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OK - Here is one for you people -- Neighbor has a 30" Snapper with the 12.5 Briggs Intec. I had cleaned up all the grease and oil and replaced the spindle (bearings were bad) - put the battery back in (took it out and gas tank off to do the work) and hooked up + and - exactly where they had been for years. Everything seemed fine and J.R. used the mower for a couple hours (happy with new spindle and sharp blade) stopped to get some lunch - came out and found Ground - cable smoking and it had burned off about 6" of insulation from engine block back toward battery. ?? WHY would a Ground - wire get hot ?? connections were still tight -- I replaced the ground wire and attached it higher on the engine instead of the mounting bolt. Everything works fine now and the Ground wire isn't getting hot. WHAT COULD HAVE CAUSED IT ?? If he had not found it in time it probably would have burned up the mower as it crossed under the gas line. :confused2:

Any loose connection will cause heat, could have been where the eyelet attached to the wire???
I assume that it was the negative lead that was attached to ground. Was it the same gage wire as the positive lead wire? KennyV

KennyV said:

Any loose connection will cause heat (I knew that), could have been where the eyelet attached to the wire???
I assume that it was the negative lead that was attached to ground. Was it the same gage wire as the positive lead wire? KennyV

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It was the same negative ground wire that had always been on there and had not been removed (it was tight on both the engine mount bolt and on the battery) Same wire gage.

The new one I put on has not overheated (yet) !

The only thing I have been able to think of is that the citrus based solvent I used to clean everything up could have affected the insulation (but, why only that wire and just from engine mount back toward battery ????) :confused2:

BKBrown said:

It was the same negative ground wire that had always been on there and had not been removed (it was tight on both the engine mount bolt and on the battery) Same wire gage.

The new one I put on has not overheated (yet) !

The only thing I have been able to think of is that the citrus based solvent I used to clean everything up could have affected the insulation (but, why only that wire and just from engine mount back toward battery ????) :confused2:

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I realize you said the wire was not loose at the attachment points. My question ' was the crimp on eyelet on the wire loose at the crimp?'

My wire gage question ' was the ground wire the same gage as the positive wire?' (If the two battery leads are different size, the smaller gage will get warmer than the larger.)

Citrus doing anything to the insulation will have no effect at all... That ground connection will work without insulation, or the most perfect insulation, either condition will not generate heat.

You obviously had something that caused this wire's resistance to increase at the end that got hot... the most common is corrosion at the crimp. Usually caused by a weak or failing crimp, or acid wicking into the wire from the battery. KennyV

OK Kenny,

Thanks.

I cut the old one off at the crimp connection and the wires in there did not come out. That ground wire was actually larger diameter 6ga. than the postive 8ga.

Still a mystery to me -- I know about wires and wiring both residential and machinery. I know something created the heat and I know it is usually not tight or arcing that causes it.

So far the new wiring is holding up with no problem :thumbsup: :smile:

With that being the case ... you definitely labeled this correct. ?? Mystery ??

Glad he caught it on time. That could have been one less rider in the yard this summer. I don't have a clue why it would have done it though. Weird *key Twilight Zone theme music here*! LOL