> I don't know what could have happened- I would think that if
> the power got shunted to ground in the switch that the lights
> either would not work or would be very dim
>
> What is the consensus as to what happened?
My theory is that a stray strand of wire touched one of the switch terminals or
contacts. I've had trouble in the past with the
individual strands of copper breaking right at the clamp screws in the
headlight switch (and elsewhere).
A single strand is, of course, much too small to carry the load of the
headlights, so it would get very hot in a short time. That
heat would also heat up the switch.
My guess is that you'll see some damage or tracks from the overheated strand
when you get the old switch out.
A short to ground (or a bad ground) would not explain the headlights being on
with the switch off. It could be a short somewhere
else, between an always-hot circuit and the headlight circuit, but that
wouldn't explain the switch getting hot.
-- Randall
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