Frustrated with my Hondaline heated grips.

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Al Gully
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61
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1&2 2005 ST1300ABS's
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8562
Hello Al:

You might have solved your 'flashing lights on the heated grips controller' problem by now, but in case you have not:

I am 99.44% certain that your problem is caused by inadequate current getting to the supply side of the controller. In other words, if not enough current is available to the controller, it will flash, I have experienced this problem before myself and isolated it to a current supply problem.

So, to fix the problem, I suggest you very carefully inspect the wiring that supplies current to the controller, and also the wiring that goes from the controller to ground on the bike. A poor connection, loose connection, or undersized wire on either the supply or the ground side of the circuit will cause EXACTLY the problems you are experiencing.

Michael
Michael,
This makes sense as I had a burnt out left headlight bulb and the controller worked great on settings 1 & 2. As soon as the headlight bulb was replaced, back to the same old problem. When I remove my right middle cowl, I'm going to run the cabling back to my fuse box and use a device called "Add a fuse". I'm sure it's the undersized cabling or the poor grounding going to the front ends of these bikes.
 

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Lost in the sticks
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OK , Took plastic off to trouble shoot heated grips problem. Bypassed the quartet harness, still flashing past 2 bars on the controller. Increased RPM to about 3000 RPM, got solid 3 bars on the controller and grips heated up but still blinking on high (4 bars) , When I first took it apart the controller worked on full strength and the grips got hot, I shut off the bike and tried again and it is back to the old blinking lights. I'm convinced it is in the grips and have ruled out the quartet harness when I bypassed it. I checked the controller with separate 12V power and it works fine (no blinking) , only when I hook up the feed to the grips does it start blinking again above 3 bars on the controller. Put the controller back to normal and can't get past 3 bars with out it blinking again. OK all you electrician engineers out there what is going on here?
 
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North Plainfield, NJ
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'06 ST1300A
only when I hook up the feed to the grips does it start blinking again above 3 bars on the controller
This suggests that the heating elements (and associated wiring) is drawing more current then originally intended. If the electrical supply system (battery & charging circuit) cannot keep up with current demand, then voltage will drop, which triggers the Heated Grips Controller to disable the heating elements. This typically occurs when the motorcycle is either at an idle (low charging voltage), or the Heated Grips Controller is set at a high heat setting.

When the Heated Grips Controller is set to the highest setting (4 indicators), the heating elements are providing approximately 17.5 watts of power each, which at a typical battery voltage of 12.5vdc is only 2.8 amps. This is not a significant amount of current, less than, for example either the brake lamps, or a single headlamp. Usually the Heated Grips Controller will allow the heating elements to operate at engine idle only on the lower settings (my experience is with a setting of 1 or 2 indicators), with the higher settings the Heated Grips Controller disables the heating elements. At typical road speeds, the motorcycle electrical supply system is operating at a higher charging voltage (14.3vdc), which allows the Heated Grips Controller to enable the grip heating elements at all heat settings.

Any increase in the resistance (ohms) of the heating element circuit, may result in a voltage drop that the Heated Grips Controller will respond to by disabling the heating elements. Typical causes for an increase in resistance of the heating element circuit are poor electrical connections (7 for the heated grips), or partial failure of a heating element. If you have an ohm meter, check the resistance of each of the heating elements, remember to isolate the heating elements from the circuit (heating element connectors are approximately midway along the handle bar risers). Clean the connections, 2 for each heating element, and 3 at the Heated Grips Controller.

Here's is a link to a sketch of the Honda heated grips system which may be helpful as you trouble shoot your heated grip issues.
 
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Lost in the sticks
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Using a mulit meter set at 200 OHM, I got 1.6 on the left and 1.7 on the right for the grips. I am showing a decrease in resistance? Not an increase.
 
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Al Gully
Joined
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61
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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1&2 2005 ST1300ABS's
STOC #
8562
I picked up a pair of Gerbings heated gloves a month ago, all I can say is wow, are they ever hot. My whole body is warm when my hands are warm. Now the Gerbings T5 micro wire gloves doesn't have heat in the palms, so my mamby pamby heated grips just stay on the first setting and I don't care about the other 3 higher settings. Also, my Gerbings dual controller just showed up in the mail today. Sounds like I'll be hooking that up for the cool rides when I wear my heated vest and gloves.
 
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Al Gully
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
1,608
Age
61
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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1&2 2005 ST1300ABS's
STOC #
8562
Joined
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Messages
1,691
Location
Lost in the sticks
Bike
2007 ST1300
Got the Oxfords in today. Went to install, Clutch side no problem, Throttle side- well - big problems,,,, Got the throttle tube sanded down so I could press the grip on , tested grips for function,,, work great,, applied super glue to the throttle sleeve went to press the new grip on -- got it half way and it seized up. Wow ,, could not get it set all the way. Shaking my head in disgust, realizing I just ruined my new throttle grip, I tried to tap on with a rubber mallet as a last resort, but I knew it was too late, and ended up breaking a piece of the throttle tube plastic off. It just keeps getting worse and more expensive. I ordered a new set of grips, be another week, don't think I am going to glue it on just use the friction set method. But being the throttle side probable need the glue or it will most likely twist on me. The only problem is the oxford throttle side is too tight for the ST1300, so when you go to glue it you can't get it all the way on. Live and learn, mine tend to be expensive lessons though. I now have twice the price and need to order a new throttle sleeve to boot.
 
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T_C

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applied super glue to the throttle sleeve went to press the new grip on -- got it half way and it seized up. Wow ,,
May I suggest you use different glue.

Cheap and most married guys have it at hand is hairspray. Just don't let the wife know you borrowed her can. Gives you a few minutes of working time, is slippery when wet and sticks like crazy when dry.
2nd up... plain old elmers white glue. Smear it all around and slide the grip on. This will take longer to set then the hairspray, but it works.

Also, both of these 'glues' can be busted loose with a shot of air from the compressor when it comes time to do maintenance or for new grips.

PS Instead of getting the plastic throttle tube why not spend a couple dollars more and put a G2 throttle tamer on. Nice aluminium and it does a great job of evening out the throttle response.
 
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Thanks for the ideas. I was able to just order the throttle grip for $24 should be here Monday. I will be much more careful on this one. wish me luck.
 
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Hi,
is there a way to test controller? I successfully repaired right handgrip. When connected to accu (12V) it heats up immediately.
Now I have removed the controler and one grip. Is there a way to hook the controler to the acu and grip for testing.

The controller has three wires:
- green
- green white
- black white

The handgrip's are OEM Honda.
I do not understand the electric diagram.
 

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'06 ST1300A
is there a way to test controller?
Keep in mind the controller is expecting to provide 35 watts of power at 12vdc into two grip heaters wired in series. If you connect only one grip heater (rated 17 watts at 6vdc), the controller will have no problem overpowering the heating element.

When connected to accu (12V) it heats up immediately.
I'm not surprised, at twice the voltage, with lots of amperage, that's a recipe for burning out the heating element.

If you still want to test the controller:
  • White/Green conductor goes to Battery (+12vdc), and one of the grip heater conductors.
  • White/Black conductor goes to the other grip heater conductor.
  • Green conductor goes to Chassis Ground (-12vdc)
I would suggest that you operate the controller only at it's lower settings, and only long enough to confirm correct operation.
 
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