I have owned at least thirty optima's and have installed probably over two hundred and I've never seen one melt a battery connection like that. I had four red top optima's in my jeep.
Optima did sell out and are now made in Mexico:
Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Optima Batteries 8014-045 D34/78 YellowTop Dual Purpose Battery
The real wiring problem lies in the three feed wires from the JBox. They are 10 gauge (supposed) but when stripped back the look more like 12 gauge and the top feed wire is at capacity already..... With a 50 amp fuse!
I think the heat resistance will burn the wire before the amp blows!
The top feed was always at a higher temp than the others because it runs most everything!
Add a little loose fuse, something drawing more than it should or more accessories to that line and failure is a possibility.
The real wiring problem lies in the three feed wires from the JBox. They are 10 gauge (supposed) but when stripped back the look more like 12 gauge and the top feed wire is at capacity already..... With a 50 amp fuse!
I think the heat resistance will burn the wire before the amp blows!
The top feed was always at a higher temp than the others because it runs most everything!
Add a little loose fuse, something drawing more than it should or more accessories to that line and failure is a possibility.
Jim, have you had an opportunity to take amp readings on these wires? I know you mentioned before the wire size and the heating. I do believe the wire size with the combination of some resistance upstream is the problem. As I mentioned before the fuses are there for short circuiting and the wires are only based on loads. It is possible that the engineered design could be problem as the harness has already been proven faulty in the lighting recall. If you were to take an amp reading at the initial start up it is my guess that the amps would drop with time as the wires heat up and no change in the loads. If this would happen it is proof that resistance is the root cause of the heating. Resistance causes heat, as the wire heats up the resistance increases which makes the resistance higher, as the resistance increases the amps will drop because of the resistance. The initial amp reading will be well below the fuse rating and that is why the fuse will never blow, the amps continue to fall lower while the wire harness continues to heat up. If this would be the findings then there has to be a resistance upstream in the harness that starts the viscous circle otherwise every SlingShot would have the same problem. My guess there is some point where there is chaffing coupled with marginal sized wires. If it was only the wire size then all SlingShots would experience the same resulting failure.
I cannot speak for my J-block as I have yet to take a look at it.
very astute of you @mniron . According to the mechanic, the main reason they change the headlight harness was to relieve the load on that circuit. They had had problems with overheating wires due to the overload.
The top feed wire branches off into 15 different legs ! I did not measure amp load but only resistance because it was overheating and not blowing the fuse. 10 gauge wire should take a 50 amp use in automobile use. I think the problem here is they have dedicated main feeds for the electric power steering, part of the ABS system and for various sensors and have left the rest for the third line feed.... including instrumentation, lights, traction and stability control, all accessories and everything that you add into your accessory circuit.
On a brand new 2017, the top feed line was 10° warmer than any other line with no modifications to the slingshot at all. because the wires were melting before the fuse could fail, smaller fuses were installed and all accessories were run a part from the normal slingshot circuits. This is seeming to help and i’m pretty confident that it will not melt another feedline but I still worry about something faulty somewhere up the harness.
I'm getting ready to run a 2 gauge wire from the battery to a separate fuse box under the hood...
When I moved into my house it had a 8 fuse box...now it had a 32 breaker box with all of them in use....I separated everything...
I'm going to separate my add on accessories......
Using this..
ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1506295660&sr=1-2&keywords=Battery terminals
2 gauge. ha You crack me up!
You planning on running 50,000 LED lights and 4 15 inch subwoofers?
I have several wires running up front already...
This will replace all of them and any future mods....
several mods require tapping right off the battery...that means another wire.
Most of the wire I ran in my house is 12/2. BIGGER Is better.
Less resistance. Go big or go home.
You wanna run with the big dogs or sit with the porch puppies...
You will need some HP mods to haul all the copper. 
Go big or go home isn't always the best strategy... 
Did anyone ever check the voltage regulator/rectifier for high voltage.
if you dont know what to do, you can get rebuilt engine here - https://orbimotors.com/ aftermarket engines, but in very good condition
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Wow! What a blast from the past. I met those two when I was a kid during a car show at Dayton's Hara Arena, where the original Batmobile was showcased... 😁
Wow! What a blast from the past. I met those two when I was a kid during a car show at Dayton's Hara Arena, where the original Batmobile was showcased... 😁
The original 'Batmobile' was in Michigan City, IN for a parade a week ago, now owned by a man in central Indiana.
