Intermittent problem Oxford grips

[drtyrrel]

Once in a while my grip heaters will turn off when I'm driving. Some times it wont happen for days. Some times they turn right back on other times they wont come back on until I restart the bike. This morning they wouldn't come on after restarting. The battery saving mode light never comes on. Yesterday I put them in "bypass mode" by holding in both buttons for 5 seconds so the battery voltage shouldn't matter. I did hook them up to a switched circuit on my fuzeblock. I've checked the wires to the fuzeblock twice. I'm thinking it's either the grip heat controller, connection of trigger wire to fuzeblock (posi tap) , or the relay in the fuzeblock?

 

[SMSW]

You have the right idea. There is a loose connection somewhere that fools the controller into thinking power was turned off. The temporary drop in voltage does it. Or you have a faulty controller.

 

[Larry Fine]

Make sure you check the ground side of things, too.

 

[drtyrrel]

I found and fixed the problem. On the way home from work they still don't turn on. Perfect time to trouble shoot now that they wouldn't turn on. I wanted to make sure that the problem wasn't with the Fuzeblock. The only other thing that I have hooked to it now is a switched Powerlet socket that I use for my GPS. Wife took the GPS to visit my son in NH. I made sure all the wire connections were tight and checked the fuse. All were fine. I moved the fuse to other position (hot all the time) to rule out the relay to the fuzeblock. Still no power. Got the voltmeter out and had power to the wire coming out of the fuzeblock with the fuse in both positions. Guess I'll have to lift the tank to check for power at the plug where the controller hooks to. Just for the heck of it I turned the key on and wiggled the wires while pushing the power button to the grips. Light turns on. The female side of the socket was too loose ( story of my life) I squeezed it together with small needle nosed pliers and a small screw driver. Also lubed it with dielectric grease and taped the connection with electrical tape. I did the same to the other 2 connectors that go to each grip. The connectors are really poorly made. If I continue to have problems I'll install better ones.

 

[fnmag]

I found and fixed the problem. On the way home from work they still don't turn on. Perfect time to trouble shoot now that they wouldn't turn on. I wanted to make sure that the problem wasn't with the Fuzeblock. The only other thing that I have hooked to it now is a switched Powerlet socket that I use for my GPS. Wife took the GPS to visit my son in NH. I made sure all the wire connections were tight and checked the fuse. All were fine. I moved the fuse to other position (hot all the time) to rule out the relay to the fuzeblock. Still no power. Got the voltmeter out and had power to the wire coming out of the fuzeblock with the fuse in both positions. Guess I'll have to lift the tank to check for power at the plug where the controller hooks to. Just for the heck of it I turned the key on and wiggled the wires while pushing the power button to the grips. Light turns on. The female side of the socket was too loose ( story of my life) I squeezed it together with small needle nosed pliers and a small screw driver. Also lubed it with dielectric grease and taped the connection with electrical tape. I did the same to the other 2 connectors that go to each grip. The connectors are really poorly made. If I continue to have problems I'll install better ones.

Glad you found the problem and sorted it out.

 

[drtyrrel]

Noticed this morning when backing out of garage if I make a full lock turn it stresses the connector and turns the grips off. They turn back on this time. I'll have to look for a better connector and lift the tank again

 

[ST Gui]

I'll have to look for a better connector and lift the tank again

I assume this includes adjusting/rerouting so as to relieve some of that stress/strain on the cable and connector.

 

[drtyrrel]

I assume this includes adjusting/rerouting so as to relieve some of that stress/strain on the cable and connector.

Yes I do plan on rerouting the wires from the controller to the plug. I have the grip wires and the controller wire run on the far side of the triple tree. No tension on the grip wires but the controller wire is barely stressed at full lock left. Also need to double check that the wire terminals are fully seated not just the plastic connectors. The wires will pull out of the connectors with little effort.