Another Honda Heated Grip technical question

My bike had the Honda heated grips already installed when I got it, so I know nothing about their installation (as my disclaimer) or how these things work. They aren't working and I am not sure where to start looking for the problem. The lights on the control panel light up but the grips never actually heat up. Can anyone point me in the best direction for troubleshooting this one?

The grips themselves would be resistive elements.
Can you disconnect them from the controller?
You should be able to measure a resistance for each one with a multimeter.
I would guess somewhere around 8ohms each or 4 ohms in parrallel.

I the elements themselves are shot you could buy dual star or symtec elements and run them off the controller.

I think the controller cuts out with low voltage. Is the bike running when you are trying them?

st1300r said:

The grips themselves would be resistive elements.
Can you disconnect them from the controller?
You should be able to measure a resistance for each one with a multimeter.
I would guess somewhere around 8ohms each or 4 ohms in parrallel.

I the elements themselves are shot you could buy dual star or symtec elements and run them off the controller.

I think the controller cuts out with low voltage. Is the bike running when you are trying them?

Click to expand...

I have the OEM heated grips as well, if the setup is like mine you should be able to see bullet connectors close to the grips (mine are under my bar risers on each side) to perform the test outlined above......

Yes, the bike was running when I tried to use them. I will go out and see what I can see regarding the bullet connectors and stick a multimeter on them.

punk,

My measurements of the Honda heated grip elements were about 2.2 ohms each, and because they are wired in series they total about 4.4 ohms. It also means failure of one will cause both grips to go "cold".

I have a spare new left-side heated grip if you want it (no charge). I installed Symtec elements and wired them into the Honda grip controller, so I no longer need this Honda grip.

Matt

A generous offer that is much appreciated! I haven't messed with the grips yet so I don't know where the problem is; I was saving that for tomorrow when I will have some time when I am not chasing the kids by myself. The grips should be under the factory warranty since the dealer put them on before the sale of the motorcycle but the previous owner hasn't been able to come up with his original bill of sale, so I don't know if I will be able to prove that they weren't put on later. I have about a month left on the original factory warranty before the extended part kicks it, and I am pretty certain that it wouldn't be covered under it... I am hoping he will be able to find his original sale paperwork soon!

If I can't get warranty service and I find out that I can use the left grip, I will shoot you a PM.

I also have oem heated grip problems. My tests seemto lead me to the contoller. The grips had'nt worked in months, then started working, for only a short time. have'nt worked since. I don' get any output from the controller.
Can't buy the controller alone.
I may buy heated gloves instead.

I'm going to resurrect this thread and see if anyone can help me figure out what is up with my heated grips! Since the first post I checked resistance on the original grips and found the grip was dead. St13fundred was kind enough to give me a new left grip, which I installed and everything was back to working fine. Now they are dead again and it's once again, the left grip that had gone belly up; no resistance on the multimeter. Surely these things don't just randomly go out like this, do they??? I was going to be pulling the left side tupperware off anyway, so I figure I need to have a look at the sum of the wiring for these grips, so basically I'm looking for ideas as to what could be causing these grips to go out like this.

I'd really like to have heated grips but I certainly don't see any logical reason to replace the left side again until I can figure out why that side keeps shorting.

Any ideas

It "seems" something (the controller) used the grip heater as a fuse or a work hardened (bent back and forth) open in the heating wire caused the problem. Since you replaced the offending grip heater and it failed again, I would check the output of the controller at the grip and check for proper wire resistance while moving the handle bars back and forth. I'm thinking a partial open wire on the offending side (increased resistance from the partial open, increased voltage, Pfffffffffftttttttttt. If it was the controller, it would effect both sides??? no??
Or chuck the whole thing and get a new unit............... or heated gloves.............. or hippo hands........... or whatever...

mitch

thats why I bught heated gear gloves and jacket, nothing to go wrong on the bike just iwre directly to batt. fused in line, if ou can afford it buy the gear u wont be sorry