Oxford Heated Grips Shutting Off

3778 Views 8 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Paddle, 7 mo ago

douglas_in_philly

Discussion Starter · 7 mo ago

Hi,

My 2015 650 XT had Oxford heated grips installed when I purchased it from its previous owner. I'm 99% sure that when I first got it, if I turned the heated grips on by pressing the "up" button on the control pad, they would stay on indefinitely, as long as the bike was running. Once I turned the bike off, the grips would automatically shut off after some short period of time (one minute, maybe?).

I took my bike in for its annual inspection about 9 months ago, and ever since getting it back, the heated grips seem to shut themselves off while riding, rather than staying on indefinitely, as they did before. I've not been able to detect a pattern of how long they stay on--it doesn't seem to be a specific amount of time--sometimes it seems like just a few minutes, other times, they'll stay on much, much longer. When I had my bike inspected, I'm pretty sure that the mechanic had occasion to futz with the battery and the connections on it--I forget exactly why, though. But it was right after I got it back that I started noticing the issue with the grips.

Any thoughts on what might be going on? Loose connection, I suppose could be the first thing to check for. Other ideas?

Doug

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MA-Rider

· #2 · 7 mo ago

douglas_in_philly said:
Hi,

My 2015 650 XT had Oxford heated grips installed when I purchased it from its previous owner. I'm 99% sure that when I first got it, if I turned the heated grips on by pressing the "up" button on the control pad, they would stay on indefinitely, as long as the bike was running. Once I turned the bike off, the grips would automatically shut off after some short period of time (one minute, maybe?).

I took my bike in for its annual inspection about 9 months ago, and ever since getting it back, the heated grips seem to shut themselves off while riding, rather than staying on indefinitely, as they did before. I've not been able to detect a pattern of how long they stay on--it doesn't seem to be a specific amount of time--sometimes it seems like just a few minutes, other times, they'll stay on much, much longer. When I had my bike inspected, I'm pretty sure that the mechanic had occasion to futz with the battery and the connections on it--I forget exactly why, though. But it was right after I got it back that I started noticing the issue with the grips.

Any thoughts on what might be going on? Loose connection, I suppose could be the first thing to check for. Other ideas?

Doug

Check out this previous post with a similar problem.
Oxford heated grips problem, help!

Jan

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douglas_in_philly

Discussion Starter · #3 · 7 mo ago

MA-Rider said:
Check out this previous post with a similar problem.
Oxford heated grips problem, help!

Jan

Oooohhhhh....that looks promising! I'll check it out.

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Solarguy

· #4 · 7 mo ago

I have had a set of Oxfords for 2 years. The green light indicates that the magic battery saver feature is detecting low voltage and turning off your grips in an effort to save your battery. I do not need or like or or want or trust such a system, so I wired the grips to run straight from my aux fuse panel. It goes off with the key. The battery saver feature will turn the grips off (if you don't) after you shut the bike off, but before your battery is too dead to start the bike. It will also turn the grips off if it senses low voltage while you are riding. As I recall, that feature can be turned off.......

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Bikehigh

· #5 · 7 mo ago

not wanting to deal with this issue on the current bike, I installed a heat-troller in the dash a long time ago

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Reactions: 1

BackPacker

· #6 · 7 mo ago

V-Stroms are not famous for the ample surplus capacity in the charging system. I can well imagine that at idle or near-idle there's simply not enough power in the system for heated grips. In that case power is drawn from the battery which has a lower voltage than the R/R. The heated grips sense this lower voltage and shut off, only to reactivate once the RPMs get to 3000+.

Easiest way to check this is to monitor the voltage to see at what voltage this happens. But you need to be aware of the feedback loop here: At idle your charging system doesn't have enough output, voltage drops, grips shut off and now there's more power available so voltage increases again. Which could even trigger that the heated grips switch on again. Rinse, repeat.

Also, did you add any accessoires that could maybe explain why this is happening now, and not before? And how old is your battery?

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Motorpsychology

· #7 · 7 mo ago

douglas_in_philly said:
Hi,

My 2015 650 XT had Oxford heated grips installed when I purchased it from its previous owner. I'm 99% sure that when I first got it, if I turned the heated grips on by pressing the "up" button on the control pad, they would stay on indefinitely, as long as the bike was running. Once I turned the bike off, the grips would automatically shut off after some short period of time (one minute, maybe?).

I took my bike in for its annual inspection about 9 months ago, and ever since getting it back, the heated grips seem to shut themselves off while riding, rather than staying on indefinitely, as they did before. I've not been able to detect a pattern of how long they stay on--it doesn't seem to be a specific amount of time--sometimes it seems like just a few minutes, other times, they'll stay on much, much longer. When I had my bike inspected, I'm pretty sure that the mechanic had occasion to futz with the battery and the connections on it--I forget exactly why, though. But it was right after I got it back that I started noticing the issue with the grips.

Any thoughts on what might be going on? Loose connection, I suppose could be the first thing to check for. Other ideas?

Doug

I had a similar problem with my Oxfords; the controller would blink about once a second on setting 3,4,5, and very little/no output. Upon inspection, the SAE connector that I hastily put on the Oxford's lead using crimped butt connectors looked suspect, so I soldered and shrink wrapped them. Also the battery terminal screws were about 1/3 turn loose so I tightened them down. Finally, took some contact cleaner to the inline fuse and holder.
Somewhere along the way, the problem was fixed. Moral of the story: check the whole wiring chain. If it's all good, it may be the controller itself.

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Reactions: 2

Rolex

· #8 · 7 mo ago

Having the grips shut down would indicate a wiring problem or a low voltage issue.

These should be investigated, checking the battery bolts & the voltage would be easier so I would start there

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Reactions: 1

Paddle

· #9 · 7 mo ago

I would first check the bike batterie

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