolate circuits by pulling the connectors and testing continuity. If I get it where It"s not supposed to be, that's where the short is. Then, I'll
bypass the short circuit with new wire. If I get a short in the ignition switch can it be pulled apart and cleaned up. or will I have to replace it ? For good measure, I'll replace the
solenoid and pull the battery, putting it on the charger and testing it after a while to see if it's fried or not. Say I needed to replace potions of the harness, Who among the common
retail franchises (pepboys, radio shack etc,) do you think has the best deal on wire and connectors ?

 

use the link I posted for cleaning the ignition switch should be able to repair it very simple inside.
the bullet style connectors are cheap enough any place the block connectors pins can be removed and replaced .
nearest radio shack is 90 miles from my house.

 

Just as a safety precaution, I do not charge a battery unless I am in the garage working, and on a bike I am working on, until I am positive everything is kosher, will usually remove the negative battery lead when I am done working

 

Same here unless it's a properly installed battery tender (insulated leads, fused, etc.) or the kids powerwheel things.

 

I was only going to put a 2 amp charge on it while I try to locate the short circuits.
Also I am going to remove the battery from the bike before I connect the charger.
I'll remove anything flamable close to the battery first.