Heated grips - relay and wiring help

[eidolon]

The previous owner kindly fitted a set of Oxford heated grips to my ER5 however they kinda don't work so I want to rewire them myself so that I know that the job is done properly.

Is it just a case of finding an ignition live and an earth? Could I splice into the headlight? Should I fit a relay? If so, what sort do I need and how do I do that?

 

[MatteH Oxford]

http://www.r1200gs.info/howto/relay.html

I have one of these multi connector blocks on the end of the 12v relay ouput, like this:

Make sure the switched output feed from the relay is fused (it's the thick red wire top left & yes it now has some sticky back foam around it to prevent it chafing where it goes under the seat - not in this picture though!)

You can get a 30 amp relay from Halfords, with fuse protection, for about £7-8

I took my relay's input (trigger) feed by splicing into my main beam wiring, it only comes on with the ignition. You need to do this after the fuse, if there is a short it will blow the fuse & not melt your wiring!

 

[MatteH Oxford]

DP

 

[eidolon]

Great stuff, thanks

 

[Barry Smalley]

I have HG ones on my Fazer thou which monitor battery condition and then turn off if the battery drops belows a certain voltage. Can be wired direct.
If you are buying new ones, I'm fairly certain that most of them do this now.

 

[Meetgrinder]

I found a live off the foot brake pedal/light switch to feed the relay (basically tell it when the ignition was on) but I won't show a picture of my wiring cause it's a right bodge job

Then it was a case of connecting live and earth to relay (used a cheapo car one, dunno if that's good or bad) and feeding whatever you want off the live pins to heated grips, gear indicator etc.

Of course, I ended up ripping off the heated grips in frustration on a ride out cause the glue kept melting, but that's another story...