Received some size large heated gloves as a gift, so I went looking for
frugal heat controller components.
The glove connectors were standard 5.5mm OD 2.5mm ID coax, the bullet
connectors are 3.9mm connectors to go into the motorcycle accessory
connectors.
The electronic controller is a pulse-width-modulation 12V LED
controller rated at 12A which remembers the last setting. The dimmer function works fine as a
low-dissipation
voltage reducer to vary the heat settings. Dimming reduces the
percentage of time 12V is delivered to the load. Each glove is
about 11 ohms so total current draw is around 2.5A maximum.
Made up cables long enough to
go through the sleeves with the
controller under the lower jacket. From the controller, a pair of wires
goes to the front accessory connectors. Polarity is important.
To turn power on, you press 'Speed/Bright' and voltage comes back on at
the last set level. When you click
'Speed/Bright' again, the voltage is reduced a bit until you reach
minimum, at which point, the next click jumps it up to maximum with 7
steps in the cycle. Pushing and holding 'Speed/Bright"
turns it off.
Pressing 'Mode' triggers flashy LED settings of no real use for the
gloves, and pressing 'Light' returns to dimming operation.
So on a cold day, you turn it on full until/if the hands get too warm,
then you 'dim' as appropriate. The LED is there to show it's on, and
give an
indication of how high it's set.
Results: On the positive
side, the gloves work like a charm and reduce the pain of cold weather
riding. The controller successfully acts as an on/off switch and gives
a useful range of heat
control. The whole mess is light and cheap, around $8 for components on
eBay. However, I put this together as a project for the Ninja, and on
cold days I find I use the Concours with its larger fairing and heated
grips, so the gloves don't see much use.
Heat Controller Schematic
Assembled Unit
