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[tellman1]

Hey, quick question about heated grips...sorry if this is answered somwhere else, just send me packin' if it is. The question: I just got the Dual-Star heated grip kit for my buddy's A20, and other places in this list I read that it was neccessary to add a relay to the system. I was thinking to wire them to the unused "city light" wires (I read about them on the excellent FAQ page)which are turned on and off with the ignition. So is the relay necessary? It would make sense if I was wiring to a constant power source, but if I'm I'm using a "switched" source like the city light wires, it ought to be ok...right? Has anyone else done this? If I'm at all on the right track here and this'll actually work, will I need to replace the "city light" fuse, and if so, how many amps? I'm not an electrician by any means (should be obvious by now) but I think I can figure out how to wire in a relay if one is needed...I was just wondering if the info on needing to use a relay was still current (no pun intended). : ) Thanks! -Johnny

[Jeff Saline]

On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 03:38:36 -0000 "tellman1" writes:

> Hey, quick question about heated grips...sorry if this is answered > somwhere else, just send me packin' if it is. The question: I just > got the Dual-Star heated grip kit for my buddy's A20, and other > places > in this list I read that it was necessary to add a relay to the > system. > > I was thinking to wire them to the unused "city light" wires (I > read > about them on the excellent FAQ page)which are turned on and off > with > the ignition. So is the relay necessary? It would make sense if I > was > wiring to a constant power source, but if I'm I'm using a > "switched" > source like the city light wires, it ought to be ok...right? > > Has anyone else done this? If I'm at all on the right track here > and > this'll actually work, will I need to replace the "city light" > fuse, > and if so, how many amps? > > I'm not an electrician by any means (should be obvious by now) but > I > think I can figure out how to wire in a relay if one is needed...I > was > just wondering if the info on needing to use a relay was still > current > (no pun intended). : ) > > Thanks! > > -Johnny >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Johnny, I suggest you use the city lights wiring to control a relay and run a fused wire from the battery or battery side of the starter relay to the new relay. Then run the power from the relay to the switch and from the switch to the grips. Some folks on the list seem to have results they are happy with using the city lights wiring to power heated grips. I think the city lights wiring is too small to provide adequate power. I think the idea of using a larger fuse is not so good. The purpose of the fuse is to protect the wiring. If you increase the rating of the fuse you increase the possibility of damaging the wiring if you have a problem. The fuse should blow before the wiring is damaged. Once the smoke is out it no longer is an issue. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT

[Eric Lee Green]

tellman1 wrote:

> Hey, quick question about heated grips...sorry if this is answered > somwhere else, just send me packin' if it is. The question: I just > got the Dual-Star heated grip kit for my buddy's A20, and other places > in this list I read that it was neccessary to add a relay to the system. > > I was thinking to wire them to the unused "city light" wires (I read > about them on the excellent FAQ page)which are turned on and off with > the ignition. So is the relay necessary? It would make sense if I was >

Do *NOT* use the "city light" wires to directly power heated grips. I tried it. When I turned on the heated grips, my voltmeter showed that it pulled the voltage to the headlight down to 10 volts! What this means is that, since the voltage at the battery was 13.5 volts, I was losing 3.5 volts in the wiring. Either wire your grips directly to the battery (but be aware you can run your battery down easily that way!) or wire up a relay. I'd show you my setup, but my setup is a bit more complicated because I also use the same relay-driven wire to drive a cigarette lighter socket (for an electric air pump). But in general it's pretty easy. When my #$%@# bifocals aren't driving me nuts, I'll see about tossing together a quick web page about my setup, with pictures, but right now I can't #$%@ see worth a %#$!@ so it'll have to wait until I "adapt" (they say) to being able to focus thru only one particular area of my glasses for a given distance ($#%@). -E

[sergio de oliveira]

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