Heated gloves

[ad.hom]

Has anybody used any of the latest heat gloves, 12v, 7.4v or hybrid from USA or Uk? If you have, what is you take on them, i.e...quality, feel, warmth with power and without (degrees rode in), ease of use and if applicable, wire hookup and controller ease, if battery packs, how well placed and comfort factor , will gaunlet or cuff fit under jacket sleeve,(in your opinion), how is thier waterproof ability and price as used. Please only current mdls.
If you are not on an ST, what kind of bike.
Thank you.

I have 2 pairs of winter gloves, both RST, both bought last year. One is goretex, the other is heated with 7.4v batteries in the cuff.

Positive, I'm not tied to the bike in a bad situation, but I have to remember to charge them. I commute about an hour, and a single charge is good for a couple of days on the medium setting. I tried the hot setting, and felt like I was cooking my hands!

Comfort wise, the cuffs only just fit under my Dainesse jacket sleeves, and once or twice the zip on the sleeve has been a little tighter than I would have liked, but the jacket is decent quality & has stood up to it well.

The manufacturer says not to use power in the rain, and I think the booklet actually said to disconnect them in rain. They're not as waterproof as the goretex gloves, but under my sleeve, I've had no issues. The battery sits under each wrist.

Think I paid £120 for the heated gloves and they've been down to -4c.

 

[Larry Fine]

I just got a pair of 3XL Gerbing G3 gloves for $69.00 from a BMW dealer about an hour away, along with an arm-length Y-cord (don't have a heated jacket, just a vest), all with free shipping. They fit well, but I haven't tried them on while riding yet.

The vest came with a controller that uses the coax connectors, as well as a pair of adapters (SAE to coax and coax to SAE). So, I'll need either a coax Y-adapter and/or a second controller, unless I get a dual controller. I'm open to recommendations.

 

[rjs987]

I recommend the dual controller. Then you can adjust the heat to your vest as needed and separately the heat to your gloves as needed. I've heard from a few other riders I know with single controllers who said there is sometimes an issue getting full power to heat all their gear enough when more heat is needed, and also some with dual controllers who say they always get full power on each channel. When you need the heat it is good to know you can get it.

As to being tied to the bike... really NOT an issue ( as those who have direct plug in know). The coax connector between the controller and cord that goes to jacket/vest/gloves is not so tight that there is any restriction when it needs to pull apart. I've never had mine disconnect during riding. But I have climbed off the bike forgetting that I was plugged in and didn't really notice when the connector disconnected. Made to do that. I only noted that happened after the fact when the cord that runs into my jacket flopped down on my legs, or I just happened to notice the cord from the controller flop down on the bike.

 

[paulcb]

I don't tuck my gloves under the jacket cuffs. I just pull the drawstring at the glove opening and that seems to keep water out.

OK, full disclosure here... I'm officially an idiot. Chris, I read your comment above, and just continued reading. Then, I read it again... what did he say? Pull the drawstring? Are you kidding me, how have I not been doing that all these years when it rains? I knew it was there, I see it every time I put the gloves on! For some reason, I never even thought to tighten it up around my jacket sleeve. Still can't believe I didn't see that. Now, I can't wait for it to rain hard so I can go out and test it!

Thanks for opening the eyes of a blind man Chris. Reminds me of John chapter 9

 

[Larry Fine]

Now, I can't wait for it to rain hard so I can go out and test it!

You have a shower, don't you?

 

[ST Gui]

recommend the dual controller. Then you can adjust the heat to your vest as needed and separately the heat to your gloves as needed.

+1 though I have a jacket and not a vest. My hands get chilled to the bone easily in cold windy weather even with the jacket warming me up. So I run the gloves a little warmer. I got a dual controller right off the bat and I'm glad I did.

But I have climbed off the bike forgetting that I was plugged in and didn't really notice when the connector disconnected.

Where do you have the jack/port for the connector mounted? I've got a spring-loaded jack waiting to be installed. It might live on the fairing under the left glove box. If I forget to plug in before I'm stands up (not that it's ever happened to me!) it's right there.

I should be able to remember to unplug before walking away but if not I don't think the plug will get pulled out gracefully. If the jack is mounted on the side of the bike - no worries. I just haven't found a convenient place I like.

 

[Larry Fine]

Further investigation tells me the vest is an Eclipse, the temperature controller is a clip-on Heat Demon, and the SAE connectors don't show polarity. Can anyone confirm that the polarity to the heated garment doesn't matter as it's simply a resistive load?

As far as I can tell, power in goes to the male plug, and power out is from the female jack. This means I should use the SAE-to-female adapter (1 below) to feed power from the battery, and the male-to-SAE adapter (2 below) from the controller to the load.

1.

2.

 

[rjs987]

@Larry Fine , just remember the connector as shown in your adapter photo 1 is always from source power. The covered pin on an SAE connector should also represent source power. That is so that any pin with power on it that may be unplugged is not exposed resulting in potential to short out against something like frame or you.

@ST Gui , I use a remote variable controller that I mount on the body of the bike in a convenient location. I don't have a jack mounted IN any of the panels. This allows me to easily remove all but the fuse holder and a short pigtail from that for the entire heated gear system during warm months of the year. I will also remove the fuse during that time. It also allows me to move the entire system from one bike to another when I change rides. So I still have the same system, controller and cables and gloves, as I had when I first bought it when I owned my 2005 Burgman 650. I simply moved it all to my ST1100, then to my CTX1300, and now it's on my 2013 Burgman 650. Here are a few photos of where I had the controller mounted on a few of those rides. There is a 18 inch cable from the controller to the coax connector for me to plug into. This is what disconnects when I leave my ride, either intentionally or not.

This is on my ST1100. Under the false bottom in the glove box is where I put my Aux fuse box and still had usable space on top of that. The cord/connector with the red band is the source for the heat controller which I had mounted on that panel just below the photo.
If you zoom in on this photo you will see the leather holder for the variable controller just below the glove box. This is the last install where I used that case since it started to fall apart when I tried to install on my CTX1300.
Here is how it was installed using Dual Lock (like Velcro only much better) on the gas cap door. One photo with the seat off and one with seat on. That same cable end with the red band can be seen in one of the photos.

And here is how it is mounted on my 2013 Burgman 650 using Dual Lock. It was mounted on my 2005 Burgman 650 very similar to this. The battery and my Aux fuse block are under the nose of the seat on this scoot. When I open the seat to get to the 50 Liter storage box under there I also have easy access to both battery and fuses.

There is a red LED just next to the knob on the controller that flashes per how hot I have it set. Slower flashing is low heat, faster flashing more heat, solid ON is max heat. I only use max heat when temps approach zeroF. I have always mounted this controller so I can see the LED easily, even in my peripheral vision sometimes, and also to make easy to adjust on the fly.

As you can tell if I leave my ride for any reason the source cord coming out of the controller orients itself so that the connector at the end easily unplugs with very little force.

Oh, and BTW, my knees and hips LOVE the step through. The engine on this scoot is frame mounted just under that step through panel and extends back under the battery/seat area.

 

[Daboo]

A dual controller is the way to go. Even if you're convinced you'll never need the second item. Trust me...you will after the first experience.

I finally went with a wireless controller. The main unit goes in the jacket. On my Gerbing jacket, it is in an inner pocket on the inside, left bottom corner. Once zipped in there, you rarely will need to access it again. The wireless controller I mounted on my GPS. I wanted something that I could get to easily, yet not something permanently mounted that I'd have to deal with in the summer when it wasn't needed.



FWIW, if you are looking for something for your upper torso, don't buy a vest. Your arms get cold too.

I found I could put on some nitrile gloves to help keep the hands warmer when it got cold.

Chris

 

[Honda-st-team]

Great Info

 

[ST Gui]

Further investigation tells me the vest is an Eclipse, the temperature controller is a clip-on Heat Demon, and the SAE connectors don't show polarity.

For SAE connectors the exposed pin is always negative so it doesn't short when accidentally touching bare metal. The coax barrel is always negative for the same reason.

But otherwise polarity wouldn't matter in the vest as you surmise. I've still got my old '70s Eclipse vest though it's shrunk considerably over the years.

 

[Larry Fine]

For SAE connectors the exposed pin is always negative so it doesn't short when accidentally touching bare metal. The coax barrel is always negative for the same reason.

Just to throw a wrench in the works, if I were to plug together the coax ends of the two adapter cables I posted above, one exposed SAE pin would be positive, but that should be a load positive, not a power source positive.

The Y cord I bought to go with the gloves has the exposed barrel connector on all three ends, as the gloves have the female covered center pin sockets, too. However, polarity is not an issue with coax plugs and sockets.

Also, neither the vest nor the gloves are marked with the wattage or current. How do I find out?

 

[Larry Fine]

I think I found some answers:

Eclipse vest = 45w (3.75a @ 12v)
Gerbing gloves = 2.2a/pair (26.4w @ 12v)

 

[paulcb]

You have a shower, don't you?

Actually, not a bad idea, would just rather wait for the real thing.

 

[Tom P]

I have 2 pairs of winter gloves, both RST, both bought last year. One is goretex, the other is heated with 7.4v batteries in the cuff.

Positive, I'm not tied to the bike in a bad situation, but I have to remember to charge them. I commute about an hour, and a single charge is good for a couple of days on the medium setting. I tried the hot setting, and felt like I was cooking my hands!

Comfort wise, the cuffs only just fit under my Dainesse jacket sleeves, and once or twice the zip on the sleeve has been a little tighter than I would have liked, but the jacket is decent quality & has stood up to it well.

The manufacturer says not to use power in the rain, and I think the booklet actually said to disconnect them in rain. They're not as waterproof as the goretex gloves, but under my sleeve, I've had no issues. The battery sits under each wrist.

Think I paid £120 for the heated gloves and they've been down to -4c.

Thank you for your review. I have not looked at the RST's yet (just Keis and Gerbing, UK. ).

 

[rjs987]

Yeah, there's just something different about riding a bike in the shower vs. riding on a road outside in the rain.

 

[Tom P]

I run my Gordon's gloves through various Gerbing and WarmNSafe liners via a controller connected to the bike. The cuffs on the Gordons are pretty generous, so I usually wear them over the jacket sleeves. I've rode with them in the rain (not a heavy downpour), and they stayed dry inside. I've not tested them in an 'all day' rain as of yet. Since the Gordon's gloves put out so much heat, I am considering getting one of their liners to see if they do the same. The challenge with the heated gear to me is the failure rate and what warranty you have (if any) when it fails. I will tell you that my T5s failed twice and I finally gave up on them, and I have had 3 failures of the WarmNSafe gloves (a real long story best told around a campfire ;-)). My old Widders were still working when I put them in a box, the Gerbing original G3s are still working, one pair of WarmNSafe is working somewhat, and the Gordon's are working. My jacket liner issues have been the connectors to the gloves, but I can fix those myself. I do not have any of the 'newer' liners with microwire and such as my old liners work just fine. One difference between the WNS liner and the Gerbing and Gordon liners, is the WNS does not have any 'insulation'. Some folks like that idea and some folks don't. With the insulation, you can wear the liner as a light jacket in some situations. You might look around and see if you can find some heated gear on EBay. I was fortunate enough to find someone the exact size as me with gear for sale, so I bought a 'backup' set on the cheap.

Phil, what controller are you using? The Gordon controller looks bulky and cumbersome.
Do you think the WnS remote controller with the vest and gear from Gordon would work?

 

[Uncle Phil]

Phil, what controller are you using? The Gordon controller looks bulky and cumbersome.
Do you think the WnS remote controller with the vest and gear from Gordon would work?

Tom - That's the controllers I use (one on each ST1100) and a old Gerbing controller.
This stuff mixes and matched without any problems that I am aware of.
I've run the Gordon's gloves with a Gerbing jacket liner and a WnS jacket liner with no problems.
I've run WnS gloves with a Gerbing jacket liner with no problems.
I mix and match controllers, jackets, and gloves as the mood suits me between the 3 - Gerbing, WnS and Gordon's.
You'll be fine whatever you chose.

 

[Tom P]

Nice! The remote controller with out all the wires is such a good idea. I like the story behind Gordon's and the gloves and liner sound good. It might be down to Gordon's or the WnS. I just don't like the WnS warranty that states that they won't cover heating element breakage under normal use after 2 yrs. Seems to me if it breaks in normal usage there is a problem. They do get pretty good reviews. Gordon reviews are a bit rare, probably do to thier age and size of the company?

 

[rjs987]

Well it finally happened. My Gerbing variable controller failed. I had previously stated that only one cable failed that was an aftermarket item (coiled Y cable) but I had forgotten that I broke my very first variable controller in 2011 by accidentally kicking it and breaking one of the wires right at the unit. I replaced it at that time and this controller that failed today is now 9 years old and used every year without issue. The variable pot inside broke so that the knob and shaft just spins without turning on the controller. The gloves are still going strong since 2007 when I first bought them.

I did some quick research online and can get a fair price on a newer 4 setting Gerbing 12v controller. There are actually 2 versions I found. One that still shows up on Gerbing's web store with one input cable and one output cable. Better price for the single 12v controller is at TheVisorShop.com. There is also a much less expensive unit that is specifically designed only for either Gloves or Socks and has one input cable and a built in long Y cable for output. It is otherwise the same controller other than the output cable. I am thinking of going with this Gerbing 12v Junior Controller also from The Visor Shop. I currently have a question in to the Gerbing people about the operation of these units. They evidently have 2 default unlocked settings (25% and 50%) and 2 locked settings (75% and 100%). It is confusing how these settings work once unlocked. Unlocking is easy enough but do those settings revert to the locked state once power is removed. Instructions seem to imply they don't. No matter, I only really need those 4 settings and would use all of them at different times. 25% for near freezing (25F-35F). 50% for 15F-25F. 75% for 5F-15F. And 100% for lower.

Anyone have one of these units?