Grip Warmers not hot anymore

musselman

musselman

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Sunderland, Ontario
I put 06 apex bars on my sled this year and they do not get very hot. Right now they are wired in series and I know that in parallel they will put out more heat. However it's not just the grips that aren't warm, it's the thumb warmer as well. It used to get so hot it would burn my thumb, do I have a problem with my electronics or should I try wiring the grips in parallel? Thanks
 
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Do they cool off when you turn the knob down? Not sure how many wires go to it, but I would unplug the connector where it comes up to the hand warmers and with the sled off, check the resistance as you turn the knob. But sounds to me like the control knob is bad. If you have the warmers wired in series, you could have a warmer going bad. You can check the resistance of each warmer as well with a meter. Each warmer should have SOME resistance. Your headlight and such aren't dim are they? When their wired in series, it goes in on one, out to the in on another, then out to the next one, then back to the connection. It makes a big loop. You can check where it goes into the first one with one prong of the meter, and where it returns from the loop with the other prong for resistance. Or you can check each warmer individually.
 
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So I checked the control knob and the resistance varies the same as my 500 xt so it seems good. I checked the resistance on the grips and I got around 4 ohms total. For measuring voltage output is it AC or DC? For AC voltage I got around 13-14 V and DC was around 4. I'm not sure what else could be wrong, anyone have any recommendations?
 
I also tried them in parallel and I got less heat. I also tried just one at a time and they got much hotter. I'm not sure where to go next.
 
In parallel they should produce much more heat.The down side is that this will rob power for the thumb warmer. My 06 grips ohm out at 3.2 each and 1.4 in parallel.
If you are not getting heat in parallel the winding in the stator for the heated grips might not be good anymore.
 
Yup, sounds like a stator to me too. It's not putting out enough amperage to the grips anymore.
 
Well that doesn't sound very good. I will have to check to see if it is in spec as per the manual. Anything in particular I should check? Thanks
 
I think you just check resistance on the stator windings. But don't quote me on it because I'm not 100% sure on testing them. Should say in the tech section or the manual exactly where to check it.
 
Well it's been a while since I looked into this but I checked the resistance of my stator for all the sectors and everything checked out fine. The grip warmer circuit was perfect. I also checked the resistance of my grips and they were about 4 ohms in series. I hooked them up to a 12v battery and they got nice and hot. I'm not sure where to go from here.
 
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What sled?

Is this on the SX700 in your avitar. Looks like you put a dual bulb headlight on that sled? Have you tried it with the stock headlight?

Madmatt
 
Yes it's on my 700, I am running 2 35 W bulbs so I don't think that will draw to much more power. I also am running an LED taillight so that will help with power consumption. I think I even noticed it on my old grips the year before I put on the apex ones on, I would always have them turned up max. Something may have been wrong at that time as well, I don't know what though. I guess the only thing to do is test the old grips to see if they get hot. If that doesn't work then I'm lost, I don't want cold hands anymore lol.
 
i have been having some similar issues on an 01 mtn max. ran tests on every item as per the service manual and found one item not to spec. its a coil located above the left foot well. it tested about 1500-2000 short of spec. i have yet to replace this, its next on the list. requires a special tester that reads in microferads?. i took mine to an electric motor rebuilder for testing. may be something to look at if it applies to your sled. i ran a troubleshooting test as per the manual and that was the only part not to spec.
 
might be the difference between the newer high output ignitions vs the earlier models. if you have access to a service manual, there are several steps for troubleshooting the grip warmers. i have that info if you need it. also, the newer grips require more juice to heat than the older ones. unless you carried yours over with the bars swap, that may be an issue. it can be frustrating trying to figure out something so seemingly simple, i fought it all last season and preparing for another fight this year, and i dont even ride that sled!
 
i would like to say its a bad ground but i dont imagine the handwarmers have a seperate ground.... though it has to get to ground somewhere... so check the "return" line to the harness.... or even take the "return" line and run it straght to bare chassis and see what happens
 
musselman said:
Yes it's on my 700, I am running 2 35 W bulbs so I don't think that will draw to much more power. I also am running an LED taillight so that will help with power consumption. I think I even noticed it on my old grips the year before I put on the apex ones on, I would always have them turned up max.
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disconnect one of the headlight bulbs and then check the voltage to the grips,your only running a 175 watt stator in the old pre 01 engine.
 
Hmm I'll check for a bad ground, also if the headlight is drawing too much power will it take away from the grip warmers? I always thought they were separate.
 
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