Re: Winter riding


Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
> Road Glidin' Don wrote:
> > On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 17:22:46 +0000, Shep© <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > >Also,
> > >http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/grips/grip1.html
> >
> > Interesting write-up, Shep. One thing about your design is that the
> > heat tape is on the outside of the grips.
> >
> > Mine - hidden inside the handlebars - don't get as much heat out. It
> > has to get through the handlebars and the grips before getting to the
> > hands.
> >
> > But I wanted the heating elements located so that the wiring wouldn't
> > flex every time the throttle was twisted; thinking that would
> > eventually lead to failure.
> >
> > And, with my luck, fail they would have... right about the time the
> > winter weather hits! ;)
>
> Mine are also inside the bar and draw about 35-40 watts.
> They take a while to heat up but get hot enough that I had
> to add a second lower heat setting. In the bar also makes
> it a lot easier to change grips.
>
> For the moment, the low position runs through a 2 ohm
> 25 watt resistor. Cuts the grips to about half wattage
> and chews up another 8 watts or so in the resistor.
> If I get ambitious, I'll cobble up some kind of PWM
> control, but for now this is working fine.
>
> I'd guess that cost of a similar heater with two position setup
> ought to be about $40 USD.

If it makes you feel any better you are using *less* power with the
added resistor. Without the resistor you are flowing 36/12=3 amps, and
the grips have a resistance of 12/3=4 ohms. Adding the 2 ohm resistor
gives a total resistance of 4+2=6 ohms, and a current of 12/6=2 amps.
The power used with the resistor is 2*12=24 watts. That's 16 watts in
the grips and 8 watts in the resistor. So your estimate of half the
watage is pretty close.

Bruce

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Winter riding
    ... > heat tape is on the outside of the grips. ... > Mine - hidden inside the handlebars - don't get as much heat out. ... Mine are also inside the bar and draw about 35-40 watts. ... 25 watt resistor. ...
    (rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: heat grips or not?
    ... You can install snowmobile heated grips for under $50. ... RGD has a very nice writeup on the installation. ... When the grips heat your hands, ... be a ceramic resistor rated at least 10 watts. ...
    (rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: heat grips or not?
    ... You can install snowmobile heated grips for under $50. ... When the grips heat your hands, ... be a ceramic resistor rated at least 10 watts. ... So, if you had a 100 watt heater, Watts law says that would mean ...
    (rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: Winter riding
    ... Cuts the grips to about half wattage ... >> and chews up another 8 watts or so in the resistor. ... Adding the 2 ohm resistor ...
    (rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: heat grips or not?
    ... You can install snowmobile heated grips for under $50. ... RGD has a very nice writeup on the installation. ... When the grips heat your hands, ... be a ceramic resistor rated at least 10 watts. ...
    (rec.motorcycles)