build your own Heat Troller?

[Knifemaker]

Anyone have a schematic to build your own variable controller for a set of grip heaters?

I have a friend that is more electronicaly gifted than me that is putting on as set of Syntec grip heaters and he wants to know if it is possible to build his own heat controller (rather than buying one)... he mentioned something about square waves and I got lost.

But if he is succesfull he will make one for me too...but he needs some info on how they work.

KM

 

[ionbeam]

Most likely there are a bunch of us on this forum that can put together a schematic for a good pulse width modulator circuit. The problem is that when you are building only one or two units it isn't really cost effective. Other issues are:

• purchased heat controllers are built using Surface Mount components allowing the circuit board to be very small, you can't easily bread-board a SMT circuit
• ability of the assembler to actually wire the circuit, not as simple as you may expect
• packaging the circuit into some kind of a box when built
• finding wire and connectors, then fabricating the wire harness, and, be sure to stress relief the wires to prevent breakage
• the circuit should really be potted (filled with an electrically inert substance for heat-sinking and environmental encapsulation)

Advantages:

• you can add a power indicator LED
• you can 'program' a low voltage cut-off point which most purchased units don't have, Yamaha being an exception
• you can build a proper reverse polarity protection circuit into the +12 Vin circuit
• uhhh,.....hmmm,.......uhhhhh????

I refurbished Fencer's heat controller earlier this year and I can tell you that the little details are the bigger problems. Hopefully I did a good enough job that it would be hard to tell my new box and wires from the factory unit he sent me. FWIW, Fencer's heat controller had a significant assembly error on the circuit board and it was shit luck that it ever worked.

If you are still interested in ‘rolling your own’ I can put together a block diagram and then follow up with a schematic. The most significant materials needed would be some kind of a PCB, quality sealed knob pot and a logic level MOSFET with low RDS (on resistance) such as an International Rectifier IRLR3110ZPBF.

 

[GunMD]

<snip>... a logic level MOSFET with low RDS (on resistance) such as an International Rectifier IRLR3110ZPBF.

uhhhhh....Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. :wacko: :dribble: :read:

 

[sonicspeed]

i lost ionbeam after he said most......... :blink:

 

[wfooshee]

What he said in English was: it ain't just a light dimmer.

 

[v65]

What he said in English was: it ain't just a light dimmer.

Or, if you're smart enough to do it on your own it won't be worth the opportunity cost. That's when the I can do it better gene kicks in, sometimes I hate that gene!

 

[Knifemaker]

Yes, send me any drawing , info you can.

Also his digging found this:

https://store.qkits.com/moreinfo.cfm/MX033

I'm with sonic, all this stuff is greek to me, but I still like homemade stuff..

Thanks,

KM

 

[doug5551]

Ok,

Here is a link to a post on Adventure Rider. It is 15 pages long and has a thorough discussion about how to build you own electric jacket liner, gloves, and controller. It does have schematics posted.

Me, I bought Gerbings, but anyone with a DIY inclination who also speaks electronics will be in heaven.

https://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113134

 

[Fencer]

I refurbished Fencer's heat controller earlier this year and I can tell you that the little details are the bigger problems. Hopefully I did a good enough job that it would be hard to tell my new box and wires from the factory unit he sent me. FWIW, Fencer's heat controller had a significant assembly error on the circuit board and it was shit luck that it ever worked.

Works great BTW, Thanks again :good:

I'm with sonic, all this stuff is geek to me, but I still like homemade stuff..
Thanks,

KM

Fixed it

Builder kit

$60 will get you a Gerbing controller $99 for a dual controller

 

[Checkswrecks]

I make a lot of my own stuff, including having built a glider and an airplane in-process. The motor controller would be a good start, or folling the Adventure Rider link. However, when I left for work Thursday morning it was 21F and in when I need the HeatTroller to work, I consider it essential. If the temp's that low and the controller isn't working, I'm taking another mode of getting to work. So....

If you're doing this just to try it, it sounds like a fun working experience. GO FOR IT. But normal prototyping says that you'll end up making an item at least twice and get half the reliability of production at best. Is the fifty bucks you'd probably save going to be worth it?

Bob

 

[BobG]

When you build your own and if they understand how it works, they would be much better for it. It would be worth more than the $50 they save, than to think it is all FM.

If a factory unit breaks, how would you fix it on the road if you don't know anything of how it works?

I have seen a home made controller with a thermal light blinker( what ever it is called) used to duty cycle the system to about 50%. The whole system was made for around $10, from stuff left around my friends garage.

On the other hand if the person has no analytical ability, I agree they should buy a unit.

Bob

 

[ionbeam]

Well, alrightynow. Since you want to build your own controller you might as well get something out of it beyond aggravation and frustration, what features would you like that an off the shelf solution doesn’t provide? Do you know if you will be building this thru-hole or SMT? Thru-hole will be big and use Radio Shit components. SMT can be very tiny but will need Digikey, Mouser, Newark, etc, supplied parts. It will make a difference in the part list and component selection. You choose the external connections.

Again, I will put forth a block diagram but there is this little holiday happening right now that will have me away from my computer and on the road for a while.

I propose:

• Input power buffering for stable, predictable operation
• Power LED that can be used in one of two ways
  
• Simply indicates the controller is on
• Brightness varies with power, no light means the power switch is off or the wiring to the grips is broken (at low power settings the light may not be visible in bright sunlight)
• Power sensing so it will shut off or not turn on when the engine is not running, protects against having a dead battery
• True 0 to 100% power control which a 555 timer can’t do
• Minimum 36 watt power control
• In its basic form this circuit will control heated clothing or grips, with the addition of a selector switch it can have the option for
  
• variable light control
• variable fan speed control
• variable electric motor speed control

The square wave circuit has a small limitation because it provides a power control range of only 5% to 95% but it is simple to build. The control circuit that I will be proposing is going to be similar to the MX033 which is a very good deal at $20. There are really only two cost effective, high efficiency ways to design the power controller with commonly available parts so many power control solutions will be similar.

 

[Knifemaker]

Thanks Ion. There is no big hurry on this, enjoy the holidays and your new farkles. For those tuning in late , no , I am not planning on building this, my freind is, for his ST1100. And that is still up in the air, as he just got the grip heaters and does not even know how well the high/low switch will work for him.

He of course is well versed in building electronic components, and did find the info at Adventure Rider usefull, and as he said "easy to do".

I however do like to understand how stuff works, and will at some point get someone to explain it all to me and show me the principles involved.

Happy Holidays to you all...

Knifemaker

 

[Toecutter]

...he just got the grip heaters and does not even know how well the high/low switch will work for him..

I just did the same thing. Even on Low, the grips get uncomfortably warm after a few minutes, so I have to cycle them off for a few, on, repeat...Not fun. I need a controller. Found one for $43.00 and one for $50.00. The Desert Cycle Works group buy may find a grip contoller even cheaper, I'll have to check, but I'm going to end up with one soon.

 

[Zorlac]

The schematic labeled 17.22 is about as simple a PWM type controller I've found.

I built it with a different power FET (something like a digi-key NDP6060L-ND) and it works pretty good. Substitute your grip heaters or clothing for LP1.

https://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dimmeren6.jpg

 

[krashdragon]

Anyone have a schematic to build your own variable controller for a set of grip heaters?
I have a friend that is more electronicaly gifted than me that is putting on as set of Syntec grip heaters and he wants to know if it is possible to build his own heat controller (rather than buying one)... he mentioned something about square waves and I got lost.

But if he is succesfull he will make one for me too...but he needs some info on how they work.

KM

I still like this one... and yes, there's a fault.... He explains why... and what happened...

https://www.warmnsafe.com/heat-troller_FAQ....c35e09476f614#1

or just

https://www.warmnsafe.com

Mary