Help show me the error of my ways...

[boatdetective]

I'm installing a power outlet on the handlebars. I am using the fused battery tender pigtail as my source of power.  This way, I am minimizing the wires going to the battery terminals. In the off season, unplug the outlet and plug in the tender.   I led the wires forward up to the outlet- contacts good. 12.66VDC at the contacts. Plugged in the outlet. Then plugged a USB adapter into the outlet. Plugged a fuse in the system and...the outlet began to smoke ?!?   I used this USB thingamajig on a recent roadtrip in Utah without issue.


Anything really simple and stupid that I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!

[RinkRat II]

 
    If you let the smoke out, your screwed.    If there was smoke something has a direct short. I suspect usb thingy or polarity is incorrect.
     
   Paul B.

[guzzisteve]

You are not supposed to let the smoke out, now it won't work. 

And it didn't blow the fuse? Sorry, I have none of that on my bikes, so I can't help.


Beat me to it

[rodekyll]

First, what they said about the smoke.   

Then, I suspect the usb thingy is shorted.  When you plug it in you bypass the load and run hot straight to ground.  I've fried a handful of those cig lighter plug-in types.  They're cheap and worth it.  It should have blown a fuse. 

[KiwiKev]

Yep they are pretty cr*p devices mostly. Check polarity as stated and try another one.


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[malik]

The fused lead at the battery end should go to the positive terminal. The other lead to the negative. If you use an SAE plug at the top end, you can get all sorts of adapters to fit. I have an idea that the maximum load on the appliance that you will use will determine the gauge of wire & size of fuse to use. It seems that USBs for phones computers might need an internal choke (limited to 1 or 2 amps) depending on the device. Heated liners might take around 30 amps. Cigarette lighter sockets are known to often be temperamental & unreliable. The BMW/DIN type sockets are more robust. Otherwise, a USB to SAE adapter, plus your battery tender plug to SAE adapter should cover both uses. (If wired and fused correctly). Note that you can get battery tenders that are way too overpowered for motorcycles (most of them). Something that works on a marine diesel is going to start things smoking. Many put out 2.5 to 5 volts; my battery charger does it with 0.8 millivolts (I think it says). Even simple electrickery is fraught with false leads (sic).

[Chesterfield]

If you plug  another pigtail into the pigtail coming off the battery, the polarity will be reversed at the end of the one you plugged in

[Kiwi_Roy]

If you plug  another pigtail into the pigtail coming off the battery, the polarity will be reversed at the end of the one you plugged in

[Zoom Zoom]

I'm with others on the polarity reversal idea.

Please disregard if I'm telling you something you already know. On an SAE plug, 2 pin, they usually come with a plug and a loop of wire you cut in the middle. Generally white and red but I have seen other colors used with the red. Anyway, once the wire is cut in the middle, the red lead that is covered when unplugged ought to go toward the battery so that when unplugged, it is less likely to short against something it touched by accident. A test light or volt meter can verify the hot lead coming off the battery. I mention this because I generally go to the parts store and buy 3 or four of these plugs and have then hanging on the garage wall for when I need them. I even make up Y plugs to power multiple things without connecting more wires to the battery. Once wrapped in electrical tape, you don't always know which side of the feed is hot, especially if you were not the one to install it in the first place. This is where the meter or test light comes in. It can be easy to get things flopped around and then you have power on what you thought was ground. The plug headed toward the device that is exposed until plugged in ought to be the hot lead.

As for the smoke, you may have already fried the charging plug beyond repair since the fuse didn't go. You may need to get a replacement for that and begin again.

John Henry

[Zoom Zoom]

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If you look just to the right of the handlebar clamp, you can see what I am using. It has both a 12 volt round plug and a 5 volt USB plug contained under weather proof boots. IIRC, it was 20 or 25 bucks. I have used the crap out of it and am very glad I got it. Being unswitched, I have power whenever I need it without having to turn on the key.

John Henry

[boatdetective]

I worked through it and my findings are: yes, I'm an idiot. When I started the project, I even noted the problem wth the polarity flipping at the plug. I even told myself to meter the ends before I hooked up the inlet- and didn't listen to myself. There's a lesson here about remaining focused when playing with 'tricity....

[Zoom Zoom]

Ah, don't beat yourself up too bad. All things considered, a cheap lesson.

Imagine me catching a bike on fire when trying to start it with starting fluid. Thankfully, nothing that was too bad in the end but I gained a very real understanding of what a wasted spark ignition system is doing. Now THAT was a lesson I don't need to learn twice!

[charlie b]

ROFLMAO.

Yep, first time I wired up one of the SAE plugs I thought to myself, 'I am going to screw this up one of these days.'  I did.