Fire!? Please Help!
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Junior User
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 51
Likes: 0
Fire!? Please Help!
Well, I hooked up the keyless entry to my vehicle...1991 Ford Explorer, using the following...
http://www.the12volt.com/doorlocks/page3.asp#5w
When I plugged the vehicle's battery back in, the cab filled with smoke (a lot of it.) I looked and noticed that the wire I had running from the constant 12 V wire (yellow wire in ignition switch harness) to terminals 87 on both relays had burned through the insulation and the insulation of several other wires. The relays are hooked up correctly...Pins 87a and 30 are, no current = motor / current = switch. Can this occur because I used too small of a gauge of wire to make the connections? The wires from the brain's harness are not very thick, but the wire I used to power the relays is pretty thick. Please Help!
http://www.the12volt.com/doorlocks/page3.asp#5w
When I plugged the vehicle's battery back in, the cab filled with smoke (a lot of it.) I looked and noticed that the wire I had running from the constant 12 V wire (yellow wire in ignition switch harness) to terminals 87 on both relays had burned through the insulation and the insulation of several other wires. The relays are hooked up correctly...Pins 87a and 30 are, no current = motor / current = switch. Can this occur because I used too small of a gauge of wire to make the connections? The wires from the brain's harness are not very thick, but the wire I used to power the relays is pretty thick. Please Help!
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 163
Likes: 0
From: Bucks County, PA
Did you use the correct wiring / relay set up for your vehicle? I looked at the link and there are different set up's for the different wiring types, one set up shows multiple relays wit the #87 pinout with a mix of bothe 12+ & ground. Yes, too small a guage of wire will burn up asn melt, under a load. REpair the damaged wire first and get the car running, then if you decide to take another stab at the keyless entry carefully determine the correct set up for your vehicle and, most importantly, put a fuse or circuit breaker on the main power feed to prevent this from happening again.
p.s. be sure you are using the correct guage wire to repair the ones that are damaged. Good luck.
p.s. be sure you are using the correct guage wire to repair the ones that are damaged. Good luck.
Freshman User
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
put a fuse no more than 12" from the battery or 12V source. This will prevent the wire from burning up. And second, the gauge of the wire wasn't the problem in your case. Under normal operation the keyless entry module should not be pulling enough current to melt the wire. Somewhere you have a direct connection to ground from a hot wire...this is why your battery tried to unload its entire load through that one wire. Troubleshoot your connections and add a fuse.
