Hot ground strap

Slik

Slik

Member
The ground strap from my positive battery terminal to the frame is getting seriously hot. Any ideas as to what would cause that ? The connection appears to be tight at the battery and at the frame.
 
Slik said:
The connection appears to be tight at the battery and at the frame.
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Not to be a wise guy, but the quote above leaves something to be desired.
Check the connections at the battery and frame and be sure all are clean and tight.. THEN we can go from there. IMHO anything electrical that gets hot is either pulling too many amps or has a bad connection.
 
Corrosion in a tight joint can cause heat and voltage drop. Suggest removing the ground strap, clean to bright metal both ends...battery post and frame where the strap is connected. Might as well clean the negative battery cable ends, post and starter connection also. Conductive paste in the joints will help prevent future corrosion.
 
I bought a repro ground strap and the braid was loose in the clamp, so it wasn't making a good connection. Might also be worth checking yours to see if the braid is clamped tight, especially if this is a repro ground strap.

I ended up just cleaning my original ground strap and re-using it.
 
Is the strap designed for 6 volts? The 12 volt straps are smaller diameter. I assume it just gets hot when you use the starter. Is the starter drawing too much current?

Charlie Stephens
 
Thanks everyone.
From what everyone had described it does sound like I need a new ground strap, the braiding on the one that was on it is definitely loose - looks like it was twisted and untwisted a couple of time.

Charlie Stephens - how can i check the starter to determine if it is drawing too much current ?
 
Slik said:
Thanks everyone.
From what everyone had described it does sound like I need a new ground strap, the braiding on the one that was on it is definitely loose - looks like it was twisted and untwisted a couple of time.

Charlie Stephens - how can i check the starter to determine if it is drawing too much current ?
Click to expand...
Call around to a few auto parts stores and you will find one that has an ammeter that you hold over the starter wire to tell the amperage. Maybe try a starter/generator shop. Replace your ground strap first to see if that solve the problem. You can also run a jumper cable parallel to the ground strap temporarily and see if that solves the problem.

Charlie Stephens
 
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