Gerbings heat troller, 4 failures; Help!

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I had two heat trollers installed on my '03 fairing. They both stopped blinking within a month of each other, ie stayed red all the time so I exchanged them. The first replacement stayed red all the time, the second with an orange LED blinked in tempo to the increased heat load. The 3d & 4th stayed red all the time. Red all the time means full power, rendering the rheostat useless. I've been 'round and around with Gerbings on this. I know my hookups are good as they were installed by a Gerbing's exec. in '04.

I wonder if my battery is bad, but I always have it on a battery tender and the light is green. The battery is an '03, but has excellent charge due to the battery tender. Also at highway speed, with full alt. charge, the LED stays red, and will not blink.

Since the orange LED works as indicated, could all the red ones be defective?

Could an aging battery cause the rheostat to stay on full power all the time?

I think Gerbings has done all required of them, but that does not solve my problem:
Why can't I get graduated power from a rheostat?
 
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I seriously doubt you have a problemw with your battery. How did a Gerbing exec install it, I didn't know Gerbing did installations. Then, explain how it was wired in, that is probably the key to the failures.
 

Highrider

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After I plug in my Gerbing heat troller, the circuit is on whether or not my liner or gloves are plugged into it. If yours works the same way, and it is permanently mounted and wired - is it possible that it is powered all the time the bike is on - year round?
 
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My Gerbing single portable controller stopped working on the last ride and it is fried as it has no output although the red LED still works.
I checked all the leads and even took the controller apart thinking it was a bad solder connection internally...no power going to the output terminals.
Others have had problems with these controllers so I am replacing it with a genuine Heat-troller not one of those Chinese knock-offs.
 
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I don't have a gerbing controller, does the led color indicate function 100% vs. proportional or did different production runs just happen to use a different color led?

In either case the led didn't fail, if its lit, something else is going on.
Its not unusual for the mosfet to fail "on" so the pulse width signal doesn't do anything.
It's possible you have an intermittant short, the the wires to, the connector, or the heated gear itself. Depending on how and if they have short circuit protection designed it could still eventually fail if it is seeing and abnormal load on the output side.

Might also check the supply side wiring for the controller, if connections are loose or wires have broken strands the voltage the controller sees may drop under load.

I'd bet on controller failure or intermittant short on the output side.

Very unlikely the battery has anything to do with it. The bike started and continues to run so your alternator is keeping the battery charged and system at normal voltage.

BTW mosfet=the type of output transistor used in the controller to switch power on an off to the heated gear. The can fail "on" sort of like a relay with the contacts fused together.
 
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+1 for a short of some sort, or some how poorly wired (short). I have the portable Gerbing heat controller and when I plug it in, NOTHING lights up until I turn it on. And since I have a DUAL controller, it has two different colors for the LED so that a quick glance can let you know which one is turned on.
 

schlep1967

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I would check the output from the controller. Hook up a multimeter and check the output as you change the setting. I would suspect there are two circuits. One that makes the LED flash relative to the output and then the output circuit. You didn't say you were cooking in your gear so it is possible you are turning down the heat and the LED is just not showing it.

Just a guess.
Good Luck!
 

Scooter

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BTW mosfet=the type of output transistor used in the controller to switch power on an off to the heated gear. The can fail "on" sort of like a relay with the contacts fused together.


... they can fail "on" sort of like a thermostat that is failed open...:p:
 

Styles

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I've had two failures on a Gerbings fixed controller. They replaced my unit the first time under their three-year warranty -- and I'm hoping they'll also replace my second.

In both cases, Gerbings LED light stopped, indicating no juice flowing. I've no clear explanation, but I'm wondering about my second failure last week -- which occurred under two known circumstances:

  • I switched the engine off before turning of the controller, and

  • it was raining both when I stopped and when I returned.
I'm wondering if either circumstance matters any.

Any thoughts?




Styles
 
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Neither should have anything to do with it.
You might get some voltage spikes when you start or stop the bike but the controller should be designed to handle it. I'm assuming the controller did not see water in the pot or circuit board.
 

Styles

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Neither should have anything to do with it.
You might get some voltage spikes when you start or stop the bike but the controller should be designed to handle it. I'm assuming the controller did not see water in the pot or circuit board.

My thanks. I'd also think my unit was dry, though maybe not my line connector. I've lost the end cap.




Styles
 
OP
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I seriously doubt you have a problemw with your battery. How did a Gerbing exec install it, I didn't know Gerbing did installations. Then, explain how it was wired in, that is probably the key to the failures.
Gerbings did not install it. The Gerbings exec. owned the bike, which I bought from him in '06. It has worked flawlessly for 3 years and that is the quandry. I'm now wondering if I may have pinched a wire? Thanks for your input, so far most responders are saying its not the battery.
 
OP
OP
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After I plug in my Gerbing heat troller, the circuit is on whether or not my liner or gloves are plugged into it. If yours works the same way, and it is permanently mounted and wired - is it possible that it is powered all the time the bike is on - year round?
The heat troller is not on unless you turn the rotary switch, then the pulsing light comes on. The first red lite troller I bought as a replacement was definitely defective, the rotary switch turned 1/2 thru the turn before it clicked on.

I will switch the two troller hookups I have: if the orange LED pulses with either wire, and the red stays red with either wire, I have grounds to believe they have a defective lot. I know how to settle the issue: just replace the red with orange!

I plan to have a chat with Gerbings tech. folks about this.
 
OP
OP
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st1300r;853662[COLOR="Red" said:
]I don't have a gerbing controller, does the led color indicate function 100% vs. proportional or did different production runs just happen to use a different color led?[/COLOR]

In either case the led didn't fail, if its lit, something else is going on.
Its not unusual for the mosfet to fail "on" so the pulse width signal doesn't do anything.
It's possible you have an intermittant short, the the wires to, the connector, or the heated gear itself. Depending on how and if they have short circuit protection designed it could still eventually fail if it is seeing and abnormal load on the output side.

Might also check the supply side wiring for the controller, if connections are loose or wires have broken strands the voltage the controller sees may drop under load.

I'd bet on controller failure or intermittant short on the output side.

Very unlikely the battery has anything to do with it. The bike started and continues to run so your alternator is keeping the battery charged and system at normal voltage.

BTW mosfet=the type of output transistor used in the controller to switch power on an off to the heated gear. The can fail "on" sort of like a relay with the contacts fused together.
Answer: the pulse rate of the blinker is proportional to the delivery of power.
 
OP
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PROBLEM SOLVED !! I took the hints of many of you to examine the wiring and found my gas tank pinched the wire between where my heat troller rheostat mounts on the bike and the acutal heat troller unit hidden under my seat. The fuses were good, and truthfully I don't understand how a pinched, but not shorted wire could produce the effect of full on all the time. At any rate, I now have a pulsing lite working as should. Thanks for all your inputs!!!:D:D:D
 
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It could be that the insulation is cut where you might not see it and the hot and ground wires touching inside.
 
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PROBLEM SOLVED !! I took the hints of many of you to examine the wiring and found my gas tank pinched the wire between where my heat troller rheostat mounts on the bike and the acutal heat troller unit hidden under my seat. The fuses were good, and truthfully I don't understand how a pinched, but not shorted wire could produce the effect of full on all the time. At any rate, I now have a pulsing lite working as should. Thanks for all your inputs!!!:D:D:D

The ground wire of the 3 wires to the potentiometer was intermittant or 2 wires were touching under the insulation. If it does it again you may just need to cut out the crushed part of the wire and splice it back together. You may want to do it now. If 2 wires are touching intermittantly your could let the magic smoke out of the pot depending on where it is rotated. :)

1 wire goes to +.
1 to ground
The 3rd (usually center) wire goes to the sliding conatact (wiper) that moves along the resistor in the pot.
(voltage divider)

When you lost the ground the 3rd wire only saw the + supply driving the controller full on or the + was shorted to the center (wiper). If you lost the +supply wire it would have seen ground and driven the controller to it's lowest setting.
 
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