Ask Me About Heated Gear

#21
Hello! Two questions: I picked up a First Gear heated jacket liner, and dual controller. Supposedly the jacket has dual zones that I can separate and run independently. I haven't yet taken the time to trace out the circuits in the coat, but it appears as though the only circuit I can separate from the coat as a whole is the glove feeds. My complaint is the arms - They're notably colder than the rest of the coat. Any suggestions?

I'm also thinking of hand-sewing in elastic cord in a spiral up the torso and down the arms to increase overall body contact. (This may solve the cold arms issue.) Other than avoiding the obvious punctures of the heating elements, any other considerations I should keep in mind? Thanks!
 

KEN PHENIX

Premier Member
IBA Member
#22
Hello! Two questions: I picked up a First Gear heated jacket liner, and dual controller. Supposedly the jacket has dual zones that I can separate and run independently. I haven't yet taken the time to trace out the circuits in the coat, but it appears as though the only circuit I can separate from the coat as a whole is the glove feeds. My complaint is the arms - They're notably colder than the rest of the coat. Any suggestions?

I'm also thinking of hand-sewing in elastic cord in a spiral up the torso and down the arms to increase overall body contact. (This may solve the cold arms issue.) Other than avoiding the obvious punctures of the heating elements, any other considerations I should keep in mind? Thanks!
Yeah the FirstGear liner made by Warm&Safe might be the best value out there. That's the standard configuration too, one plug for the jacket and one for the gloves. It would be possible to reconfigure the arms and torso on separate circuits but that would void the warranty. I understand everyone feels the cold differently. The body responds to cold by actually restricting blood flow to the extremities to protect vital organs. So perhaps turning up the heat a bit more will help. I also recommend the zippered "gilet" from Cycle Gear to wear over your heated liner. It's form fitting and crazy warm on its own and will hold the heating elements snug against the body and arms. If necessary you could even take up the arm seams. At 40 bucks you could experiment with alterations. You might try one on with the FirstGear liner on or maybe order a size up.
 
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KEN PHENIX

Premier Member
IBA Member
#23
Thanks to Hurricane Harvey I'll be bikeless for a while. Before mucking out the house after 7 feet of flood water took all my free time I had gotten a pretty good head start building heated gloves for this winter. Thank goodness they were upstairs high and dry and totally unscathed. All are new with tags, have 100% leather exterior, Primaloft insulation, Gore Tex waterproof layer & Phenix carbon fiber heat.



Left: Olympia 4102 WeatherKing. (Size XL) Good cowhide & huge gauntlets. The WeatherKing is possibly the best winter glove value out there.

Center: Original Held Freezer. (two pair size L) Incredibly supple leather means easy break-in, suprising lightweight feel and tactile sensation for such a well insulated glove.

Right: Held Freezer II (size L) Among the most robust and impeccably crafted gloves I've seen. They might be the warmest too. And with heat they'll laugh at single digit temperatures. I paid more to get them but they're well worth it.

Give me a shout if interested. 409-363-1417
 

KEN PHENIX

Premier Member
IBA Member
#24
UPDATE

The XL WeatherKing's sold almost immediately. They are the flagship of the current Olympia line and I can have a pair ready in less than 2 weeks. Just let me know your size.

The Freezer II's also just sold. That might have been the last pair in captivity. I kinda hated to see them go. I will keep trolling the web as well as dealer stock for more Freezer ll's. Awesome gloves!
 
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Jerry Stevens

Premier Member
IBA Member
#25
I got some Freezer II's. Thank you Ken for hooking me up. The fit is excellent, and your work is phenomenal. I am wired up and ready for the Lake Superior 1000 on Saturday! Thank you for the quick turn-around time. FYI ALL - KEN IS AWESOME!!!! IMG_5669.JPG
 

KEN PHENIX

Premier Member
IBA Member
#28
CONTROLLER FAILURE HACK:

If your dual controller fails while out on the road this might help. If you know you have power to the controller and you're sure it's dead (and out of warranty) you can cut the wires off and configure your jacket and gloves in a series for a constant warmth level of approximately 25% to get you home. Most controllers have ribs or ridges on the positive wire. Just follow the diagram below.


I recently read about a rider who lost their controller on a winter trip. If this happens to you, most Cycle Gear stores stock a splitter cord that could also be cut and spliced for this purpose. https://www.cyclegear.com/gear/hotwired-y-connector-splitter
 
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KEN PHENIX

Premier Member
IBA Member
#29
Learning curve. This connection would be useful if your gear gets too warm for comfort when plugged in direct. Mine certainly does. I have not worn any other heated product for any length of time. Based on several riders responses on the Facebook group it is feasible to use some heated gear temporarily without a controller. I assumed everyone would need a way to cut the power back if theirs went out. So I hope someone will find this useful.
 
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cacomly

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#30
Why would it be cut back to 25% and how is this different than plugging into the power cord directly? Is it because the jacket and pants would be in series?

I did suggest to the rider that this be done however she had no electrical experience and I did not think the middle of a rally was the time to learn this :) That's how we got to simply plugging the jacket in
 

KEN PHENIX

Premier Member
IBA Member
#31
Let's assume a pair of gloves in parallel and a jacket liner have the same amount of resistance, say 5 ohms each. By connecting them in series the total resistance would be 10 ohms and the total wattage would be reduced to 50%. Divide that between the jacket and gloves and you get 25%. That's not precise because jacket and gloves would never be identical but that's the idea. In series the current would flow in and out of the first garment and then through the second garment encountering the combined resistance of both.
 

KEN PHENIX

Premier Member
IBA Member
#32
I'm still operating out of our alternate location, Mom's house. (Screw you Harvey!) But I want to thank my fellow long distance riders for making this my busiest heated glove season ever. I am placing glove orders weekly. I can get new Olympia WeatherKings, add heat and have them on your hands in about 10 days.









I can also add my high wattage carbon fiber integrated liners to virtually any winter glove.





Here's a recent review from the IBA facebook group:


Then there's the math:
The average heated glove reads around 13 ohms at the plug. Some manufacturers make adhoc wattage claims - but ohms don't lie.

13.8v / 13 ohms = 1.06 amps
13.8v x 1.06 amps = 14.64 watts

My sealed carbon fiber heating elements read around 9.3 ohms.

13.8v / 9.3 ohms = 1.48 amps
13.8v x 1.48 amps = 20.47 watts

Call me anytime. 409-363-1417
 
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#33
Hello,

I have bikes that don't have a lot of extra power for heated gear. Do you know of anyone using lithium-ion battery packs to power their heated gear? If so what are they using?

Thanks,

Mark
 

KEN PHENIX

Premier Member
IBA Member
#34
Hello,

I have bikes that don't have a lot of extra power for heated gear. Do you know of anyone using lithium-ion battery packs to power their heated gear? If so what are they using?

Thanks,

Mark
You could say that I'm focused more on wattage overkill than conservation. I have no first hand experience with battery powered gear. Here's what we know:
Battery powered gloves operate on half the voltage of a motorcycle electrical system so they will never be as warm. They seem to be intended for relatively stationary or low speed use - not to battle exponential windchill for extended periods at highway speed. Batteries last only a few hours at best so you'd have to carry spares on a long distance ride. They are probably getting better - I just don't know. If at all possible I'd tap into the bike's electrical system. A cheap digital volt meter will show voltage drop so you'll know how much is too much. In my experience, gloves are more efficient than grips even with bar muffs. You might also look into having your stator rewound for increased output. This is a tough one but maybe you can eek out a few more amps.
 
#35
Ken, do you do anything with socks? I had a heart attack a few years ago and have more of a problem keeping the feet warm than the hands. Years ago I had Gerbings heated socks. They were ok, but not real good quality.
 

KEN PHENIX

Premier Member
IBA Member
#36
Ken, do you do anything with socks? I had a heart attack a few years ago and have more of a problem keeping the feet warm than the hands. Years ago I had Gerbings heated socks. They were ok, but not real good quality.
The material I use that works so well in the gloves is just too robust to use in socks or insoles and expect them to fit in standard size boots. So for now I'd recommend the Warm&Safe socks.
 
#37
Thanks Ken. The problem with those is it appears from their description that the only heating element is located above the toes and nowhere else. I don't think that would be sufficient for me.
 
#40
Hello Ken new to the forum. Name is Joe. In the middle of a heated glove dilemma and hoping you can help.
My old gerbings were not getting very warm so bought some used widders. I discovered they are wired in series as you said and got super hot when connected to my parallel harnesses.
My question is: is the harness supposed to be delivering 6volts per glove? (is that how series works?)
Is it likely I damaged the widders by delivering 12 volts to them in parallel? They don't seem to heat when given power with my rewired series harness.
Any help would be appreciated.
Backround. I ride almost every day here in nyc including single digit days so need to fix them. I use handguards to block the wind and have heated grips but some days just need the gloves. Thanks Ken