Relay for heated grips

[jpaul]

I picked up a set of Oxford heated grips to put on my GS500, to help extend my commuting season. They come with a pretty good wiring setup with a fuse on the line to the battery's positive terminal, and a nice controller with 4 heat settings. They also have automatic shutoff if the voltage drops below 11.5 volts. The thing I don't like is that they must be turned off manually when you get off the bike. I know I'll forget and end up draining the battery. I want to add a relay on the positive side so they switch off when I turn off the ignition. I can muddle my way through setting up the wiring, but I'm not sure on just what parts I can use. I think these will do the job, but would like some confirmation from someone who knows electrics better than me. Also, if anyone has dealt with Parts Express, I'd appreciate any comments on their service.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=330-073

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=330-075

 

[Joe Nardy]

John,

I have used Parts Express several times in the past. Their prices are great and they ship quickly. I've never had any problems with them. I have a couple suggestions, though. The relay you linked is a no-name relay. They also carry Tyco (Formerly Bosch) relays for $3.19. I prefer to use the name brand over the no-name brand. One thing to note is that the Tyco relays are 30 amp and the no-names are 40 amp. For heated grips 30 amp is more than enough.

The relay sockets are rather big and take up a lot of space. I bought a bunch of them (along with a bunch of relays) a while back. Rather than use the sockets I pushed the wires and connectors out and used them individually to save space. I cover the connectors with heat shrink wrap to insulate against shorts. Parts Express also sells heat shrink wrap for cheap.

Joe

 

[jpaul]

Thanks, Joe. I just ordered the parts. I'll probably hook up the grips this weekend, and just add the relay when it gets here. Even with my Plexifairing on for cold weather riding, sub 40? gets a bit nippy by the end of my 30+ mile commute.

 

[GavinJuice]

McMasterCarr sells Adhesive lined heat shrink which i would highly recommend.

 

[Steve]

Actually, their no-name relays do just fine. I have used over 20 of them in the last few years with only one failure, and that might have been my fault.

Service? I have never tried their mail-order. Every time I walk through the door, they just smile, say "Hi, welcome back".
Yeah, they are less than 10 miles from me, so I end up there quite often.

JPaul, do you need help wiring up the relay or do you know what you are doing? Or were you just looking for confirmation that those were the correct parts?

.

 

[jpaul]

I was just looking for confirmation that those were the right parts. My electronics training consists of two courses at the local community college before I decided electronics wasn't my cup of tea. Like I said, I muddle my way through doing the wiring; read ten times and do it once. I get really p!ssed at myself when I screw up what should be a simple job. The hardest part will probably be deciding exactly where I want to locate the relay so it isn't in the way of any other work I may need to do down the road.

 

[Steve]

I have installed a few relays in various locations for different projects. I have found some room under the front of the tank (near the ignition coils) for a single relay for the car horns that were installed. Two more relays were installed under the left side cover. One is triggered by the key to turn on power to all the farkles that have been added, the other turns off the headlight when the starter is pressed. They were mounted to a piece of aluminum that was then attached to the battery box using one of the starter solenoid mounting screws.

For your project, using that harness and relay:
the yellow wire connects to terminal 87 which is power out
the blue wire connects to terminal 30 which is power in
the black wire connects to terminal 86 which will connect to your trigger (switched power)
the white wire connects to terminal 85 which is a ground
the red wire connects to terminal 87a and will not be used for this project

Wiring the bike:
On one side of your fuse block, there is a wire (probably orange) that feeds three of the fuses. That wire comes from the ignition switch. Tap in to that wire, connect the black wire on your harness (terminal 86 on the relay). Connect the white wire (#85) to a good ground point. Turn your ignition key ON, you should hear the relay click. If it does, continue. Connect your supply wire to the heated grips controller to the yellow wire (#87) and then connect the blue wire (#30) to the battery + terminal (or you can connect to the battery terminal of the starter solenoid as shown in the picture above), but make sure there is a fuse in line. If you already have a fuse in the power line to your grip heat controller, you can cut it off and move it between the battery and the relay. It is not necessary to have another fuse between the relay and the grips, but it won't hurt anything until you blow a fuse and have to figure out which one.

Many people don't understand electrical devices. A relay is nothing magical, it's just a remote-controlled switch. You provide power to the relay, it turns on something else. In this case, you are providing power from the ignition switch and, in turn, providing power to your grips.

.

 

[Joe Nardy]

John,

You'll be pleasantly surprised at how effective the grips will be. I have a set of $27 grip heaters on my FJR with a low/high switch. I usually use high for 5-10 minutes then switch to low because my hands are too warm. Additionally, even if your gloves get wet the grips will warm the water and your hands will still be warm.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[salty_monk]

Been thinking about a set for my G but would only use them about 2months of the year

Joe, any link to that $27 set?

 

[robinm]

over the top using a relay

over the top using a relay

At the bike shop where I worked, we fitted 100's of hot grips to ATV's. We never went to the extreme of using relays, ( just more connecters to corrode and fail), we would simply wire the hot grips to the positive connection of the horn, which of course switches off with the key. The horn is normally nice and close to the handle bars and has a heathly power supply to it.
Never nad any problems with them at all doing it this way.

 

[lurch12_2000]

At the bike shop where I worked, we fitted 100's of hot grips to ATV's. We never went to the extreme of using relays, ( just more connecters to corrode and fail), we would simply wire the hot grips to the positive connection of the horn, which of course switches off with the key. The horn is normally nice and close to the handle bars and has a heathly power supply to it.
Never nad any problems with them at all doing it this way.

I'll be getting a set of Symantec grip heaters and will probably wire into the horn's positive lead like you suggest on my '83 1100G. But I'm trying to locate a spot...I don't have a wiring diagram and am trying to locate the horn's power feed wire(color?) and best spot (by the h-bars?) to splice in. Any help? thanks.
Otherwise I would have to do some type of homerun back to the battery or fuse box. Did you put a fuse in the wire coming from the horn lead to the grip heaters? 5 amp sufficient?

 

[Steve]

...I don't have a wiring diagram and am trying to locate the horn's power feed wire(color?) and best spot (by the h-bars?) to splice in.

Lurch, shame on you for not having a diagram.

My 850 manual shows an orange wire with a green tracer feeding the horn. The other wire at the horn is solid green.
Actually, it's rather easy to determine which wire it is. Use your test light (you have one of them don't you? :-k), turn on the key, press the horn button, make sure it sounds. Now touch one of the horn terminals with your test light. If it lights, that's the one you want. If it does not light, use the other terminal.

The best spot to "splice in" might be at the horn, itself. Personally, I would make a short extension. Pull the hot wire off the horn. Use a male spade terminal to plug in to the wiring harness. Run a short wire to a female spade, put that wire and your grip heater feed wire into that same terminal, put it on the horn. I just like to prevent cutting into stock wiring whenever I can, and this can be reversed, if desired.

.

 

[lurch12_2000]

Lurch, shame on you for not having a diagram.

My 850 manual shows an orange wire with a green tracer feeding the horn. The other wire at the horn is solid green.
Actually, it's rather easy to determine which wire it is. Use your test light (you have one of them don't you? :-k), turn on the key, press the horn button, make sure it sounds. Now touch one of the horn terminals with your test light. If it lights, that's the one you want. If it does not light, use the other terminal.

The best spot to "splice in" might be at the horn, itself. Personally, I would make a short extension. Pull the hot wire off the horn. Use a male spade terminal to plug in to the wiring harness. Run a short wire to a female spade, put that wire and your grip heater feed wire into that same terminal, put it on the horn. I just like to prevent cutting into stock wiring whenever I can, and this can be reversed, if desired.

.

OK...OK...shame on me, but I gave my manual to TCK with the 1100ES...and I don't have a test light but could use my voltmeter,...should read 12volts?
I did check this diagram out on BassCliff's site:
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/GS1100G_1982_wiring.jpg

I'll attempt what you suggested too, thanks.

 

[Steve]

Yep, that diagram is pretty much like the 850, same color wires at the horn.

Yes, you can use your meter to check the wires, too. The green/orange wire should read whatever your battery voltage is (maybe minus a couple of tenths) when the key is ON.

.

 

[bwringer]

I always wire heated grips with a relay. They only draw 2.8 amps on high, but for maximum heat it's important to get full voltage, which you probably won't get with a horn circuit.

Also, having a separate switched circuit running to the handlebar area could be very handy for other stuff, like running a GPS or whatever.

 

[lhanscom]

While on the subject of Heated Grips, for those interested in rolling their own, it's an easy job. Pick up some NiChrome wire, I've used 24 awg(McMaster-Carr), which has 1.671 ohms/ft. I shoot for about 7.5 ohms, which yields 20 - 30 watts depending on what your stator is putting out. This works out to ~4.5 feet of wire, just wrap it around the grips, making sure you don't short the wire. You can make a high/low switch if you put 4.5 feet on each grip, and wire the 2 in parallel for high, and series for low. If you just want on/off, you can split the 4.5 feet between the 2 grips, and wire them in series. I've always used electrical tape to cover the wire on the grips, but there is probably a better way. BTW, that 100' spool of 24awg NiChrome is only $10. I did this for years, and they work quite well, I have electric gloves now though, which I highly recommend if you do much cold weather riding.

 

[jpaul]

Yesterday was my first really good test of my heated grips. It was around 40?, and I got out for about 35 miles of riding. I never went over the 30% setting on the grips, and my hands were comfortable the whole time. I'll give them another test in a few minutes, since the snow isn't coming till after sunset. It's supposed to be in the mid 30's for the afternoon, so it'll be a little better test. I also plan on bringing some other, lighter gloves, just to give the grips a better test.

Thanks Steve, for for the instructions on wiring them up. It was the the same as I had figured, but having a printout and some verification of what I was doing saved me time double and triple checking my work.

Of course, everything couldn't go smoothly for me. I ended up having to replace my fuel lines before my bike was ready to go back on the road. I hate that bastage Murphy and his f%$#ing law.

 

[Steve]

I hate that bastage Murphy and his f%$#ing law.

Just remember ...

MURPHY WAS AN OPTIMIST.


.

 

[lurch12_2000]

Steve, since both wires are black to either horn's 2 female spade connectors coming from the wiring harness under the front of the tank, I put the voltmeter on (+ on spade connector and - to frame) and I got a 10.3v reading on any of the 4 wires to the horns with the key on (headlight on) and engine off. The voltmeter reads 11.5 directly at the battery posts with key on(headlight on) and engine off. So there appears to be a little over a 1 volt drop if I wired through the horn circuit. And I suppose it doesn't matter which side I use, correct, as in hot vs ground lead to the horn itself?

So along with what bwringer said, too, there would be a difference of juice to the grips if I wire a homerun vs going through the horn circuit. But I would think the rate (2.8 amps?) of draw would be more important than the a 1 volt difference.

I haven't received my order of grips to hook up yet. If they have to be switch to low anyway, because the high setting may "cook" my hands, then why bother with a switched circuit? I don't plan on any other accessories such as a GPS, etc....
thanks

 

[Road_Clam]

I am not understanding why the need for a secondary relay either. Generally it's my understanding relays are used when a high amperage switchable device needs to be controlled by a lower amperage 12V feed ? There is no relay system required for my heated vest (although granted there is no chance for a battery drain scenario with my vest, as once unplugged, there is no current draw).
Wouldn't it just be simpler to obtain a key "on" only 12V feed to the heated grips right off the ignition?