[Marko]

I've recently become the owner of a 1995 Yamaha Wave Raider. I pulled it out of the garage and charged the battery for a few hours using a 6 amp charge. I also didn't disconnect the battery from the wave runner.

The next day in trying to start the waverunner I smelled smoke and after looking around noticed that the protective coating around the starter wire was melting a number of places. Even though it was smoking, the starter was still turning over.

I realize I should have pulled the battery out to charge it. Did I overcharge the battery? If so, what can I do to fix it?

And for the melted coating - is it OK to wrap electrical tape around the melted areas or should the entire wire be replaced?

Thanks - I'm a rookie.

 

[Crunchy]

Charging your battery at 6amp probably didnt do the battery any good but this shouldnt have melted the wires if the battery has caps on top remove caps and refill with distilled water to the top of the plates inside or to the fill line. You may have boiled off some water. if it is a maintinence free battery you cant do anything about it. as for the melted wires, your starter sounds like it is drawing to much current and you may need to replace the brushes or the whole starter. and yes you should replace the wire there is 12 volts running through that wire and can produce some pretty good sparks. (electrical tape and water dont go well). save yourself some problems down the road. Hope this helps.

 

[Marko]

Thank you. Now I didn't disconnect the battery from the jetski before charging. Would that have contributed to the melting wire? The battery cables felt warm to hot.

Is the starter and wire something that a novice like me could replace or should I just go to a repair shop?

Again thank you.