Heated grips wiring help

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InvisibleOrdinary
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Heated grips wiring help

Post by InvisibleOrdinary »

Hi All,

I saw DavidT's thread in r1150r forum, didn't want to hijack his thread and it didn't seem quite the same problem as I'm having (maybe it is and I'm just not seeing it), and couldn't find it in searching either - though it's probably out there somewhere... anyway, My right heated grip went out a while ago, and I'm now trying to track it down. I peeled the outer grip off and it looked like the wiring was broken at the outer end of the throttle. Don't see any other damage, no burn spots or anything like that. Fuse is good as well. Now I currently have the heated element/throttle off the bike.

I tested and found continuity between the black & brown wire that runs into the heating element (so there isn't a break in the element wire - know this doesn't mean there's not a short, but since I don't see any damage, seems like it is fine). I also tested continuity on the wired poking out of the end of the handlebars… and got continuity. Again, know this doesn't rule out a short, but the wires look fine running down behind the head...

anyway, when I connected everything back up, two things came up. There wasn't enough room (inside the handlebar) to run my fix (was a bit too much solder and heat shrink on both wires to fit). But I also tried turning it on to make sure it would heat up, and nothing. But also nothing on the left now too.. uhhhwha?. It was working fine last time I rode, which was a few days ago.

So I'm in a quandary, I am going to run new wires all the way through the handlebar so I'm not dealing with the added diameter, but am curious how I could / should trace down the problem from here. I'll try CycleRob's short detector so maybe that's it.... but thinking I should also test to see if there is the right current making it to the grips (or at least the end of those wires poking out of handlebars. So, while I still have the old wiring poking out of, what current should I see?The fuse is 4A, but it isn't that high, right? So what is normal current leading to the heating element...

Any help pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. I'm horrible at understanding electric stuff, but with good explanation and fuddling through (slowly) it I can get the simple stuff working (with help, anyway)

Thanks

Dave
InvisibleOrdinary
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Re: Heated grips wiring help

Post by InvisibleOrdinary »

Slight update... tested the leads at coming through the handlebars from the switch… 9.2 Ohms resistance, it's the same whether the grips are turned on or off, and no current I can detect either. So, this means that the break is probably somewhere back upstream, right? And probably that I'll need to remove the tank to really find it. And that I probably broke the wires when I pulled off the grip cover. ugh.

Dave
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riceburner
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Re: Heated grips wiring help

Post by riceburner »

IIRC the wires at the grip ARE pretty thin and probably a bit fragile.

you may need a new grip and associated wiring.
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InvisibleOrdinary
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Re: Heated grips wiring help

Post by InvisibleOrdinary »

Thanks.. I am now (after a long hiatus) back at this one... (It's nice that Portland is pretty mild in the winter, and to be honest, with good gloves, heated grips aren't always necessary).
anyway, I tested teh wiring and they are good through the grips, so there's a break somewhere else... I currently have the tank off and will be tracing / replacing the wires back there to see if I can solve this one.
Thanks
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sykospain
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Re: Heated grips wiring help

Post by sykospain »

Chris Harris did a useful "Heated Grip Repair" video a couple of years ago before he had his terrible health scare...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBX2qWHfHHc
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sykospain
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Re: Heated grips wiring help

Post by sykospain »

Hi InvisibleOrdinary,
Any update since last Autumn / Fall ?
That's a year ago - maybe you already fixed the problem...
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InvisibleOrdinary
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Re: Heated grips wiring help

Post by InvisibleOrdinary »

Been long off this site, but basically, I let this one go… I couldn't easily trace where the break in the wiring was, and kinda ran out of time, plus I started working from home, so riding was more often for pleasure than to get back and forth to work, so less on the road (at all) in the winter, and the weather never really required heated grips anyway last couple years… I'm hoping to get back to it in the next couple months, but it's not high priority… I have a another issue that is more problematic than this
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sykospain
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Re: Heated grips wiring help

Post by sykospain »

I know the feeling.
The HG's on the Rockster i bought last year didn't work, mainly because some bozo had simply lobbed off the wires emerging from the under-tank twin connectors. Possibly because Fuse #7 had blown or something simple like a break in the thin windings under the rubber grip. So I abandoned the HG facility and now use the heated grips switch to control my LED Driving Lights.
Hope you soon sort out your "more problematic" issue.
AL in s.e. Spain
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InvisibleOrdinary
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Re: Heated grips wiring help

Post by InvisibleOrdinary »

yep, that is almost sorted, as maybe you know -)
thanks

Dave
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