SHOCKING!!!

[Marinakorp]

98 Standard
47,000 Miles

The other day when riding home, my driving lights went out a mile or so from my home, no biggie, my headlight was still operational... so I kept riding.

About 1/2 mile from home, I felt a little tingling on my right thigh... ir was a hot day, so might have been a bug, or something...so I kept riding home. Got home... put Belle Away.

Next day I opened the right side cover, and found the inline fuse to the driving lights had MELTED - and the fuse finally blew...yikes...let that sink in... it finally blew and the housing was melted...


I replaced the fuse, and cleaned up the housing... and am still getting a tingling when driving... it is definitely a shock of some sort...so looks like contact is being made SOMEWHERE...

Any idea of where to start looking...I am sort of OK with turning a wrench... I can do light electrical to a point (replaced my kitchen and wiring new lights, outlets, switches...)

I will post pics when I get home tonight...

[98valk]

test btwn end connections of each wire. test relay unconnected.
if u ran driving light wires through headlight bucket, I 'd look in there first esp. coming out to the frame.

[BobB]

I would start by inspecting the wiring to the driving lights and any other non-OEM stuff.  Blown fuses usually indicate a short of a hot (+12v) to ground.  However your problem is unique in two respects, the melted fuse case and the tingling you get.  I would remove the wiring from the battery, or whatever, that supplies that fuse, and see if the tingling goes away.  What was the fuse amp rating?  Could another heat source have melted the fuse case?  Pictures will help.

Don't keep riding while the tingling continues, or we may have to call you SPARKY...

[Firefighter]

Are you shocked all the time? What metal is your thigh or leg touching? Can you move your leg or hand and stop the shock? I would look at the wiring again, plug wires, what ever you have running under the fuel tank.

Rare to me to be shocked by 12 volt DC system. Can happen, or could be the ignition system. I had an 20 hp. Mercury outboard motor when I was a kid. This motor had a tiller handle and one day I was idleing slow and could see a pipe in the water. I reached back and lifted the motor to go over the pipe, then afterwards the engine would shock me through the tiller handle. Had trouble getting home that day. Found a broken ground wire between the engine block and the surrounding engine covers and handle. I installed several grounds to make sure. Never knew what was doing the shocking, if it was spark jumping from the spark plug wire or coil, or if it was something else electrical on the motor. Let us know.

[RonW]

How did you wire your lightbar to get its electricity?

[jim@98valkyrie.com]

Hey Marinakorp,
If you need a hand,  I'm just up the hill from you.  Give me a shout.

[Marinakorp]

Thanks all (and the local offer to help!)

While the light bar was tied in to the main light...there were no obvious shorts...but then again, I couldn't see the entire wire from connection to light bar...so it is possible. Certainly not at the connections, as these were all soldered and shrink tubed...and all looked secure. Possibly somewhere under the tank possibly.

While it has been scorching hot here, I don't feel that another heat source was possible... there was nothing "hot" bear the place where the fuse housing melted.

I was getting shocked through the seat area near my thighs...a little close to the boys.

I removed the 12v + for the lights, re-wrapped the wiring, and pulled the connections off within the bucket to the driving lights...they are cut off from the circuit.

In disconnecting the battery, I re-checked all of the "accessories" that are tied to the battery, and made sure that nothing was close to the frame.

I seem to have corrected the issue...took for a long ride, and didn't get shocked.

[bentwrench]

When I installed my dr.lamps I ran a 12 ga. wire from the block to the head lamp bucket.I've seen bad grds. chew up head bearings from arcing electrons looking for a home,but shocking the rider is a new one.

[allanbegg]

You can't get shocked or even a tingling sensation from the +12V system on your bike.
Think about it. You can grab both terminals of a fully charged battery and nothing happens.
12VDC is not enough to overcome your body resistance, regardless of the amount of available current.

If you are getting shocked, it has to be coming from a significantly higher voltage, somewhere.
If the bike had an old style charging system, I'd suggest you look at the wiring between the old style Stator and Rectifier/Regulator.
However, you might be getting some voltage/current transferred onto a 12V wire from a coil, spark plug wire, or something, though.

Allan

[98valk]

You can't get shocked or even a tingling sensation from the +12V system on your bike.
Think about it. You can grab both terminals of a fully charged battery and nothing happens.
12VDC is not enough to overcome your body resistance, regardless of the amount of available current.

its the AMPS that kill, not the voltage. The OEM battery for the Valkyrie is 1.4 amps and the Alternator is putting more than that out.
http://www.yuasabatteries.com/vehicle_search.php?action=showListing

And I would never grab both terminals of a Car Battery, ever melt a screw driver blade from a quick wrong touch?

http://www.oshatrain.org/courses/mods/715m2.html

The severity of injury from electrical shock depends on the amount of electrical amperage (current) and the length of time the current passes through the body. For example, 1/10 of an ampere (amp) of electricity going through the body for just 2 seconds is enough to cause death.

The amount of internal current a person can withstand and still be able to control the muscles of the arm and hand can be less than 10 milliamperes (milliamps or mA).

Currents above 10 mA can paralyze or "freeze" muscles. When this "freezing" happens, a person is no longer able to release a tool, wire, or other object. In fact, the electrified object may be held even more tightly, resulting in longer exposure to the shocking current. For this reason, hand-held tools that give a shock can be very dangerous.

If you can't let go of the tool, current continues through your body for a longer time, which can lead to respiratory paralysis (the muscles that control breathing cannot move). You stop breathing for a period of time.

People have stopped breathing when shocked with currents from voltages as low as 49 volts. Usually, it takes about 30 mA of current to cause respiratory paralysis.

Currents greater than 75 mA may cause ventricular fibrillation (very rapid, ineffective heartbeat). This condition will cause death within a few minutes unless a special device called a defibrillator is used to save the victim. Heart paralysis occurs at 4 amps, which means the heart does not pump at all. Tissue is burned with currents greater than 5 amps.

The table in module 2 section 2 shows what usually happens for a range of currents (lasting one second) at typical household voltages. Longer exposure times increase the danger to the shock victim. For example, a current of 100 mA applied for 3 seconds is as dangerous as a current of 900 mA applied for a fraction of a second (0.03 seconds).

The muscle structure of the person also makes a difference. People with less muscle tissue are typically affected at lower current levels. Even low voltages can be extremely dangerous because the degree of injury depends not only on the amount of current but also on the length of time the body is in contact with the circuit.

http://www.oshatrain.org/courses/mods/715m2.html

[Marinakorp]

You can't get shocked or even a tingling sensation from the +12V system on your bike.
Think about it. You can grab both terminals of a fully charged battery and nothing happens.
12VDC is not enough to overcome your body resistance, regardless of the amount of available current.

If you are getting shocked, it has to be coming from a significantly higher voltage, somewhere.
If the bike had an old style charging system, I'd suggest you look at the wiring between the old style Stator and Rectifier/Regulator.
However, you might be getting some voltage/current transferred onto a 12V wire from a coil, spark plug wire, or something, though.

Allan

Interesting.... Originally I dismissed this as a possibility... but the wire to the driving lights is traveling back under the tank... - Is it possible that it is picking up from the coil / spark plug.... possibly. I need to go back and check the routing of that wire...

Good Tip

[Gryphon Rider]

its the AMPS that kill, not the voltage. The OEM battery for the Valkyrie is 1.4 amps and the Alternator is putting more than that out.

While it's Amps (current) that kills, higher voltage is able to better overcome resistance in order to produce a current.  I.e., 120V is far more likely to produce a current between your left and right hands than 12V.

The 1.4A spec on the battery is not the current the battery is capable of producing, but the recommended charging current using an external charger.