Hard warmers not working

D

Dcf1999

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Joined
Nov 12, 2012
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32
Age
43
Location
Dekalb, IL
Hello all!

Last season my hand and thumb warmers stopped working so I'm in the process of diagnosing the system. I'm following the service manual but have some questions.

I have continuity in both hand warmers (plus they are fairly new). The thumb warmer has no continuity so I believe that may be the problem. Before I go and buy a new thumb warmer for $50, I want to make sure of a few things. I know the hand warmers are in series, is the thumb warmer also? I guess I'm asking that if the thumb warmer is bad, will the hand warmers not work as well or do they run independent of each other?

I also want to check the variable resistor (the high / low knob). According to the manual it says "Check Variable resistor resistance when pulley is turned once. If it's out of spec -> Replace" What pulley are they talking about? Also, it doesn't give a "spec", so does anyone know what the resistance should be? I assume the resistance changes when the knob turns?

The sled is a 97 600XTC.


Thanks,

Dave
 
Just did a test on the resistor and at low it's showing .5 ohms and at max its showing 485 ohms with a nice smooth increase as the knob is turned. So I will assume that the variable resistor is working fine. Is there anyway to bypass the thumb warmer?
 
if one hand warmer looses continuity, the whole system goes down. 1. check and see that both handwarmers ohm out to the spec, or have continuity. 2. looks for power at the grip, should be like 14 volts at the yellow wire to ground. 3.check that you have 14 volts at the thumbwarmer connection. 4.check that thumbwarmer ohms out to spec.

post your results.
 
All warmer are in series! Fronts and if you have rear warmers they are in series as a pair as well. The pairs do connect somewhere between the two warmers. So there could be a wire issue. You'd need a resistive continuity between one wire of one warmer to the other which would be 2x the individually measured resistance. I don't know specifically what they're doing with the thumb warmer but to me it would have to be a 12V unit not in series with anything. I would not try bypassing the variable resistor knob circuit. You need it as I ride with mine on minimum 90% of the time but more than slightly higher and you're getting in the frying bacon on the grips temperature. I never seen warmers like these but the knob keep it under control!!!

Check the contact points measuring voltage as well with it running. Remember in the environment they're used in corrosion is the most likely cause of failure.
 
Ok Tested connections... this is what i got.

Right grip 3 ohms
left grip 3 ohms
both connected 5.5 ohms
thumb warmer 73.5 ohms

I got different voltage readings depending on what intensity i set the heat to. Also, i never did get 14 volts unless i set the meter to AC? I thought everything was in DC... anyways, here is what i got

Hand warmer high 7.6 VAC / Low 14 VAC ........... High 1.0 VDC / Low 3.5 VDC
Thumb warmer high 7.8 VAC / Low 13.5 VAC ....... High 1.0 VDC / Low 3.5 VDC

For some reason the system is working now but its not hot even when set to high.... I'm thinking a wiring issue now and by disconnecting and connecting all the wires multiple times, i made a better connection or jiggled a loose wire? I'm going to go through the wiring this week sometime....

Any other ideas?
 
yes its an ac system on the single headlight, 180 watt stators. Those specs look right, not sure about the thumb warmer so ill look when i'm home tonight. pulling apart and re connecting something my have broke some corrosion off the plugs thus restoring continuity, to rule this out make sure they are clean.when testing, bring the motor up to ~ 3000rpm to make sure shes pushing those magic pixie's through the grips. if your getting some heat, i would next want to see how many amps its pushing, as this is what actually makes the heat. theirs no spec in the manual, but in my experience is around 3amps (v=IR... I=V/R.... 14/5.5= 2.55A). hook you multi meter in series with the grips and get a reading.
 
Ok thanks for your help. I'm thinking part of the problem is the butt connectors I used when I installed the new hand grips. The grips I bought were the same ones that were on there but they didn't have the factory connectors on them (just bare ends) so I had to put the standard automotive butt connectors on. Maybe there is a lose crimp or something. I'm going to replace all the connectors for the grips with the Delphi Weatherpack connectors which will make them completly weatherproof.

Yea please check on the thumb warmer specs. I have an option to buy a NOS one of eBay. Even though it shows ohms, when I set my meter to continuity, it shows there is none.
 
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OK.... so did some testing today and the amps across the warmers is 1.5 amps @ ~3000 RPM.... when I had the wires for the hand warmers disconnected to test amps, the thumb warmer got piping hot real quick and no heat on hand warmers (I'm guessing because the multi-meter was run in series and that my rob some power?). Turned the key switch from WARMER to RUN and amps went to 0 (which I'm guessing they should). Connected hand warmers back together and turned switch to WARMER and they get warm (seems not as warm as they should) and thumb warmer cooled off to where i could sit there with my thumb on warmer indef and not burn the thumb.

I tested my 700SX to see how that compares and the hand warmers feel about twice as warm and the thumb warmer way hotter... Took about 4 seconds before I had to remove my thumb or I'd burn it.

Both sleds are 97's. From this test, at least I know my thumb warmer works great on 600 when hand warmers are disconnected (well not really disconnected but run in series with Multi meter). But when connected back together, warmers warm up and thumb cools down... I'm scratching my head now... Does the current through the warmers (1.5 amps) seem right? Left grip is brand new and right grip is maybe 2 years old. According to Hot Grips (brand of grips) the resistance checks out.

Any Ideas?
 
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