Old model v. newer Gerbing jacket liner

[Angel]

Hello

I'm looking for some information on the older model Gerbings Jacket Liner.

How do they compare? what is the difference between the two?

Any insight is appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EffBee]

Angel, it would help if I knew what you meant by "older model."

 

Up through around 2002, Gerbing used connector/power plugs that were know as "SAE" plugs. In 2002 they switched over to the current coaxial plugs. There is no difference in performance, only in how quickly the plugs connect/disconnect.

 

Up through 2003/04, Gerbings Jacket Liners and Jackets came wired with a single circuit, i.e. the jacket/liner heating system was the same as that to which the Gerbing gloves connected at the end of each sleeve. If you wanted the jacket/liner and the gloves to be on two different circuits, so that by using a Gerbing dual controller you could set the jacket/liner and the gloves at two distinct temperatures, Gerbings would do that for you as a custom alteration (it cost about $10 extra). Starting in 2003/04, all Jackets and Jacket liners started coming from the factory wired with the current "dual-circuit" system.

 

Beyond that, the basic jacket liner has only received cosmetic changes over the past 5 years. That's probably why there haven't been any price increases in all these years.

 

I can tell you, working for Gerbings, that changes are coming. Some of these are already at work in our gloves and in our new heated insoles. Some are cosmetic. Some technological. But the basic function of the jacket liner is not changing. It's still the World's Warmest Clothing and there's still a lifetime warranty on the electrics. If you're looking for one to help get you through some cold weather, I wouldn't hesitate.

[Effjay]

Angel, it would help if I knew what you meant by "older model."

Fernando, has there been consolidation of sizes or just new labeling format? My local BMW dealer stopped carrying Gerbings a year ago in favor of lower priced competition and just recently resumed carrying your product. Looking at their on hand stock a week ago, it seemed selection is simpler now with fewer sizes (S/M, M, M/L, L, L/XL, XL, etc.). I saw traditional Gerbings numeric sizes shown on the tags as well. I liked but didn't buy, because I was the lucky drawing winner of the "other brand" jacket liner a few months ago at that dealer's open house!

 

Jeff

[Angel]

Thanks EffBee,

I wanted to confirm that no major changes in the technology had occurred in recent years... sounds like the only issue has been the single to double circuit change.

I appreciate the info.

 

[hexairheadbeemerguy]

Glad to see a Gerbings rep posting. Sent an email to Gerbing some time ago asking what the zipper material is constructed of and did not receive a reply. My experience with an expensive jacket of English design utilizing nylon zippers is such I will not buy that brand again. Am considering purchase of the extreme heated jacket and would like this question answered first if possible, thanks.

[Exploreinman]

Up through 2003/04, Gerbings Jacket Liners and Jackets came wired with a single circuit, i.e. the jacket/liner heating system was the same as that to which the Gerbing gloves connected at the end of each sleeve. If you wanted the jacket/liner and the gloves to be on two different circuits, so that by using a Gerbing dual controller you could set the jacket/liner and the gloves at two distinct temperatures, Gerbings would do that for you as a custom alteration (it cost about $10 extra). Starting in 2003/04, all Jackets and Jacket liners started coming from the factory wired with the current "dual-circuit" system.

 

That's right. I have one of the last liners like this. It would be nice to be able to control different heat settings between liner and gloves and the new ones allow you to do this.

[EffBee]

Angel, it would help if I knew what you meant by "older model."

Fernando, has there been consolidation of sizes or just new labeling format? My local BMW dealer stopped carrying Gerbings a year ago in favor of lower priced competition and just recently resumed carrying your product. Looking at their on hand stock a week ago, it seemed selection is simpler now with fewer sizes (S/M, M, M/L, L, L/XL, XL, etc.). I saw traditional Gerbings numeric sizes shown on the tags as well. I liked but didn't buy, because I was the lucky drawing winner of the "other brand" jacket liner a few months ago at that dealer's open house!

 

Jeff

Jeff. sorry for the late reply. Been away for the Holidays.

 

Gerbing did consolidate some sizes and went to a new sizing system more closely aligned with the S, M, L, XL that everyon is used to. However, we still offer "split" or "in-between" sizes (as you mentioned) in order to make sure you get the exact fit. We also offer our sizes in Regular and Long sleeve lengths. So, overall, we still offer three-to-four times the sizing options of our competition.

 

As to your local dealer, I visited them not long ago and after reviewing their decision (as well as showing them some very strong reasons why our products were simply better), they have reordered and are continuing as a Gerbing dealer. Their initial decision was based on another brand being cheaper. Once we reviewed our technology and quality, they understood why other stuff is "cheaper." Problem solved.

 

Go in and talk to Cameron, their apparel specialist. He's got the skinny, even though he used to be a salesman for the competition, he's a believer now.

[DaveC]

Once we reviewed our technology and quality, they understood why other stuff is "cheaper."

 

I am a bit disappointed in Gerbing persently.

I bought a new Gerbing jacket liner and temp controller a couple of weeks ago. This week I went on a 2 day 400 mile ride and took the jacket liner along for its maiden voyage. The forecast was for cold temps, so I was really going to be needing it. Unfortunately it did not work at all, and I froze on the ride. The temperature controller did not appear to work, at least the red light never came on when I turned the pot. I then plugged the liner directly into the 12V accessory outlet, and it did not work in that configuration either. I verified the 12V outlet was working by plugging my GPS into it and it powered up.

I need to make a trip to my dealer this week to exchange the stuff and get this problem resolved. What are the odds of both the temp controller and the jacket liner being bad?

 

sorry for the brief thread hijack.

 

 

[11101110]

Once we reviewed our technology and quality, they understood why other stuff is "cheaper."

 

I am a bit disappointed in Gerbing persently.

I bought a new Gerbing jacket liner and temp controller a couple of weeks ago. This week I went on a 2 day 400 mile ride and took the jacket liner along for its maiden voyage. The forecast was for cold temps, so I was really going to be needing it. Unfortunately it did not work at all, and I froze on the ride. The temperature controller did not appear to work, at least the red light never came on when I turned the pot. I then plugged the liner directly into the 12V accessory outlet, and it did not work in that configuration either. I verified the 12V outlet was working by plugging my GPS into it and it powered up.

I need to make a trip to my dealer this week to exchange the stuff and get this problem resolved. What are the odds of both the temp controller and the jacket liner being bad?

 

sorry for the brief thread hijack.

 

I had a similar problem on a two hour cold drive with no heat. I bypassed the controller and went directly to the jacket and it worked. I initially sent back the dual controler but they returned it saying there was no problem with it. I then rechecked the wire to the bike and low and behold intermetant connection between the controller and the bike side. Sent both back and got new bike side wiring. Also had to send my jacket back as the glove cord on one of the sleeves was way too short.

 

It is best to have you heated clothing as tight as possible but the first size fit my torso good but not my arms. The jacket I have now fits my arms better but not my torso. I guess I am in between. I would like to see some spandex or soemthing around the torso and arms to keep the jacket closer to my skin. And a little more wind resistance.

 

Aerostich has a heated jacket liner that is inflatable and has my interest. But I am good for now.

 

 

[Penforhire]

Exploreinman, in the warm season call Gerbings and have them retrofit your liner for a separate glove circuit. That's what they did for me. Reasonable price.

[Mike]

I bought a new Gerbing jacket liner and temp controller a couple of weeks ago. This week I went on a 2 day 400 mile ride and took the jacket liner along for its maiden voyage. The forecast was for cold temps, so I was really going to be needing it. Unfortunately it did not work at all, and I froze on the ride. The temperature controller did not appear to work, at least the red light never came on when I turned the pot. I then plugged the liner directly into the 12V accessory outlet, and it did not work in that configuration either. I verified the 12V outlet was working by plugging my GPS into it and it powered up.

 

 

Dave--

 

This wasn't, by chance, on a BMW with a CAN-bus electrical system, was it?

[T__]

Once we reviewed our technology and quality, they understood why other stuff is "cheaper."

 

I am a bit disappointed in Gerbing persently.

I bought a new Gerbing jacket liner and temp controller a couple of weeks ago. This week I went on a 2 day 400 mile ride and took the jacket liner along for its maiden voyage. The forecast was for cold temps, so I was really going to be needing it. Unfortunately it did not work at all, and I froze on the ride. The temperature controller did not appear to work, at least the red light never came on when I turned the pot. I then plugged the liner directly into the 12V accessory outlet, and it did not work in that configuration either. I verified the 12V outlet was working by plugging my GPS into it and it powered up.

I need to make a trip to my dealer this week to exchange the stuff and get this problem resolved. What are the odds of both the temp controller and the jacket liner being bad?

 

sorry for the brief thread hijack.

 

 

 

Dave, sounds like you didn’t run the power plug to the correct plug in the jacket liner PDU.. On the newer Gerbings jacket liners you need to plug into the far L/H jacket liner plug not the center one as the center plug goes straight through to the glove pig tails..

 

The chances of both the controller & the jacket liner being defective is pretty darn slim..

 

Twisty

 

[EffBee]

Once we reviewed our technology and quality, they understood why other stuff is "cheaper."

 

I am a bit disappointed in Gerbing persently.

I bought a new Gerbing jacket liner and temp controller a couple of weeks ago. This week I went on a 2 day 400 mile ride and took the jacket liner along for its maiden voyage. The forecast was for cold temps, so I was really going to be needing it. Unfortunately it did not work at all, and I froze on the ride. The temperature controller did not appear to work, at least the red light never came on when I turned the pot. I then plugged the liner directly into the 12V accessory outlet, and it did not work in that configuration either. I verified the 12V outlet was working by plugging my GPS into it and it powered up.

I need to make a trip to my dealer this week to exchange the stuff and get this problem resolved. What are the odds of both the temp controller and the jacket liner being bad?

 

sorry for the brief thread hijack.

 

 

 

Dave, sounds like you didn’t run the power plug to the correct plug in the jacket liner PDU.. On the newer Gerbings jacket liners you need to plug into the far L/H jacket liner plug not the center one as the center plug goes straight through to the glove pig tails..

 

The chances of both the controller & the jacket liner being defective is pretty darn slim..

 

Twisty

 

Ed Zachary.

 

The PDU (power distribution unit) on the inside of the left panel on every new Gerbing Jacket Liner has two male plugs and one female. The outside male plug powers the jacket liner. The center male plug goes directly to the sleeve plugs, where you plug in your gloves. The third plug is a female and it is an extension of the center male plug. The female plug is used to connect your Pant Liners and/or socks/insoles.

 

It is possible for a jacket liner or a controller to be faulty, although we resistance-check every single garment that comes in from the factory (this is AFTER the factory has done the same) in order to ensure that the wiring inside is all connected and that it will put out the required heat. We do this as an extra step in Quality Control. It's not necessary. But Gerbing's feels that if your name is on the product, you want to double-check everything. If the jacket wiring was bad, it would have read outside the acceptable range on the resistance check.

 

Dave, go ahead and have your dealer check it out. If you find that it was something other than the garment or controller (say, a bad fuse on the power harness, or the bike's CANbus system tripping off), please post here to let everyone know what the source of your problem was. If your dealer determines it is the product itself, please contact our Customer Service Department. Heather, Jordanne, Tina and Carrie will be glad to help you.

 

[DaveC]

Dave--

 

This wasn't, by chance, on a BMW with a CAN-bus electrical system, was it?

 

The bike is a 2002 F650GS. I do not know if that bike has the CAN-BUS system or not.

[DaveC]

The PDU (power distribution unit) on the inside of the left panel on every new Gerbing Jacket Liner has two male plugs and one female. The outside male plug powers the jacket liner. The center male plug goes directly to the sleeve plugs, where you plug in your gloves. The third plug is a female and it is an extension of the center male plug. The female plug is used to connect your Pant Liners and/or socks/insoles.

 

It is possible for a jacket liner or a controller to be faulty, although we resistance-check every single garment that comes in from the factory (this is AFTER the factory has done the same) in order to ensure that the wiring inside is all connected and that it will put out the required heat. We do this as an extra step in Quality Control. It's not necessary. But Gerbing's feels that if your name is on the product, you want to double-check everything. If the jacket wiring was bad, it would have read outside the acceptable range on the resistance check.

 

Dave, go ahead and have your dealer check it out. If you find that it was something other than the garment or controller (say, a bad fuse on the power harness, or the bike's CANbus system tripping off), please post here to let everyone know what the source of your problem was. If your dealer determines it is the product itself, please contact our Customer Service Department. Heather, Jordanne, Tina and Carrie will be glad to help you.

 

As was previously mentioned, there was only 1 possible place to plug the power into the liner.

I did put my ohm-meter across the + and - terminals of the PDU connector and measured an open circuit.

I measured 12VDC on the output of the accessory plug, and the end of the wire harness that plugs into the Garmin temp controller. I measured 0 VDC on the output of the controller on the connector that plugs into the vest.

I verified there was power on the accessory outlet by plugging my GPS in and watching it power up. I have a BMW heated vest at home that I could plug into the accessory outlet and see if it works with my accessory outlet. I know that vest works, but I cannot recall if it works on this bike. I did not think to perform that test last weekend after I got back from the ride and was troubleshooting.

 

The soonest I can stop by my dealer for assistance is this weekend. In the interest of fairness I will post here what they determine the problem to be.

 

Regards, Dave

[T__]

 

Dave, are you sure you are hooking the liner up to power correctly?

 

If you are trying to power it into the (AA) port it won’t work & the (AA) port will show an open as it is an accessory port..

 

If you plug onto (AA) that will also mean your controller won’t work as it would be hooked up backwards..

 

Keep in mind your vest has all the PDU ports hooked together inside the vest so it can work even if powered from the wrong PDU plug..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twisty

[DaveC]

Twisty: I think you are on to something here.

I was plugging it into the AA port. That was the only plug the temp controller would plug into with the accessory cord the dealer sold me.

I am now thinking that the dealer sold me the wrong converter cord to go from my assessory plug to the Berbing temp controller. If they sold me the converter cord with the wrong sex connector on it, that would have caused me to get things plugged in backwards.

 

When I get back home in a couple of days I will investigate further and let you know what I find.

[T__]

Dave, the AA port shown is an open as it just connects to the center port & glove pig tails (no tie in to the liner heating element).. If you connected your temperature controller to the AA port that also means it was connected backwards so you were trying to power the output end of the heat controller (won’t operate powered that way)..

 

Now on your vest,, that AA port will connect to the vest heat element (internally wired differently than the liner) .. That isn’t the correct place to power the vest but will operate the vest so that is probably why your vest worked.. Your new heat controller still won’t operate the vest if you hook it up backwards by plugging into that AA port though..

 

The power cord (the one with the fuse in it) that came with your jacket liner should be the correct plug to fit the proper plug on your heat controller & that will then allow the heat controller to plug into the (power-in) port shown in the picture I posted (all should work OK then)..

 

Twisty

 

[DaveC]

Now on your vest,, that AA port will connect to the vest heat element (internally wired differently than the liner) .. That isn’t the correct place to power the vest but will operate the vest so that is probably why your vest worked.. Your new heat controller still won’t operate the vest if you hook it up backwards by plugging into that AA port though..

 

The power cord (the one with the fuse in it) that came with your jacket liner should be the correct plug to fit the proper plug on your heat controller & that will then allow the heat controller to plug into the (power-in) port shown in the picture I posted (all should work OK then)..

 

Twisty

 

Twisty, I was not trying to power my old vest through the AA port. I had previously powered it directly from my BMW accessory socket on the bike.

 

I did not use the power cord supplied with the jacket liner because there was no reason to fool around with that when I have an accessory outlet to power things like heated gear and GPS devices.

The pretty young woman at the dealership with her hair dyed red and purple had told me if I bought a 12" converter that went from my accessory cord plug to the Gerbing heated jacket liner, everything would work fine. Apparently she is more knowledgeable about the latest fashions for biker chicks than Gerbing heated gear. ha ha

I now suspect she sold me the wrong polarity converter cord. (It was made by Gerbing.)

[gtunches]

So what is better the vest or jacket liners? Which works better for you?

[DavidEBSmith]

The PDU (power distribution unit) on the inside of the left panel on every new Gerbing Jacket Liner has two male plugs and one female. The outside male plug powers the jacket liner. The center male plug goes directly to the sleeve plugs, where you plug in your gloves. The third plug is a female and it is an extension of the center male plug. The female plug is used to connect your Pant Liners and/or socks/insoles.

 

 

If this is the way it works, Gerbing's should correct their instructions here, because it's completely obscure about what is connected to what, and it's understandable why DaveC is having this problem. It says:

 

Gerbing’s Heating Clothing forms a true interconnected system, in which every item connects to everything else.

You can wear a jacket, gloves, pants, and socks with only a single connection to your battery.

 

1. The first plug coming out of the PDU* is the power cord, which connects to your on/off or Temp -Controller. Then the on/off or Temp-Controller connects to the battery harness.

 

2. The third port is for accessories; it will power your pants or socks. If you are wearing Gerbing’s pants without the jacket, then connect the pants cord directly to a Gerbing’s on/off switch or controller. The middle plug of a dual model will power your gloves separately from your jacket.

 

3. The gloves connect to the plugs at the jacket sleeves (or to a connecting harness if ordered alone).

 

If I understand what you and Twisty are saying, there's no power out from the glove outlet (AA) unless there's power in to the glove plug (middle), and there's no power to that from the main power IN plug. That contradicts the "Power Distribution Popup" from this page which says:

 

The first plug coming out of the Jacket PDU is the power cord, which connects to your On/Off switch or Temp Controller. The On/Off switch or Temp Controller then connects to your power source.

 

The third port for this Jacket PDU is for accessories. This port will power your pants or insoles. If you are wearing Gerbing's pants without a jacket, then connect the pants cord directly to a Gerbing's on/off switch or Temp controller.

 

The middle plug of the Jacket PDU will power your gloves separately from your jacket. The gloves connect to the plugs at the jacket sleeves. Or, if the gloves are worn without a jacket, connect to the provided connecting harness.

 

So, to hijack the thread further, my issue is, I have a current-model jacket liner and I want to connect heated pants. According to the Gerbing's website, I just need to plug the power in from the controller to the power IN plug, and plug the pants into the AA port. But from what you're saying, that won't provide any power to the pants, so I would need a splitter from the power IN to the middle connector (or directly to the pants connector)?

 

Or a dual controller, now that I found this note on the Controller page:

 

Note: If you are purchasing a single controller to use with one our jackets which are wired with our Dual 2 wiring systems, you will need to purchase a splitter if you choose to operate other heated clothing with the jacket.

 

Jeebus, I have a degree in physics and I'm a lawyer and I can't figure out from your webpage what connectors I need.

[T__]

David, yep it can be confusing.. Especially since the vest is wired with all the PDU connectors interconnected so the accessory plug on those is powered from either of the male power plugs..

 

On the (later) jacket liners (not vests though) the power-in (L/H side male) plug ONLY powers the liners heat grid.. The center male plug goes all the way through to the glove pig tails in the sleeve & also connects to the female (r/h side) accessory plug….

 

If you want to power gloves or pants or sox from the later jacket liner (not vest though) you have some choices—

 

-Use a dual controller so you have power in to BOTH male plugs..

 

-Use a single controller with a splitter so you again have power going to both male plugs.. Problem is; all is then controlled to the same heat setting..

 

-Or be creative.. I have a dual controller but don’t always use it.. Not too fond of the splitter cable as that adds length & bulk to the cable system.. I have two very good work abounds (for me anyhow)

 

*the first workaround is to run the single controller in to the center male plug- that allows glove control & controlled power to the female accessory plug.. I then use a short jumper wire (made from cutting a splitter cable apart) to connect the female accessory plug to the far L/H male liner power plug.. That way all is run from one controller as one unit.. But this only works with gloves & no heated pants.. It also means the gloves are at the same power setting as the jacket liner..

 

*my next workaround & one I usually use if I give my dual controller to my passenger is to run a 24” plain old accessory cable into the center power plug of my jacket liner.. That puts full vehicle power to my heated gloves.. I then hook my single controller between the R/H female power plug & the L/H liner power plug.. That allows full heat control of the jacket liner but leaves the gloves on full power.. I usually power my gloves way higher than my jacket liner anyhow so this works good & as the temps warm up during the ride I simply unplug the glove pig tails at the sleeves & go to unheated gloves.. This also makes a neat tidy package as the heat controller is completely wired to the jacket liner & the only wire coming out is a single power cable with a plug on the end..

 

This is to confuse you some more.

 

Twisty

 

[DaveC]

So what is better the vest or jacket liners? Which works better for you?

 

The answer to that really depends on how cold it is. I think that if it is cold enough to need heated gear, you might as well go all the way and use a heated jacket liner so your arms do not get cold.

I only bought the heated BMW vest because I had someone offer to sell it to me slightly used for $30. I could not say no at that price.

[DaveC]

Jeebus, I have a degree in physics and I'm a lawyer and I can't figure out from your webpage what connectors I need.

 

How do you think I feel; I am an electrical engineer. I would expect the cords to be designed so that you cannot plug them into the wrong connector.