electrical question

[edjo69]

Ok, I am running Symtec heated grips with a heat-troller off a Bosh relay wired to the battery. I have a Valentine wired into the right running light for power. I just put a Nuvi on the bike and was wondering the best place to tap power for it, should I run it off the left running light or wire it into the heated grip relay? These are the only electrical additions to the bike. I am concerned that the heated grips might need the full output from the relay and concerned that another tap into the driving lights might be too much. Suggestions needed. Thanx allot, ed

 

[wfooshee]

The left running light and the right running light (and the tail lights) are all the same circuit, so that makes no difference. As for power draw, the Valentine and the GPS are not even noticed by the bike.

But it's time for you to think about a fuse box, maybe one with a built-in relay, to accessorize directly off the battery, separately from the bike's systems.

You've got the grips, the radar detector, now GPS. It doesn't end there, my friend. Someone will talk you into comm gear, or maybe you'll want an on-board mini-compressor or upgradede horns. (My horns drop the voltmeter a full volt when they're yelling! That's a load I couldn't put on the running light circuit!)

 

[Bounce]

IMO: once you are running more than 1 thing extra, it's time to move it off the OEM harness and run it from the battery via a distribution block. If anything goes wrong, isolated circuits are your friend.

https://www.fjr-tips.org/mods/pdb/pdb.html

from

https://www.fjr-tips.org

 

[edjo69]

Your suggestions are sound. I have another relay, since the grips are already on their own relay, I think I will add the second Bosh relay and move the Valentine and the Nuvi to the second relay. Since I already have the relay I think that's the way to go, but should I decide to add more later, I will include a fuse block in the order and then move that fuse block over to the second relay and start using that for multiple connections. I have had the bike for 5 years so far, the grips went on immediately and the radar soon afterwards and now about 2 years later a Nuvi, so I am not anticipating any more doodads, BUT if I do, I will definitely move over to a relay powered fuse block. Thanks guys, Ed

 

[Fred W]

One suggestion:

Run the fused power for your grips directly from the battery and through the Bosch relay. Use the heated grip power connector to trigger your relay. The heated grip connector is like the headlights and only draws power from the bike after you have started the engine, and will de-energize the relay with key-off.

You may or may not want to have your other farkles switched this way. Many folks prefer to have their low power items like RD and GPS powered full time, so that they don't automatically turn on and off with the ignition key. But high power draw items like heated gear or grips and aux lights should be switched this way to give your starter motor the full battery power available.

 

[HaulinAshe]

You can power your low-current items (GPS, RD, CommSystem) directly off the bike's Aux Cigarette Adapter circuit. It's factory-fuzed at 3-amps and all total, those electronics will only draw approximately 1.2 amps.

As Fred said, signal your relay with the headlight/OEM heated grips connection.

I highly recommend using a fusible link at the positive(+) connection to the battery post, just in case your wiring gets damaged from a drop. There are lots of sharp metal edges to route wiring around, with one of the worst being the battery holddown bracket itself.

Place load fuses using either a fuse block or individual fuse holders near the load sockets (Powerlet, SAE, coaxial). I highly recommend using mini-ATM fuse holders so that you don't have to carry multiple size spare fuses.

 

[edjo69]

One suggestion:

Run the fused power for your grips directly from the battery and through the Bosch relay. Use the heated grip power connector to trigger your relay. The heated grip connector is like the headlights and only draws power from the bike after you have started the engine, and will de-energize the relay with key-off.

You may or may not want to have your other farkles switched this way. Many folks prefer to have their low power items like RD and GPS powered full time, so that they don't automatically turn on and off with the ignition key. But high power draw items like heated gear or grips and aux lights should be switched this way to give your starter motor the full battery power available.

Thanx Fred, The heated grips are powered by their own relay that is triggered off the running lights, and then they draw all their juice from the battery. Than again for the tip though.

 

[Fred W]

Thanx Fred, The heated grips are powered by their own relay that is triggered off the running lights, and then they draw all their juice from the battery. Than again for the tip though.

Yes, sorry I didn't convey that I understood that.

My only point was to move your "relay trigger" from the running lights, which come on with the ignition switch (before the engine starts), to the factory heated grips connector (only available on 2nd gens, under the glove box) or as Jeff A just pointed out, the power wire for the headlight relay #1 on 1st gens does the same thing (forget which color the wire is at the moment).

The load from your heated gear and aux lights are significant.

The FJR battery is marginally sized for the application (in good weather) and is not up to the task in cold weather when you are likely to have all the accessories turned on.

 

[edjo69]

Thanx Fred, The heated grips are powered by their own relay that is triggered off the running lights, and then they draw all their juice from the battery. Than again for the tip though.

Yes, sorry I didn't convey that I understood that.

My only point was to move your "relay trigger" from the running lights, which come on with the ignition switch (before the engine starts), to the factory heated grips connector (only available on 2nd gens, under the glove box) or as Jeff A just pointed out, the power wire for the headlight relay #1 on 1st gens does the same thing (forget which color the wire is at the moment).

The load from your heated gear and aux lights are significant.

The FJR battery is marginally sized for the application (in good weather) and is not up to the task in cold weather when you are likely to have all the accessories turned on.

Good point on the trigger, though to be honest with you I never turn them on till after the the bike is running, though I do suppose every now and then when stopping to get gas etc...they would create and extra draw. I will find out which wire off the headlights and move the trigger to there, since my gen 1 doesn't have the heated grip connector. That would also prevent the radar and the nuvi from turning on twice when I start it. Thanx for clarifying that for me.

 

[edjo69]

Can someone point me to the head light relay trigger wire? Thanx, ed