St1300 heated grips

[Kev]

Hi there, l have the genuine Honda heated grips on my '04 ST1300 and unfortunately they have decided to stop working. Usual winter hic up. I've checked the harness and made a repair where there was a break, checked the fuse and now appear to have continuity on all wiring but the only thing l cannot check is the actual temp controller. Is there a way of checking this unit to see whether working or not? Wasn't too sure whether it would work but tried a simple continuity check between the various 3 wires from the unit and nothing doing.
A replacement from Honda is a typically ridiculous price making it unrealistic to just replace as a possibility.
Thanks

 

[jfheath]

The manual says not to test the controller with a multimeter - the voltage from the multimeter (I guess when checking resistance) can damage the circuits.

Unlike others that I have seen, the grips are wired in series, not in parallel - so the flow goes from the controller, through one grip, then through the other grip and then back to the controller. Those sealed bullet connectors are really quite difficult to join together properly - they take a good bit more oomph for them to click into place than I would have expected. No, that's not enough. Oomph is much better.

If they have not been clicked properly by whosoever installed them, they will work for a while but eventually break continuity and neither of the grips will get hot. Look for and check the connections that go between the two grips. - I think that they two pairs meet up somewhere behind the headstock. It is not unknown for one or both of these to have separated inside the waterproof plastic sheath. You cannot tell just by glancing at them. The plastic covers may be still connected but the metal male/female parts inside may not be. You have to be able to feel, or peer through the plastic. Or better still - pull them apart and remake the connection.

But have some spinach first.

 

[Kev]

Hi John, walked away had a thought and a cuppa (not spinach) went back to the bike, changed the in line fuse, and all good. I had even checked that fuse earlier so maybe something that was not very obvious. Anyway the controller comes on and l'll run the bike tomorrow for awhile to check that the grips warm up. Thanks for your advice, its always good and helpful.
Until the next time something that not's quite right......................

 

[SMSW]

changed the in line fuse, and all good. I had even checked that fuse earlier

More than one electrician has been fooled by a fuse that looked good but was blown or otherwise damaged. (Don't ask me how I know.)

 

[jfheath]

Good catch. I had forgotten about the inline fuse !

 

[Pnera]

Hi Guys I have the same problems with the oem grips not working but the controller is lights up. No heat on the grips any ideas.
thanks
Paul

 

[SMSW]

Hi Guys I have the same problems with the oem grips not working but the controller is lights up. No heat on the grips any ideas.
thanks
Paul

What have you done to test them? I assume you have read the other 4 posts above and have checked those points?

 

[Arellcat]

The manual says not to test the controller with a multimeter - the voltage from the multimeter (I guess when checking resistance) can damage the circuits.

Do you happen to know if the Honda controller outputs at 6V or 12V? I know it's some sort of PWM thing whose current draw from the loom varies over time according to the level it's set to. Mine is redundant after fitting Oxford heated grips, but I wondered if I could re-purpose it if I ever bought some heated clothing. Otherwise it'd just sit there, filling a rectangular hole in the dash.

 

[jfheath]

No. I don't know. But that's not going to stop me giving an answer !

I rewired my heated grips when they burned out. I got some nichrome wire, measured the resistance of the original and cut the nichrome to give the same resistance for each grip. I had been experimenting with Nichrome for heated jackets and knew what heat wattage I wanted, so calculated the resistance accordingly. With the handlebar grips I was confused by the resistance of Hondas grips as they would end up red hot. That's when I found out that the two grips were wired in series, not parallel.

If you wire a single Honda grip up to 12v it will get very hot. But the contoller will put out 12v to drive both grips in series. 6v each.




(Nichrome is a wire that has a set resistance for a given length. The only other thing I know about it is that it will not solder. I ended up joining it to normal wire using a sheetbend knot, and then soldering to the normal wire to trap the joint. But I digress)

 

[SMSW]

I had been experimenting with Nichrome for heated jackets...

Just so you know, John, Nichrome wire (nickel-Chrome-iron) is used for the heating elements in toasters and kilns. Splices are commonly made by crimping a sleeve over the wire.In a kiln, a copper sleeve might melt so a small steel tube might be used.

 

[SMSW]

Do you happen to know if the Honda controller outputs at 6V or 12V? I know it's some sort of PWM thing whose current draw from the loom varies over time according to the level it's set to. Mine is redundant after fitting Oxford heated grips, but I wondered if I could re-purpose it if I ever bought some heated clothing. Otherwise it'd just sit there, filling a rectangular hole in the dash.

Be careful here. Heated grips draw around 4 amps. my heated jacket, a WnS model is rated at 90 watts or about 8.5 amps. That load might destroy a heat controller for heated grips.

 

[jfheath]

90 watts ? Wow. Toasty !

Last year we bought Keis bodywarmers. These have a carbon fibre membrane and use less than half the power of my previous Klan vest but are far too hot for me on the highest setting. The Klan drew 4A so about 50 W and was comfortable without a controller. I just left it on it was always warm enough and it never got too hot. The Keis is much less bulky, the heat comes through instantly and the highest setting of 3 on the controller is too hot. That draws less than 2A.
I prefer vests to jackets as I found that I never got the benefit of heat on my arms - the airflow just whisked it away. The vest is also less bulky to wear and to pack and with no sleeves requires less current than one with sleeves.
Of course you have to wear these things on top of a thin shirt for best effect.

The Honda controller flashes if the battery is putting out more power than is being generated, and it cuts power to the grips. I used to use that as an indicator to turn off my heated seat to save drain on the battery. Of course grips are permanently connected - I dont know what would happen if the controller was on, and an alternative device wasn't plugged in. I do know that the controller is sensitive - the manual for the controller warns against testing it with an ohmeter. The voltage required to test resistance with an ohmeter is enough to fry it.

 

[nicksacco]

My ST has the OEM heated grips also.
The controller does not operate when the engine is not running - safety precaution so you don't kill the battery I guess.
I'm guessing this system needs 12V+ to operate.
I would recommend against using the controller for other than the intended purpose.

 

[Arellcat]

My ST has the OEM heated grips also.
The controller does not operate when the engine is not running - safety precaution so you don't kill the battery I guess.

Yep, the OEM heated grips are normally wired to the 12V ignition-only switched live. They don't operate in the ACC position that powers the other switched live. I connected my Oxfords to the same white plug on the quartet harness.