It wasn't something causing an excessive drain from the battery. I still have all the components, and all but the battery and messed up switch harness are a.o.k. I do know that batteries can run away on their own, meaning that they will just start discharging for some reason, create massive ammounts of heat, and possibly explode. While I was a Marine, that was one of the many things that we had to go through training on the Cobras and Hueys for. It is possible that there was a nick in the wire, and chances are that was exactly what happened. But an increase in voltage will also give you an increase of heat.