Smokin' Steamer

[Sin_Tiger]

Been meaning to post this little tale of woe up for a while, let's hope this never happens to anyone else, or at least not in a location where you can't deal with it quickly 

Been out for a late autumn run and decided to give the old girl a decent scrub as she doesn't get so treated very often. Normal wash and rinse off as usual and just for good measure a blow dry with the leaf blower as a special treat 

Turned my back to look for a bottle of polish, been so long since I last used it I'd forgotten where it was abandoned.

Turned back around to look out the garage door at the bike as something must have caught my eye. Steam coming out from under the petrol tank .................. wait a minute  that engine was cold before I washed her Nooooooooooooo  it's smoke.

Fortunately there was a CO2 extinguisher at arms length that I grabbed as I headed out (at some speed) to investigate.

Shiiiiiiit, real firey, flamey things  coming out from under the tank, skooosh, still flames, skooosh skooosh, still flames, skoooooooosh and relax, look again and there's still a tiny flame coming out from the alternator and the cable is hot to touch, flames getting 

seat off pronto and hand shoved firmely towards the fuse box ignoring the blood from the knuckles, now which one's the main 30A  sod it just pull everything and sort it later, saved at last no more  but I need a 

When I got the Alternator out below was what I found. Looks like the fibreglass insulation sleeve had chaffed through after so many years and my washing / blow drying was enough for it to allow a direct short of the main wire at the wire clip (plastic coating also worn through) with the subsequent heat emission that was enough to cause combustion. What was actually burning, as in the actual fuel for the flames  the bike wash I was using was non flammable, there was no petrol leakage, so your guess is as good as mine. The best I've been able to come up with was that the frayed insulation sleeve had been harbouring enough oil and gunge from previous years to generate a nice little fire. In case you haven't realised, that main wire is live from the battery ALL the time, so it's handy that you know which fuse is the main 30A and that you can reach it easily.

Fortunately I had a spare rectifier plate / brush carrier and after cleaning and checking the Alt, it was soldered back in place (you can still buy this as a spare part on it's own surprisingly) so it wasn't long before everything was back to normal again and as a bonus I was freshly inspired to do the fusebox relocation I'd been putting off 

While on this subject, could the two gents who eventually got the two spare, freshly powder coated alternator covers I handed out at Haggs Bank, please send me your old originals as I need them to rebuild my spare Alts. There was a lot of milling around in the rain so I don't know who took them in the end.

[Timbox2]

Whooa, good save mate, could have been much worse.

[GavD]

Niall,

I think Mo may have got his mitts on one of those covers, I'll ask him.

[Sin_Tiger]

Yup, fires under petrol tanks are rarely a good thing.

Cheers Gav.

[Nick Calne]

Fairly certain it wasn't me but I shall brave the loft of plenty to check I don't have one anyway.

Need a new tank? (Two to choose from, both crap!)

[bemusedinsojo]

Yup, fires under petrol tanks are rarely a good thing.

Sin, what a payback for your love. Thanks for the story. I'm going to check mine out. 

[Beernard]

Faaark!! Pretty good save, Sin I do hope its not a pending disaster for Tigers in general!
Thanks for the pics and theories. Seem sound to my novice ears.

[ghulst]

Now there's a story. Let's hope none of us ever have to do this.

Good save!