heated grips question - melted resitor?

[uwjberg]

so i have a new-to-me 2005 vstrom 1k. i was doing the pull everything apart and inspect thing, and i saw that the wires from the aftermarket heated grips to the battery had a small white plastic block on one of the wires (maybe a resistor?). the block had gotten hot at some pooint and melted a bit, and also melted some of the airbox where it touched.

i've disconnected the wires until i can figure out what's going on. any thoughts? are they wired incorrectly? left on too long, etc.? they were wired directly to the battery (unswitched), so i could imagine the PO leaving the grips on by accident after parking and haviong them run overnight or something.

[doug kirkpatrick]

My Hotgrips came with a white rectangular resister maybe about 2.5" long, that the instructions say to mount to a metal surface because it will melt plastic.

[ronin149]

As long as the mount for the resistor is not significantly damaged, it should be fine. The resistor will run very hot, but probably only on the Low setting. I would mount it to some metal, like uwjberg mentioned. It probably does not need to transfer heat to the metal; the resistor can handle very high heat and the wind will help cool it. Take care not to short out any exposed connections.

[Arne]

Get rid of the resistor and get a real controller. Using a switch and a resistor to control the power to grip heaters is, while the simplest and cheapest way to do it, silly and inefficient. Not to mention having to mount a resistor that can get very hot is a pain. It is simply bad design motivated by the manufacturer's desire to save money.

[ronin149]

I'm with Arne; this is the 21st century after all. Are there any controllers out there that will work with aftermarket grip heaters, or am I going to have to make one?

[greywolf]

Heaters are just resistance circuits where electrical power is turned into heat. Here's a page full of controllers that will work. http://www.warmnsafe.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=65_71_83

[hoffy]

with the set up you have, your grips are pulling full power all the time, and when set on low, the power is run through the resistor, which cools the grips, but the resistor gets real hot. With the variable controller , it only draws the juice it needs. The more stuff you put on, the more this matters(lights, heated clothing, etc.)Also, if you are going to put more stuff on get a volt meter, can be had for less than 40$.
Last thanksgiving my wife and I rode 200 miles to her sisters, was 40 when we left, 20 when we got there. I had her jacket liner turned up almost all the way, mine almost all the way down, and kept the grips comfortable. On highway, could not run brights, much less driving lights, and turn signals wold make voltmeter dip into yellow. I cant believe someone put the resistor on the airbox. Make sure it isn' holed, if it is just put some RTV on it and it will be fine.