diagnosing problem with Gerbing heat controller?

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

2023 R1250RT, fitted with the following:

 

• Hex ezCAN for powering accessories
• Gerbing dual portable temp controller - wireless ready
• Gerbing 12V wireless temp controller remote

 

The Gerbing controller is of course powered by the ezCAN.  The problem is that I get little to no heat from my jacket.  the ezCAN circuit that powers the Gerbing controller has been set to a max of 15 amps, which should be more than enough.  When I connect a 12V automotive bulb to the controller output, I see the bulb flashing on/off, confirming that the controller is duty-cycling the output.  The duty cycle changes when I make adjustments on the wireless remote, ranging from 0% to almost 100%, so the remote control is working and is communicating with the controller.  But for some reason the controller doesn't want to provide the current that the jacket needs to make any meaningful heat.  

 

Jacket worked fine last June when I was coming home from DART in the rain, so I'm pretty sure it's OK.  I'm planning to double-check it with a direction connection to the battery this afternoon just to be sure.

 

Anything obvious I'm missing?  

 

[strataj]

43 minutes ago, Joe Frickin' Friday said:

2023 R1250RT, fitted with the following:

 

• Hex ezCAN for powering accessories
• Gerbing dual portable temp controller - wireless ready
• Gerbing 12V wireless temp controller remote

 

The Gerbing controller is of course powered by the ezCAN.  The problem is that I get little to no heat from my jacket.  the ezCAN circuit that powers the Gerbing controller has been set to a max of 15 amps, which should be more than enough.  When I connect a 12V automotive bulb to the controller output, I see the bulb flashing on/off, confirming that the controller is duty-cycling the output.  The duty cycle changes when I make adjustments on the wireless remote, ranging from 0% to almost 100%, so the remote control is working and is communicating with the controller.  But for some reason the controller doesn't want to provide the current that the jacket needs to make any meaningful heat.  

 

Jacket worked fine last June when I was coming home from DART in the rain, so I'm pretty sure it's OK.  I'm planning to double-check it with a direction connection to the battery this afternoon just to be sure.

 

Anything obvious I'm missing?  

 

I have a similar set-up except I have Warm n Safe single https://www.warmnsafe.com/products/single-remote-control-heat-troller-set on my 2022R1250RT.  Have you checked the button battery in the controller? 

[Skywagon]

I had a similar issue on my oilhead many years ago. I called Gerbing and they asked if engine running. It wasn’t. They told me it will pulse on battery but needs

13v to fully function. 

[Hosstage]

5 minutes ago, Skywagon said:

I had a similar issue on my oilhead many years ago. I called Gerbing and they asked if engine running. It wasn’t. They told me it will pulse on battery but needs

13v to fully function. 

That.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

30 minutes ago, strataj said:

Have you checked the button battery in the controller? 

 

Haven't directly checked the battery, but I can confirm that the controller definitely does respond to adjustments made on the remote's knob.

 

5 minutes ago, Skywagon said:

I had a similar issue on my oilhead many years ago. I called Gerbing and they asked if engine running. It wasn’t. They told me it will pulse on battery but needs

13v to fully function. 

 

Hm.  The first time I noticed a problem was during my ride on Sunday (i.e. the engine was running).  There's no indication of any problem with the bike's charging system.  I haven't checked to see how much voltage comes out of the ezCAN when the bike is actually running, but unless someone knows better, I'd be surprised if it's more than a fraction of a volt below bike voltage.  

 

It's damn cold out today, but I'll check on some of this stuff tomorrow or Saturday and report back.

 

[Hosstage]

I have had to fix my jacket by pushing the wiring connectors together inside the jacket lining when they pulled loose due to pulling on the wires outside the jacket. They didn't pull apart, but just loose enough to cause issues. Didn't need to open the liner, just feel thru it and wiggle them together.

Also, make sure you're plugged in properly to the jacket plugs, my brother got a little crossed up and had to unplug and re-plug the jacket and controller together. Probably not your issue, but just putting it out there. 

[TSConver]

I would wire it direct first to see if it is an issue with the ezcan.  Then if plug your jacket in directly to the pigtail with no gerbing controller and see if it gets hot to rule out the controller.  If you set the ezcan up correctly it can apply power based on the heated grip settings and you do not need the gerbing controller at all.

[Rockosmith]

For what it’s worth, my wireless remote would lose communication with the controller and default to the 25% heat setting. Turned out to be the batteries in the remote were weak even though I installed them in October. New fresh batteries and all is normal again.

[Hosstage]

Not a problem for me, I run old school corded controller!

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

On 2/29/2024 at 7:35 PM, Rockosmith said:

For what it’s worth, my wireless remote would lose communication with the controller and default to the 25% heat setting. Turned out to be the batteries in the remote were weak even though I installed them in October. New fresh batteries and all is normal again.

 

Definitely not my problem.  The single-digit display on the controller can display the numbers 0 through 9 for output levels from 0-90%, and then it shows "A" for 100%.  With my remote pegged to the max, the controller was showing "A" all the time, even when my jacket wasn't really providing any heat.

 

Finally had some time for diagnostic work today.  Tracked the problem down to a flaky connection between my jacket's extension cord and the Warm&Safe socket I installed in the black plastic triangle by my leg.  It was a PITA to rig up the wiring so I could watch the current flow in the circuit, but that's what tipped me off: if I jiggled/twisted my cable just right, the current flow went to zero.  

 

I know there are sprung contacts in the socket to make contact with the outside of the plug, and other sprung contacts inside the plug to make contact with the pin in the socket.  Not sure which is the problem, but I'm banking on the cord, since it's as old as the jacket (I also couldn't get the plug of my diagnostic cord to lose contact when it was plugged into the W&S socket).  Just ordered a new 4-foot coiled cord from Gerbing, we'll see if that solves the problem.  As an added bonus, the cord comes with a 90-degree fitting on the end that plugs into the socket.  It's also four feet long, which will come in handy: on my first ride last week, I discovered that my existing cord wasn't long enough to let me stand up in the saddle.  

 

Will report back on whether the new cord solves the problem.  If it doesn't, I'll see about a new W&S socket.  If none of this works, I'll rig up some temporary wiring to get me through START (probably just have a plug end sticking out between front/rear saddles) - and then I should have all summer to figure out something permanent...

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

On 3/3/2024 at 6:32 PM, Joe Frickin' Friday said:

 

Just ordered a new 4-foot coiled cord from Gerbing, we'll see if that solves the problem.  As an added bonus, the cord comes with a 90-degree fitting on the end that plugs into the socket.  It's also four feet long, which will come in handy: on my first ride last week, I discovered that my existing cord wasn't long enough to let me stand up in the saddle.  

 

Will report back on whether the new cord solves the problem.  If it doesn't, I'll see about a new W&S socket.  If none of this works, I'll rig up some temporary wiring to get me through START (probably just have a plug end sticking out between front/rear saddles) - and then I should have all summer to figure out something permanent...

 

Well, the cord arrived this week.  It says it's four feet long, but that's maybe not the whole description:

 

 

This cord is quite stout, and that means you have to pull on it pretty damn hard to get the coils to open up and get anything close to four feet of distance between the two ends.  Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be a problem for my setup: when I'm seated in the saddle there's enough length to reach the port without stretching the coils at all, and when I stand up in the saddle, it's only stretching the coils a little bit, which is really all I need.  The connection at the jacket has plenty of friction so that it doesn't disconnect even with moderate tension, and the plug at the port down by my calf has an elbow, so even though it's not quite as snug, the direction of pull doesn't tend to extract the plug from the port.  

 

And above all, yes, it looks like my connectivity problem is solved.  I haven't ridden with it yet, but this morning I spent some time standing there and jiggling the connector in the port every which way, and I never saw a loss of current flow.  

 

So I think I'm ready for START.  

 

 

[Hosstage]

We like simple fixes! And we really like our heated gear.

[The Rocketman]

Be aware I just recently bought that same cable for my daughter to use on her Gerbing coat as she couldn't reach the rear 12v power harness once she was on the bike to plug in, nor before she got on. The coiled extension cable solved that problem BUT while the 90 degree end holds firm and snug, the straight end of the coax cable inner diameter that connects to the jacket seems microscopically larger then the one coming out of the jacket and was constantly separating unless she physically held them together. I used waterproof self sealing tape to fix it.