Heated grips not getting as hot

[bmwgsrider]

I've already changed the fuse... the fuse looked good.

My heated grips use to get hot to the point where it felt like my hands were burning and I would have to turn the grips off for a short period of time and turn the grips back on again...

The grips now are not getting "burning hot" to where I would more less call it "warm". The low setting seems to work better than the high setting as I mean the grips seem to be a little warmer than when the grips are on the high setting as the grips do not feel as warm and sometimes you think if the grips are even working.

I am wondering why the change in how the grips heat and/or cause to the problem.

Thanks in advance.

 

[nytrashman]

do you have your hippos on the bike when your using the heated grips? if not try putting the hippos on and see how the grips work. without the hippo hands on you loose a lot of heat due to wind. i know without my hippos and my grips on high my hands were not really warm, but with the hippos i can use the low setting on the grips and my hands will be very warm.

 

[Omega Man]

I've already changed the fuse... the fuse looked good.

My heated grips use to get hot to the point where it felt like my hands were burning and I would have to turn the grips off for a short period of time and turn the grips back on again...

The grips now are not getting "burning hot" to where I would more less call it "warm". The low setting seems to work better than the high setting as I mean the grips seem to be a little warmer than when the grips are on the high setting as the grips do not feel as warm and sometimes you think if the grips are even working.

I am wondering why the change in how the grips heat and/or cause to the problem.

Thanks in advance.

The only quick test I can think of, as I don't recall that bike having an ammeter is a night test. When you have a chance have the bike in a spot where you can see a big difference in the high and low beam. Then using the low beam-bike off if the headlight will come on-and switch the grips to low. You should see the headlight dim. A switch to high should dim the headlight further. That's a quick no tools check. When you move to the next level it would take an ammeter at the battery or a comparison shot with a laser heat sensor and compare that to another set of grips. There might be an actual Ohm meter test on the elements but that's even getting deeper. HTH, Gary

 

[bmwgsrider]

do you have your hippos on the bike when your using the heated grips? if not try putting the hippos on and see how the grips work. without the hippo hands on you loose a lot of heat due to wind. i know without my hippos and my grips on high my hands were not really warm, but with the hippos i can use the low setting on the grips and my hands will be very warm.

Yes, I have hippos on the bike... and grips aren't the same.

 

[bmwgsrider]

The only quick test I can think of, as I don't recall that bike having an ammeter is a night test. When you have a chance have the bike in a spot where you can see a big difference in the high and low beam. Then using the low beam-bike off if the headlight will come on-and switch the grips to low. You should see the headlight dim. A switch to high should dim the headlight further. That's a quick no tools check. When you move to the next level it would take an ammeter at the battery or a comparison shot with a laser heat sensor and compare that to another set of grips. There might be an actual Ohm meter test on the elements but that's even getting deeper. HTH, Gary

Compare to a diff set of grips from same model bike? I have no one in the area that has an F near me.

My headlight doesn't work with the bike off or do you mean turn the key and not start the bike when you check the headlight between high and low beam with the heated grip switch? Or start the bike to check the dimness of the headlight?

Thanks.

 

[Omega Man]

Compare to a diff set of grips from same model bike? I have no one in the area that has an F near me.

My headlight doesn't work with the bike off or do you mean turn the key and not start the bike when you check the headlight between high and low beam with the heated grip switch? Or start the bike to check the dimness of the headlight?

Thanks.

I wasn't sure how your bike was set up. If the light doesn't come on until the bike the bike is started, the check will work at idle. You may be able to see the difference in just the dash lights. This is an old version of the battery test on a car-when the car wouldn't crank over the test would be the big draw of engaging the starter and when the starter didn't turn and the headlights went out, the first place to start was the battery. IIRC your bike with all those accessories on will run a charge deficit until you get close to 4,000 rpm. My guess is the heated grips will be the same or close to the same on any of the BMW's I know it's a little hard to explain on a keyboard. Gary

 

[bmwgsrider]

I wasn't sure how your bike was set up. If the light doesn't come on until the bike the bike is started, the check will work at idle. You may be able to see the difference in just the dash lights. This is an old version of the battery test on a car-when the car wouldn't crank over the test would be the big draw of engaging the starter and when the starter didn't turn and the headlights went out, the first place to start was the battery. IIRC your bike with all those accessories on will run a charge deficit until you get close to 4,000 rpm. My guess is the heated grips will be the same or close to the same on any of the BMW's I know it's a little hard to explain on a keyboard. Gary

Gary,

I have gotten a new battery not too long ago and keep the bike on a trickle charger when I may not ride for a few days... if bike going to sit just over night, I may not hook it up to trickle charger.

The volts on my Datel volt meter seems to be fine and yes I know how accessories can drain the battery....

I went and checked the headlight... low and high beam with the heated grip switch... both high/low beam and heated grip switch low/high did not dim my headlight.

Thanks.

 

[bmwgsrider]

do you have your hippos on the bike when your using the heated grips? if not try putting the hippos on and see how the grips work. without the hippo hands on you loose a lot of heat due to wind. i know without my hippos and my grips on high my hands were not really warm, but with the hippos i can use the low setting on the grips and my hands will be very warm.

George,

If its not too much trouble, are you able to check the temperature of your grips and tell me the outcome?

Thanks.

 

[Omega Man]

Gary,

I have gotten a new battery not too long ago and keep the bike on a trickle charger when I may not ride for a few days... if bike going to sit just over night, I may not hook it up to trickle charger.

The volts on my Datel volt meter seems to be fine and yes I know how accessories can drain the battery....

I went and checked the headlight... low and high beam with the heated grip switch... both high/low beam and heated grip switch low/high did not dim my headlight.

Thanks.

Yes the trickle charger would throw it off in the test I described. If you can get or borrow one of those laser not contact thermometers and do a test on low and high I would be happy to test mine and let you know. Another 6" snow today-not goin' anywhere. Good luck, Gary

 

[bmwgsrider]

Yes the trickle charger would throw it off in the test I described. If you can get or borrow one of those laser not contact thermometers and do a test on low and high I would be happy to test mine and let you know. Another 6" snow today-not goin' anywhere. Good luck, Gary

You misunderstood me... I did not have the bike on a trickle charger when I did the test.

I heard the laser heat sensor will not work because it is accurate on flat surfaces... can you still use it on the grips? If so, I could borrow one to test my grips in the next couple of days.

If its not too much trouble, I like to know what your grips are to have something to compare to.

Thanks

 

[Omega Man]

You misunderstood me... I did not have the bike on a trickle charger when I did the test.

I heard the laser heat sensor will not work because it is accurate on flat surfaces... can you still use it on the grips? If so, I could borrow one to test my grips in the next couple of days.

If its not too much trouble, I like to know what your grips are to have something to compare to.

Thanks

It's alright, misunderstanding in a world of type! If your battery was right up to full charge it would be harder to detect the dim of the grips turned on. I have used the temp sensor on just about everything so I don't see the grips as a problem. What I'll do is tomorrow I'll do a test and let you know how I did it so you can duplicate it as close as possible. Probably get to it in the AM after my first parts run. Gary

 

[bmwgsrider]

It's alright, misunderstanding in a world of type! If your battery was right up to full charge it would be harder to detect the dim of the grips turned on. I have used the temp sensor on just about everything so I don't see the grips as a problem. What I'll do is tomorrow I'll do a test and let you know how I did it so you can duplicate it as close as possible. Probably get to it in the AM after my first parts run. Gary

Thanks Gary. If my brother is home when I get off work tomorrow, I was going to stop at his house to test my grips.

 

[nytrashman]

George,

If its not too much trouble, are you able to check the temperature of your grips and tell me the outcome?

Thanks.

sorry Anna, i have no way to test the temp of my grips. i will e-mail you with an idea you might want to try

 

[calvin]

I would be interested in the findings re your grip heaters...... as mine are doing the same as yours, they are definitly not as hot as they once were!
Cal

 

[Omega Man]

Here is my results-the bike was running and the IR thermometer is a Fluke 61.
Outside temp 34 Deg. Bike storage area 22 Deg. as indicated on dash.
Grip initial reading 17 Deg.

After 6 min. Left grip was 65Deg. Right grip was 47Deg. heat on low position

After 11 min. Left grip was 109Deg. Right grip was 74 Deg heat on high position

The difference in the grip temps I attribute to full contact on left and to be fair a bit of an airspace on the right-as the throttle twists.
I think the felt temp. would improve on the right as hand pressure would take up some of the gap.
Hope this Helps, Gary

 

[bmwgsrider]

Here is my results-the bike was running and the IR thermometer is a Fluke 61.
Outside temp 34 Deg. Bike storage area 22 Deg. as indicated on dash.
Grip initial reading 17 Deg.

After 6 min. Left grip was 65Deg. Right grip was 47Deg. heat on low position

After 11 min. Left grip was 109Deg. Right grip was 74 Deg heat on high position

The difference in the grip temps I attribute to full contact on left and to be fair a bit of an airspace on the right-as the throttle twists.
I think the felt temp. would improve on the right as hand pressure would take up some of the gap.
Hope this Helps, Gary

Thanks for the information. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test my grips after work as I planned because my brother wasn't home. Hopefully, I'll be able to test them the next couple of days. Thanks again for testing the grips for me as I appreciate it very much. I'll let you know the outcome once I am able to test mine.

 

[Omega Man]

Thanks for the information. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test my grips after work as I planned because my brother wasn't home. Hopefully, I'll be able to test them the next couple of days. Thanks again for testing the grips for me as I appreciate it very much. I'll let you know the outcome once I am able to test mine.

Happy to help. While yours may not match exact it seems a good point of reference. Good luck, Gary

 

[bmwgsrider]

Outcome...

It was about 44/45 degrees outside.

I don't remember what the grip temperatures where before I turned the grips on.

I did not time the actual time frame I had the bike idling testing the grips either...

I turned on the low setting first and idled the bike for several minutes and the temps slowly increased to about 103 degrees. Switched the grips to high setting to where the temperature increased to about 113 after a couple minutes... think I switched the grips back down to low setting and I can't remember if the temp dropped a little after switching back to low but after a couple minutes the temperature stayed at about 113 degrees on low after switching back from high. I than switched back to high setting and after a couple/few minutes the temperature went to 130 and stayed at 130. After a couple minutes of the grips staying at 130 on high setting... I switched back to low setting and the temperature started to increase... I did not keep the instrument on to see what the temperature would stop at when I switched back to low but it was 136 and still increasing I think when took the meter off. Both grips seemed to be about the same temp but the right grip maybe a tad hotter.

I do have Hippos when I ride in cold temps... and ride when the temps are in the in teens at times... When I ride 20 miles to work at about 10 miles the grips do start to feel hot to the touch to where I would have to turn the grips off sometimes.... and sometimes I wouldn't. The grips don't even get close to that feeling... and the high setting doesn't feel as warm as what the low setting gets. I know the grips work as they do get warm but its not the same. Could the heated coils be going bad because they are not feeling hot like they use to? Could the switch possibly be bad because the high setting doesn't seem as warm as the low while riding and when tested the grips when I switched from high setting back to the low setting the grips started to get hotter? I did have to replace my left grip not too long ago and it was just the grip part only not the whole heated grip assembly.

Perhaps, the grips are okay but I do know they are not feeling the same.

I hope what I wrote makes sense. Thanks.

 

[Omega Man]

Outcome...

It was about 44/45 degrees outside.

I don't remember what the grip temperatures where before I turned the grips on.

I did not time the actual time frame I had the bike idling testing the grips either...

I turned on the low setting first and idled the bike for several minutes and the temps slowly increased to about 103 degrees. Switched the grips to high setting to where the temperature increased to about 113 after a couple minutes... think I switched the grips back down to low setting and I can't remember if the temp dropped a little after switching back to low but after a couple minutes the temperature stayed at about 113 degrees on low after switching back from high. I than switched back to high setting and after a couple/few minutes the temperature went to 130 and stayed at 130. After a couple minutes of the grips staying at 130 on high setting... I switched back to low setting and the temperature started to increase... I did not keep the instrument on to see what the temperature would stop at when I switched back to low but it was 136 and still increasing I think when took the meter off. Both grips seemed to be about the same temp but the right grip maybe a tad hotter.

I do have Hippos when I ride in cold temps... and ride when the temps are in the in teens at times... When I ride 20 miles to work at about 10 miles the grips do start to feel hot to the touch to where I would have to turn the grips off sometimes.... and sometimes I wouldn't. The grips don't even get close to that feeling... and the high setting doesn't feel as warm as what the low setting gets. I know the grips work as they do get warm but its not the same. Could the heated coils be going bad because they are not feeling hot like they use to? Could the switch possibly be bad because the high setting doesn't seem as warm as the low while riding and when tested the grips when I switched from high setting back to the low setting the grips started to get hotter? I did have to replace my left grip not too long ago and it was just the grip part only not the whole heated grip assembly.

Perhaps, the grips are okay but I do know they are not feeling the same.

I hope what I wrote makes sense. Thanks.

Your results don't look that far off from mine. I know when I first got this bike the grips seemed hotter but then again this is the first bike I've had with heated grips. At 5 degrees this AM I wish the keyboard was heated. Perhaps you're just sort of used to them at this point. At least you now know there is nothing major. Good news, Gary

 

[bmwgsrider]

Maybe I lost some feeling in my paws to where they aren't as sensitive.

Thanks.