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Heated clothing on 81- 850g?

  • Thread starter Thread starter fred smailes
  • Start date Start date
F

fred smailes

Guest
I have cold hands unless the temp is like 80 degrees. And that is most if the time in Canada!!!
I'm wondering if the 850's charging system can handle the added work of heated grips and or gloves.
Sorry if this has been asked before but I did go back several pages here with no results.
Fred
 
Have you been a good boy and checked out your charging system and cleaned up the electrical harness? If all is well, you got about 80 watts of spare capacity running above 2500 rpms or so. Hopefully, you've stumbled across the series vs. shunt r/r stuff - won't give you more power, but does a better job at controling it.
 
tom203 said:
Have you been a good boy and checked out your charging system and cleaned up the electrical harness? If all is well, you got about 80 watts of spare capacity running above 2500 rpms or so. Hopefully, you've stumbled across the series vs. shunt r/r stuff - won't give you more power, but does a better job at controling it.
Click to expand...

I think the Compufire will give a little more power out than the SH-775 just due to the difference in internal voltage drops between SCR and MOSFETS. To a first approximation I would Figure about .5V at 20amps==>10 watts when fully loaded.
 
I ran grips and a Vest on my 750 with an electrex stator fitted.

I ran my Vest only on a GS1000 and GS1000G. Vest is approx the same wattage as grips. Turn them off when at idle or going slow through town for any length of time. :)
 
The wattage it takes to run heated grips or electric gloves is less than the wattage it takes to run your high beams instead of your low beams. Your bike can support running a higher wattage headlight without a problem. As long as your charging system and battery are in good working condition and you're not running a higher wattage headlight you should have no problems running both heated grips and electric gloves. The only thing I would avoid is running your high beams, grips and gloves at the same time while riding around town.
 
I would not be riding these chilly morning without my heated vest.My 85 750EF handles it just fine,can't see a problem doing it with your 850.
 
Do you guys monitor your voltage with the accessories on? I suspect at a low enough RPM you will notice the voltage drops some when you switch the heater on. The question is how much load and how high of an RPM before the voltage starts to drop (appreciably).
 
posplayr said:
Do you guys monitor your voltage with the accessories on? I suspect at a low enough RPM you will notice the voltage drops some when you switch the heater on. The question is how much load and how high of an RPM before the voltage starts to drop (appreciably).
Click to expand...

I can honestly say the thought of "monitoring my voltage with the accessories on" has never even come close to being on my mind. Lol...I just wanna keep warm.:)
 
Thank you much for the input guys!
I've never had an issue running the highbeam, though I don't think I have used it for extended periods. Don't ride much at nite, deer are attracted to me, especially when I'm moving,,,
I will go through the harness checking connections etc and buy some warmers!!
Fred
 
Come on Fred, I don't know what you're complaining about.........how cold can it be there anyways???? :D just get some "hippo hands" and be done with it...

1979-Vetter-hippos-web.jpg


http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/motorcycle_designs/Hippo-Hands-pages/Hippo-Hands-Main-page.html
 
My 82' 850 has ran heated grips, heated coat liner and heated chaps without any issues. I drive 45 mins one way to work and work 3rds so the heated gear is very nice. I have completely rewired it using new connectors and staying about the same gauge wire and I have upgraded to the sh-775 regulator. I do try to turn the heat down when in city traffic for two reasons... the first is the load. The second is at lower speeds you dont need as much heat. As other have said as long as you've kept up on maintenance you should be just fine.
 
posplayr said:
Do you guys monitor your voltage with the accessories on? I suspect at a low enough RPM you will notice the voltage drops some when you switch the heater on. The question is how much load and how high of an RPM before the voltage starts to drop (appreciably).
Click to expand...
I do,at idle it might be down a bit at anything above it's barely any different.
 
Last edited:
Btw for anybody that cares , from my measurements with a typical H-4 bulb there is little difference between current draw in high and low. Both are at 5 amps anghough they spoke to about 9 amps while the filament is warming up.
 
Hi Fred,

I run heated gloves and jacket liner from First Gear, and even though I have not tested their current draw, I have no doubts I could also plug in a set of pant liners when the temperatures really start hovering around 0 C (32F). The nice thing, the system is portable, so I could add in a pigtail on the 550es and use the same gear and not have to duplicate equipment. I do have new R/Rs on both, one MOSFET-shunt (in the 650) and a series unit on the 550.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/10983951/d/firstgear-motorcycle-heated-gear

I use their dual control unit so I can have different heat levels for my hands and torso. One thing I can say is the gloves only have heating elements on the back of the hands, and if buying again I'd go up a size from what I would normally wear. It would be nice to have heated grips to complement them, but that might start to tax the charging system with full heated (three zone- torso, legs, and gloves). Posplayr and Steve might have a better feel for that though.
 
I have Gordons Heated clothing gear for my Goldwing -- http://gordonsheated.com/
I own the jacket liner and the gloves and use the controllers they sell -
When I have them ON HIGH on my 'Wing I see a .1-.2 drop in the volt meter as they use maximum power to get hot, then a .1 volt drop during use.
The Goldwing has an alternator like a car - not a stator with R&R.
But these draw 110 watts according to the website and they keep me warm and happy.
Legs would be the challenge I think on a GS with no lowers to block wind.

What is the calculation from watts to amps to volts ...?
 
Wingsconsin said:
What is the calculation from watts to amps to volts ...?
Click to expand...
Watts = amps x volts

Depending on the controller, once the device gets to the termostatically-set temperature, the current draw will drop. If you have an older style that uses a center-tapped rheostat, the draw will be the same, but the newer 'digital' controllers use pulse-width modulation to controll the amount of heat that you get. They apply full power for a fraction of a second, then turn off, then apply full power again. The ratio of on/off time (the width of the pulse) is what determines current flow and heat.

.
 
I did monitor mine on a couple of the GS's. At idle Grips or vest (both about 30-40 watts) knock the voltage about 0.4v from memory. You can get it down to 12.5-12.7v ish running everything & you will flatten the battery eventually. I am doing all this from memory but I think 3,000 ish brought it up to a reasonably healthy charging voltage. :)

My 2009 KLR is also marginal with grips, vest & main beam running full in traffic / town. (It has two headlight bulbs not just high low on the same bulb).
 
salty_monk said:
I did monitor mine on a couple of the GS's. At idle Grips or vest (both about 30-40 watts) knock the voltage about 0.4v from memory. You can get it down to 12.5-12.7v ish running everything & you will flatten the battery eventually. I am doing all this from memory but I think 3,000 ish brought it up to a reasonably healthy charging voltage. :)

My 2009 KLR is also marginal with grips, vest & main beam running full in traffic / town. (It has two headlight bulbs not just high low on the same bulb).
Click to expand...

Thanks Dan. :)
 
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