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Duane Ausherman wrote:A "rheostat" is nothing more than a variable resister. Except when full on, it will displace some of the energy in the form of heat at the rheostat. That energy (electric power) is being wasted for nothing.

You are mistaken. Yes, it is a variable resistor. That's why it functions with the grips controlled by a resistor. Where you are mistaken is in the "that energy (electric power) is being wasted for nothing" remark. It is giving me complete control and enabling me to determine exactly what level of comfort is provided by my grips. That is not "nothing." It is, in fact, all that matters.

IF you would like to rephrase to something like "the variable resistor is an inefficient way to control temperature," THEN I would be in complete agreement. However, I would not care.

MS

You are mistaken. Yes, it is a variable resistor. That's why it functions with the grips controlled by a resistor. Where you are mistaken is in the "that energy (electric power) is being wasted for nothing" remark. It is giving me complete control and enabling me to determine exactly what level of comfort is provided by my grips. That is not "nothing." It is, in fact, all that matters.

With the marginal charging systems on our Airheads, I would rather preserve and lessen the load. To this end I am moving to led replacements for tail light and signals. When my R100's rotor failed, I was running a heated vest and gloves, along with headlight. In any vehicle, all that matters is getting to where you are going. And that is priority one.

Zombie Master wrote:MS

You are mistaken. Yes, it is a variable resistor. That's why it functions with the grips controlled by a resistor. Where you are mistaken is in the "that energy (electric power) is being wasted for nothing" remark. It is giving me complete control and enabling me to determine exactly what level of comfort is provided by my grips. That is not "nothing." It is, in fact, all that matters.

With the marginal charging systems on our Airheads, I would rather preserve and lessen the load. To this end I am moving to led replacements for tail light and signals. When my R100's rotor failed, I was running a heated vest and gloves, along with headlight. In any vehicle, all that matters is getting to where you are going. And that is priority one.

If I'm warm and cozy, I don't even really care if I get where I'm "going." Warm and toasty anywhere beats freezing my ass off where I belong.

I understand the concern about the limited capacity of the stock system, and that it is not an insignificant issue, but that does not change my point that the rheostat does not accomplish "nothing,"

Major Softie wrote:If I'm warm and cozy, I don't even really care if I get where I'm "going." Warm and toasty anywhere beats freezing my ass off where I belong.

I understand the concern about the limited capacity of the stock system, and that it is not an insignificant issue, but that does not change my point that the rheostat does not accomplish "nothing,"

If your rotor failed from the load of the heated gear (and the rheostat with it's wasted energy ) then you would probably be neither warm nor going anywhere.

I don't think Duane was saying the rheostat accomplishes "nothing".

Zombie Master wrote:With the marginal charging systems on our Airheads, I would rather preserve and lessen the load. To this end I am moving to led replacements for tail light and signals. When my R100's rotor failed, I was running a heated vest and gloves, along with headlight. In any vehicle, all that matters is getting to where you are going. And that is priority one.

so you are saying that the extra load of running all those accessories will kill the charging system? Won't having relays resolve this problem or at least help? I have heated grips, run them a lot in the winter, and have had several rotors die, maybe this is the reason? What is the solution?

twist wrote: I have heated grips, run them a lot in the winter, and have had several rotors die, maybe this is the reason? What is the solution?

Hippo Hands.

I have them on my winter bike with no heated grips. I have heated grips on my summer bike. My hands are warmer in the winter with modest gloves and no heated grips than they are in the summer with the same gloves AND heated grips.

The ultimate would be Hippo Hands and heated grips.

Twist:

so you are saying that the extra load of running all those accessories will kill the charging system? Won't having relays resolve this problem or at least help? I have heated grips, run them a lot in the winter, and have had several rotors die, maybe this is the reason? What is the solution?

That's exactly what I'm saying. Relays isolate and can turn circuits off with the ignition, and that is a good thing. You still have to keep that battery charged to run accessories. The more the system has to work to keep the battery charged, the more likely it is to fail. It doesn't take much to damage the fine wires of the rotor. And like ME109, it's always spinning. Keeping the rotor inside a heated chamber is also not the best idea.

The best solution is to use a "Heat Troller" as sold with most brands of heated clothing.

Rather than a variable resistor which does very little to reduce power consumption, a "troller" switchs the load (grips or vest) on and off very rapidly with adjustable wave lenghs of on and off power. For example, when set at one half, the load is only on for half of the cycle time, and uses half the power and put out half the heat.

Edit: my Oxford grips come with a four position controler. I think the settings are 30% 50% 70% and 100%. It works on a 2 second cycle and at certain RPMs you can see the volt meter move as if the signal lights where on.