FRAMING JOHN DELOREAN - ON VOD www.framingjohndeloreanfilm.com
Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2
Results 11 to 14 of 14

Thread: Caught an electrical fire while it was happening!

  1. #11
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Northern NJ

    Posts:    8,570

    My VIN:    10757 1st place Concourse 1998

    The whole electrical system in the Delorean leaves much room for improvement. Typically there is a fusible link to prevent this kind of thing. The whole ground side is "missing" and should have it's own dedicated harness. Because this was done by Lucas, they like to switch the ground side of things as opposed to everyone else who switches the positive or HOT side. By switching on the ground side there are many more ways you can have problems. By not having a good grounding system, backfeeds can cause all kinds of weird, hard to troubleshoot, problems. Many circuits are wired with wires too light for the current they carry. I can go on but you get the idea. One way to prevent this kind of thing is a yearly inspection. Good thing you had a master switch so you could quickly shut things off!
    David Teitelbaum

  2. #12
    Senior Member Bitsyncmaster's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Leonardtown, MD

    Posts:    9,000

    My VIN:    03572

    Quote Originally Posted by David T View Post
    The whole electrical system in the Delorean leaves much room for improvement. Typically there is a fusible link to prevent this kind of thing. The whole ground side is "missing" and should have it's own dedicated harness. Because this was done by Lucas, they like to switch the ground side of things as opposed to everyone else who switches the positive or HOT side. By switching on the ground side there are many more ways you can have problems. By not having a good grounding system, backfeeds can cause all kinds of weird, hard to troubleshoot, problems. Many circuits are wired with wires too light for the current they carry. I can go on but you get the idea. One way to prevent this kind of thing is a yearly inspection. Good thing you had a master switch so you could quickly shut things off!
    There are few ground switched circuits. Like every other car, the door lights use ground switching. The hot start relay uses ground switching and the idle motor also uses it. There is nothing wrong with switching the ground as long as the positive feeds are fused.
    Dave M vin 03572
    http://dm-eng.weebly.com/

  3. #13
    LS Swapper Josh's Avatar
    Join Date:  Mar 2013

    Location:  Illinois

    Posts:    2,440

    My VIN:    11408

    Club(s):   (DMWC) (TXDMC) (DCUK) (DOI)

    Ground switching is very common in modern cars Dave.

    Everything related to the gm engine wiring I am running is ground switched for example.

    Supercharged 5.3L LS4 + Porsche 6spd
    [email protected]
    lsdelorean.com
    I am not affiliated with Delorean Midwest in anyway.

  4. #14
    Senior Member Bitsyncmaster's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Leonardtown, MD

    Posts:    9,000

    My VIN:    03572

    Quote Originally Posted by Josh View Post
    Ground switching is very common in modern cars Dave.

    Everything related to the gm engine wiring I am running is ground switched for example.
    Ground switching is great for electronic switches (transistor or MOSFETs). If I was the designer, I would use is on everything.
    Dave M vin 03572
    http://dm-eng.weebly.com/

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •