Why did my ground cable burn up?

[tim71]

Was moving some rocks with the FEL yesterday and I bumped one hard and the tractor shut down and the neg. battery cable just started to incinerate. Took the battery and had it tested and its fine. Before I replace the cable and try to start it, should I worry about it happening again what should I look into. I dont want to have it picked up and serviced if I can check it myself. Help would greatly appreciate.


Tim

 

[Soundguy]

I would check to see that the battery hold down was intact and that the battery positive post didn't contact the frame when the tractor hit the rock.

Alternately I'd look for lines on the positive side that may have come in contact with ground.. IE wire to the solenoid.. etc..

You could have also had a loose ground wire that made a bad connection and let it get hot.

hard to say without being there and looking at all of it.

Soundguy

 

[rbargeron]

Was moving some rocks with the FEL yesterday and I bumped one hard and the tractor shut down and the neg. battery cable just started to incinerate. Took the battery and had it tested and its fine. Before I replace the cable and try to start it, should I worry about it happening again what should I look into. I dont want to have it picked up and serviced if I can check it myself. Help would greatly appreciate.
Tim

The negative cable would only fry if a large conductor on the positive side is connected to the same ground (engine/frame), completing the circuit. One guess would be when you bumped the rock, your battery moved and the positive cable shorted against some nearby metal. The positive cable may be slightly heavier wire so it didn't burn - but it was definitely headed there while the short was connected.

My suggestion would be to remove the positive cable from the solenoid, and check the resistance from the solenoid terminal to ground. It should be an open circuit (infinite resistance). Check the whole length of the positive cable for cuts in the insulation. Reconnect the battery terminals, and then carefully touch the positive cable back to the solenoid - if it sparks, a short still exists and needs to be found a fixed. Hope this is useful.