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Improving heated grips

Joined
Nov 29, 2010
Messages
151
Location
PEI Canada
2016 phazer xtx, heated grips are pretty much useless, I've read up on it and understand the ecu is the culprit, poorly designed system. Anyway I was thinking of wiring the stock grips directly to a hi low switch and using a ceramic resistor for the low setting similar to many universal aftermarket systems. I realize this will throw a code so would wiring in a small load such as a little light to the old circuit trick the ecu into thinking the grips are still there? I'm sure the yamaheaters are a great product but would be 400ish by the time I got them here in Canada.
 

Remove the stock heaters. Keep them connected but hide them in a place that will not cause any issues. Add aftermarket heaters that have the hi\low switch with the kit. This keep the code from coming up and let you control the heat.
 
As a hobby project I designed and prototyped a microprocessor grip heater controller. It seems to work just fine.

It monitors input voltage from the ECU controller. If the voltage is below a configurable point (ECU cutoff) a relay is used to directly connect the battery. But this will turn the heaters on full tilt. So I added a potentimeter that sets a multiplier so that voltage applied to the heaters can be an adjustable ramp. If set correctly there is almost no noticeable change to the grip temps. And they will work at low engine speeds. Then automatically switch off when factory operation is feasible. I tested this on a bench. Works 100%. I'm not sure if would trip an ECU code. That may depend on exactly year and model of sled. It's also probably not too hard to fool the ECU with a circuit either. Or you can just live with a code. :cool:

The only problem with this is that it is currently a development level board. It uses an arduino, a relay and a pot and a motor control board. The motor control board allows detailed DC voltage control. So the costs of the hardware isn't very much. The code only took a night or two of playing around. Development board means its' bigger and less integrated than desired. In current configuration it maybe 3 inches square. No OEM connectors for easy installation. It was intended to set and forget. But I could very easily add a touch screen to control the level of blending instead of a pot. But that adds hardware, aka expense. My last thought was to add a thermocouple for thermostatic temp control.

I kind of moved on to other projects. Like an inexpensive telemetry datalogger for snowmobiles. GPS data and speed at 10 hertz. Also records Gs, Air temp, calculated wind chill, all GPS data, heading (Course) and so on. Real time stores the data in .csv on a high speed SD card. So in directly imports to programs that import this type of data to overlay onto video. This is also a complete prototype. My initial tests make the GPS in a GoPro look defected. It has a lot of testing in cars and a little ditch-banging snowmobile riding. It has a 3.5 inch touch screen for display and control. But it can be configured to work in the blind without a display. The hardware for this project is more expensive. It can run on a battery pack but best and easiest to simply plug it into a USB port. It has enough storage to record continuous for over a week and power loss or turning it off does not affect the data. Data can be downloaded via the USB port.

I have a long history of making devices like this. Getting them essentially done. But they need board integration and packaging. That's where a project becomes a product. I lose interest and move on the my next idea. I'm a horrible inventor.

I'll make and post up a couple youtube videos.

Thanks,

Ed
 
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