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Oxford hotgrips "problem"

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wikiwiki
Scooby Slapper



Joined: 17 Jan 2007
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PostPosted: 19:32 - 23 Mar 2008    Post subject: Oxford hotgrips "problem" Reply with quote

I say it's a "problem" as it's not if you have faith in the system provided.

This is for the new oxford hotgrips with the led cpu controller.

About 2 months ago, on a nice cold morning, the unit was turned on and decided to turn itself off Confused
I turned it on again and after around 1 second, off.
Tried again, same timing.............. off. Confused

Reckoning it to be a fault or something that the cpu isn't happy with rather than just a loose connection I called oxford when I got to work.

I got straight through to a guy who knew his stuff and asked if I used a relay, now, from past units, I have always wired them via a relay, triggered from the tail light, so's I don't forget to turn 'em off.

He recommended I remove it and wire straight to the battery, I said I would but never got round to it as on the way home, they worked, and they carried on working up until a bloody cold day this friday.

This also happens a week after I took off my bar muffs too Rolling Eyes
My fingers were red and my right thumb was throbbing with pain.
"cast not a clout 'till may is out" kept running round my little brain Crying or Very sad

I decided to rewire the grips, they worked perfectly and the oxford guy assures me that, if left on, they will turn themselves off once the cpu detects a certain level of voltage, allowing the engine to still be started.

It seems that by using the relay in line, the contacts may have not been giving a 0 ohm feed all the time, interpreted as a weak supply by the cpu, the grips have turned themselves off.

I may leave them on overnight tonight and see if it starts tomorrow Very Happy

Sorry about the longish post but I thought I'd spread the word, incase anyone else has relayed these grips.
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lllN30lll
World Chat Champion



Joined: 12 Jun 2005
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PostPosted: 19:38 - 23 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

yeh he's right, when the battery drops below a certain level they will turn themselves off, you won't be able to turn them on either if your batterys low (the blue light will flash) . is it the one with a bar mounted thing, on off, and 4 leds with % ratings?


I bloody worship my hotgrips, best kit ever. Thumbs Up
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wikiwiki
Scooby Slapper



Joined: 17 Jan 2007
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PostPosted: 19:48 - 23 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

yep, that's them,

I understand that this technology is there to make things simple, but I don't quite trust it so wired in my own safety net as it were.

This just complicated things, so I'm willing to put some trust into them after a test to prove that they won't leave me stranded one day.

Anyone ever tried this test?
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MarkJ
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Joined: 11 Apr 2006
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PostPosted: 20:08 - 23 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

I tried it, let them switch themselves off when the battery ran "low". I then started the bike with headlights on with no problems Thumbs Up. If it ever managed to completely drain the battery you can always bump start anyway
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kawakid
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Joined: 15 Mar 2005
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PostPosted: 13:38 - 24 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

You should use a relay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Then power to the grips only becomes available, when the ignition is on.

Thus the battery won't ever drain and you don't have to worry
about leaving them.

Here are some instructions I wrote a while back.


It not too hard. All together it'll cost less than £10

https://www.bikechatforums.com/download.php?id=53243
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neatbik
World Chat Champion



Joined: 27 Jun 2007
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PostPosted: 17:32 - 24 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ive wired mine straight to the battery, and never had any problems. I did accidently leave them on once but they turned themselves off and saved the battery Thumbs Up
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Charlie
World Chat Champion



Joined: 27 May 2007
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PostPosted: 18:05 - 24 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

kawakid wrote:
You should use a relay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Then power to the grips only becomes available, when the ignition is on.

Thus the battery won't ever drain and you don't have to worry
about leaving them.

Here are some instructions I wrote a while back.


It not too hard. All together it'll cost less than £10

https://www.bikechatforums.com/download.php?id=53243


No you shouldn't. The new style are designed to run straight from the battery. Running off a relay confuses the system as it is not set-up for what ever voltage it is getting fed from the relay.

The old style with the twisty knob, then yes it would be a good idea to use a relay.

The new ones work by (I guess) a non-inverting Schmitt trigger, this is a simple electronic device which turns off when the power drops below a set threshold. It is isn't a new technology and I am really surprised it wasn't use in the first hotgrips.

Also I have read reports about the old style ones setting on fire, that would not be good. All you need is a cpu bit, not the actually grips. My dad got one of them from Hein Gericke and fitted them to his old grips.
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kawakid
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PostPosted: 20:07 - 24 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

ds55 wrote:

No you shouldn't. The new style are designed to run straight from the battery. Running off a relay confuses the system as it is not set-up for what ever voltage it is getting fed from the relay.



How does it confuse the system. All the grips would know is they have a good feed, what are they going to suddenly do?. For the sake of about 1 hours work, I wouldn't trust a sensor on a Oxford product.

I have heated grips fitted to 2 bikes using relays.
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andi
Crazy Courier



Joined: 23 Sep 2007
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PostPosted: 20:18 - 24 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

I got the same problem. The grips turn off prematurely when connected through a relay. There is approx 1 volt lose from relay to battery. Not too keen to rely on the sensor but may have no choice. Am looking to fit a MK II generator as a fix.
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Charlie
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PostPosted: 20:27 - 24 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

Because you can get different levels of voltage, current and resistance thanks to the components on the system. The electronic system which controls which controls the grips isn't designed to work with an altered signal.

The person who created this post has just proved that using a relay doesn't always provide enough power for the system on the heated grips not to trip.

My Dad's bike came fitted with heated grips done via a relay, and at tick over with the breaks on the heated grips turn off.

You'd think that Schmitt triggers would be reliable, they where invented in the 1930's and are used in all sorts. If don't trust that bit of electronics I don't know how you can use the heated grips without fear of them blowing up Laughing

Its up to you mate, but it saves an hours fitting a relay.

Blah I am tired and don't know why I'm arguing over a simple heated grip things. Oxford technicians recommend straight to the battery and thats good enough for me.
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Charlie
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PostPosted: 20:31 - 24 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

Urgh just re-read my last post, wasn't meant to sound like it does, never mind.
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teabag
Renault 5 Driver



Joined: 18 Mar 2007
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PostPosted: 22:20 - 25 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

This weekend I had to re-wire mine to have a relay instead of direct wiring to the battery. With the grips off they were still drawing 10mA of current. I have a 4 Ah battery on my bike. Assuming I need 1 Ah to start the thing, the grips will drain the battery in (3 / .01)/24 days. This makes 12.5 days - which is what happened when I was away / not using the bike for a week and a bit. The annoying thing is that with the permanently on head light I couldn't even bump start it.
I'm going to write to Oxford and see what they say - will let you know.
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Stelmer
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Joined: 31 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: 12:22 - 26 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had the same problem but mine are wired direct to the battery and earthed nearby.

Turned out there was a fault with the fuse caused by me taking it out every night.... Embarassed
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Feasty
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Joined: 01 Nov 2006
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PostPosted: 12:49 - 26 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've got mine wired direct to the battery - as per the hotgrip instructions!

Never had any trouble and they do turn off automatically when left off without the engine running. But also leave enough power in the battery to start the bike again... Thumbs Up

On another note, when I'm idling and with the hotgrips on I notice it makes the lights pulse ever so slightly - as expected really but just looked funny!
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(7 year gap), BMW F650 (Relaxing ride). Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 (Big and bold). Yamaha FZS600 (got me in trouble too quick!).
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bigwill
Trackday Trickster



Joined: 06 Aug 2006
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PostPosted: 14:51 - 26 Mar 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

i had the mark 1 set with the twisty nob on for over a year. Then some pikey bastard decided to steal the nob off it so i bought the new control unit with the blue LED like your on about.
My first set were set up using the relay so it wouldnt drain the battery. I connected the new unit up to the old set of grips no problem and left the relay on. No problems at all.
The only thing i have found with the new unit is that if your engine goes below a certain RPM (about 1k) they will turn off, even if your engine stays running. I imagine its just the design, i think its pretty good so it wouldnt drain your battery.
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