Symtec hand grip warmer

[NorthRider]

I just received from California Sport touring, some motorcycle hand grip warmer from Symtec. It come's with a pair of heating elements and a high / low switch.

Each heating element has 3 wires. my question is aimed at those who have installed these. Is the high /low switch good enough or is a heat troller necessary in order to have better control. I'm planing on also using the BMW sports grip.

I used to own a 1150 GS and I found that high was to hot and low was not hot enough so I keep switching high / low every 5 minutes.

My other question is regarding the heat troller for heated hand grips. Does this unit work on a bi-metalic thermostat switch principle, a coiled resistor with a center tap type, or as an electronic thermostat type (current limiting circuitry). :eh:

I have read from another tread that the dual star get too hot and are only connected through the center tap white wire. Just qquestioning myself if I should get the heat troller istead of installing the switch (making a big hole on the dash then realizing afterwards that I Sould of done something else. :huh:

 

[dgfella]

Heat troller is the way to go. I believe they are current limiting.

 

[markjenn]

I did the two-pos switch on my FJR and find the high-setting ideal for cold weather and the low-setting ideal for cool weather. I never felt the need for finer control. But then I find the two-pos BMW grips work great on my R1100S. The heat calibration between two bikes seems very close to me - perhaps the low setting on the BMW is slightly warmer than the FJR. Hot seems about the same.

It sounds like you have a higher need for fine temp control, so you are a good candidate for a heat troller. These things are pretty sophisticated and vary heat using on-off duty cycle circuitry, not resistors, so they work well and are efficient. The only issues are expense, complexity and finding a place to mount the box.

There is a lot of controversy about the best way to wire up the dual-element Symtec grips if you're going the heat-troller route. You have four choices to wire to the heat-troller's output:

1. Both elements in parallel (least resistance - hottest)

2. Just the high heat element

3. Just the low heat element

4. Both elements in series (most resistance - coolest)

(The wiring of the elements is a single long resistor with a tap in the center. You get the high heat element by going from the center tap to one side, the low heat element by going from the center tap to the other side, parallel by going from the center tap to both sides wired in common, and series by ignoring the center tap. If this all seems confusing, draw a little diagram and it will be clear.)

Most folks think #1 is way too hot and #4 is way too cold. #2's max is the same as the hi/lo switch in hi pos; #3's is the same in the lo position.

Personally, I'd go with #2 and this seems the concensus - if this is a tad too hot at max, then you always have the ability to turn down with the troller - better to err at little hot. You could go all the way and do #1, but the folks who have tried it say that it just gets way too hot and I'd be worried about burning something out in the grips or the troller.

Good luck,

- Mark

 

[NorthRider]

Thanks Mark for the explanations. It is very well appreciated. I get the felling that you have an electronic background. Not to many people know what are on / off duty cycle circuitry etc.

I may first try going with the High / low switch route first. At the worst case I may consider the heat troller with the extended variable resistor control (if I find space).

Mark did you use an additional relay in order to swith the grips while the bike is on or got the switched 12V from the bike? :huh:

 

[3dogs]

I have used heated grips with a Heat-Troller and with Hi/Lo switch. I think the HEat-Troler addes complexity where none is required. The Hi/Lo switch works fine. When its cold you'll end up turning up your Heat-Troller 100% on--so it serves the same function as a the Hi switch. The "Lo" switch position is good for Fall days when it's not too cold. I found that this same advice applies to an electric vest as well. Save you money and trouble wiring the Heat-Troler. However if you're really anal you could use 2 Heat-Trollers, one for the "Hi" heating element and another for "Lo." Howabout using 3 Heat-Trolers, 2 for the grips and one for your electric vest. If you ride with a passenger you could find use for 4 of them.

 

[markjenn]

Mark did you use an additional relay in order to swith the grips while the bike is  on or got the switched 12V from the bike? :huh:

I put in one of the commonly used pre-packaged power relays - the universal one below:

https://www.electricalconnection.com/power-...tion/pplate.htm

There's enough room under the "C" panel on the right side of the dash, although I had to screw around a bit to get it to all fit in. I used switched power from the right running light to trigger the relay - there is a wire up in the harness that supposedly powers the headlight relay and is the "trick" one to use for switched power (it is off during starting), but I couldn't get a tap on it.

Here's a pict of the BMW grips with Symtec heaters - you can see the switch in the background on the "D" panel:

That's a Martel LCD voltmeter above it which worked well for awhile, but doesn't like rain and now has a segment not working.

There is some weirdness where the Yamaha grips are slightly longer than the BMW sport grips - I used "grip donuts" (commonly sold for dirt bikes) to take up the slack. I'd advise against taking up the slack by moving the switch assemblies around on the bars. You have to grind off the locating pin and when you lose the pin, you are depending on clamping pressure alone to keep the switch assembly stationary on the bar. My experience is that over time, they tend to loosen and start slipping.

The Symtec grips themselves are an exceptionally easy install - just think through the routing of the wires and run slack in a way that doesn't bind or twist the throttle side. I think you could probably get away with just tapping into switched power somewhere, but I felt more comfortable using a relay and I wanted one for a set of powerlet outlets I put in back in the rear of the bike.

I hate electrical farkling, but if it all worked out. It sounds like Yamaha is finally waking up and doing outlets and grips as standard on the 06's.

- Mark