did i just do some serious damage?

[fazer.rider]

so i striped the bike down again and this time took off the tank as well. i was doing something to the red connector on the battery with a pair of small pliers and i accidentally touched the frame while touching the red connector. there was a small spark where the plier touched the frame.

i got scared and thought i burnt a fuse, or the ecu or even killed the battery so i connected the speedo again and turned the key and the speedo lit up normal except no fuel cuz tank is off. could i have done some other damage? i can't tell cuz i can't start the bike now. me scared. :spank:

 

[scottsst]

no I have done the same thing before and the bike is fine.

 

[Rob2222]

Normally not. Electrical power takes the easiest way. The power in this situation flows from "-" to the frame and from the frame to "+". So there should be no current trough the electronics.
But such a electrical arc it is not good for the battery and can harm you. So please avoid this from now.

Just let the isolation over "+"
OR
disconnect BOTH terminals.
When "-" is not connected to the frame anymore cause you disconnected it, then nothing will happen when you accidentely connect "+" to the frame.

BR Robert

 

[zigzagg321]

it'll be fine.

 

[cv_rider]

Ooh, this thread reminds me of a question I was thinking of posting: when removing the battery leads, is it better to remove ground or positive first?

I always remove groudn first. Reasoning: The only way to get shocked while handling the ground is to also somehow touch the positive lead. However, if you remove the positive first, you would get shocked if you were touching the positive and you touched any part of the bike, as the entire frame is grounded.

 

[fazer.rider]

Ooh, this thread reminds me of a question I was thinking of posting: when removing the battery leads, is it better to remove ground or positive first?

I always remove groudn first. Reasoning: The only way to get shocked while handling the ground is to also somehow touch the positive lead. However, if you remove the positive first, you would get shocked if you were touching the positive and you touched any part of the bike, as the entire frame is grounded.

why not just disconnect both red and black terminals before removing the batt? sorry if this is dumb but i'm new at this.

 

[cv_rider]

why not just disconnect both red and black terminals before removing the batt? sorry if this is dumb but i'm new at this.

My comment is about which you remove first, the red (positive) or the black (ground).

 

[fazer.rider]

My comment is about which you remove first, the red (positive) or the black (ground).

i guess it doesn't matter? just make sure neither touche anything metal? :BLAA:

 

[urbanj]

negative is the first one off and positive is the first one back on.

same goes for jump starting something which people always seem to do wrong.

connect + to dead battery +, connect + to jumper battery positive
connect - from jumper battery - to chassis ground on dead machine

remove in reverse order

 

[macem29]

i guess it doesn't matter? just make sure neither touche anything metal? :BLAA:

yep, it matters...like urbanj said, negative first...the reason you were able
to get an arc between your pliers and the frame is because the negative
was still attached to the chassis, and as for shocks that someone else
mentioned, no, a 12V (or 24V for that matter) system will not give you a
shock, but they can cause enough current flow through a good conductor like
a wrench or something to cause very rapid heat buildup and burn you or
fry a wiring harness, both are a bad deal

 

[macem29]

duplicate post....

 

[sxty8goats]

Ooh, this thread reminds me of a question I was thinking of posting: when removing the battery leads, is it better to remove ground or positive first?

I always remove groudn first. Reasoning: The only way to get shocked while handling the ground is to also somehow touch the positive lead. However, if you remove the positive first, you would get shocked if you were touching the positive and you touched any part of the bike, as the entire frame is grounded.

If you are worried about getting shocked by the power in the battery, don't. 12V DC isn't going to do anything with dry hands. You could grab the terminals in each hand and be fine. You can get zapped by the ignition wires (shock plug wires) if the bike is running, the magneto/ignition coils produce a much higher voltage.

Pulling the leads on the battery (and or the battery out of the bike) while you work on it is done to prevent damage to the systems. You can damage the electronics by shorting something out with a tool or loose wire. I suppose it would also be possible to ignite open/exposed fuel as well. It is more of a 'protect the bike' than a safety issue.

 

[RJ2112]

I think it quite interesting, the range of opinion on this.....

It's probably a good time to remind folk that even though most bikes and cars use the frame as one leg of the circuit..... current flows throughout the circuit.

If you break the circuit by disconnecting either battery terminal, current cannot flow. The thing to remember, is that just as much current flows in the 'return' as does in the 'supply'.

When the Positive leg of the battery is disconnected, that means the only point of high potential is the battery terminal itself. (That's about 1 inch by 1 inch bare metal.) The cable, detached, has ZERO potential. Fold it out of the way so it can't accidentally contact the positive terminal, or insulate the end of the cable so it cannot complete the circuit.

Every other point on the entire vehicle is now at the same potential as the negative terminal. We call that potential ground; but it's not really that clear.... that potential 'floats', because there is no direct short to earth.

You reduce the possibility of a short circuit immensely, because that postive battery terminal is the ONLY point that current can flow back to. No difference of potential, no current flow anywhere else on the entire bike.

If the Negative terminal is disconnected first....... all the points that have a positive charge, are still positive. Any unintended bridge applied from any point on the positive circuit to the chassis will result in a circuit being completed -- a 'short' circuit. Very little resistance means high current flow, sometimes much greater than the wiring was designed to take.