Why does the ground wire on my riding mower get hot when I try to start the mower?
Question:The starter was froze up and I took it apart and cleaned it and found that the windings were burned. Does that mean the starter is Bad? Also the mower had sat for about a year.
Answers:
The ground wire gets hot because too much current is flowing through it. This is probably due to a short circuit, a ground or both. The fact that the windings are burned indicates that insulation has burned off, and adjacent wires are shorted. A DC motor draws a lot of current when it is powered, but not rotating. It is possible that the burned wiring is caused by applying power when, for some reason, the mower was unable to turn over. Or maybe the starting battery was of the wrong voltage.
to much draw on the battery ,bad connections, bad starter. Take it to a rebuilder
You may just have a dirty connection. Disconnect the ground wire and wire brush or sandpaper all connections until they are clean and shiny. Re-connect and see if that solves the problem.
bad ground
If the starter windings are burned, your starter is toast. No matter how long it sat idle. As far as the ground wire getting hot, it's most likely from the bad starter drawing so much current. Replace the starter and ground cable, and the problems should disappear.
The wire gets hot because there is too much current passing through it. That means you have excess resistance in the circuit, probably in the starter. Which means that, yes the starter is bad. It may not be seizing up, but the hot wire indicates it is close to it because it is drawing way more current than it should.
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