I have been experimenting with heated clothing over the last week, and I finished it today. I got about 20 metres of light guage speaker wire and glued it to the inside of a synthetic jumper. unfortunately it works a bit too good. I went for a ride of about 20 km's in 10% c weather and by the time I got back, it was getting a bit too warm. I had a leather jacket over the top though. I could increase the wire length a bit to get the heat just right. at the moment it is using about 10 amps [120 watts] and I am hoping it is not overloading the stator ect. when the lights are on as well I reckon it would be pushing the electrical system a bit.
It was surprisingly easy to make, and I am going to make another one and sew the wire in to make a better job.
total cost, hmmmmm I reckon about 20 bucks australian.
http://www.geocities.com/clarence_horatio_dexter/trailer/Dscf0025.jpg
Did you use this website at all?
http://www.shadowriders.org/faq/electricvests.html
I was going to make one of these, but recently had someone give me an Aerostich heated vest with a broken wire. So all I need to do is fix one wire rather than build an entire vest.
no I didn't use that website. I just experimented with different lengths of wire until I got what I thought was a good temperature. but I think the next jacket I make will use about 100 watts, and that should be a good temperature. I will use the first jacket for really cold days.
Several of the electric clothing mfgers. sell heat contollers for their product lines. Possibly one of them could be adapted to fit your needs.
I built a controller for my own home made stuff costing about $10 with shipping (surprised you can't find ANYTHING but crap remote controller cars and cellphones at Radio Shack these days).
I've found the following with my experiments.
1.) 80 watts for jacket, 22 watts for gloves, 40 for pants and 20 for socks is about the best number.
2.) Using more wire for more coverage is the better way to go. Sure smaller wire gets hotter in one place, but man oh man.
3.) Definately use a jacket with a collar and put some heat in that as well. In the end I just hooked up heat in my jacket and pants liner so everything was integrated but I miss that collar.
4.) fuse everything
5.) make sure you give yourself enough slack so if you have to hop off your motorcycle for any reason that you won't damage your connections. I hooked a bungee cable to the line so it stretches for a bit before coming taunt.
6.) Definately get a controller and build your jacket to make more heat than you'll think you need. 2 hours down the road in the winter in the rain... you'll need it.
7.) Use a better wire than speaker wire. A teflon coating does wonders because it's actually made to stand up to heat. Sooner or later speaker wire is going to melt and the chances for a fire go up a bit.
Way to go with the jacket
What did you use to glue it in?
I used stuff called ks-bond chloroprene cement, and it still stinks too :-\ . thats very helpful Vavision, when your fully wired up, you are using even more watts than my jacket, so thats a good sign that the system can cope. did you sew your wires In?
Do you make chairs too? ::)
GlennW
chairs, theres a thought. I had another idea today. maybe if I stuck two wire mesh pads on the seat , one positive 12v, the other earth, and sewed a pair similar contacts on my pants, connected the pads to my wire jacket, when I sat on the bike it would complete the circuit and heat up my clothes.
I wonder if that has been tried before.
"Dude, your ass is on fire!!"
"Naw, my Visions' really fast!!"
:D ;D :o
Has anyone ever heard of a suit that uses the bikes cooling system for heat?
there wouldn't be any load on the electrical system.
something like this stuff?
http://www.arc.ab.ca/Index.aspx/ARC/4697
http://www.freshairsystems.com/cool.htm
that propane suit looks like a novel idea. continuing on from the bum pads idea, you could also complete the circuit through the handle grips and gloves if you get my drift.
Quote from: clarence on May 26, 2006, 10:43:12 PM
that propane suit looks like a novel idea.
Does anyone else have this vision of going down in a fireball??? :o
Brian
or you could just wait for global warming... aparently, global warming is responsible for everything these days, I actually heard a real estate agent say that he heard the oceans are rising due to global warming, if they rise enough then he could sell his condo as 'ocean-front property' He Was Serious! (I love stupid people...)
I think global warming has arrived here already. It never rains anymore. I am out of water again and have taken up drinking only beer.
continuing on with the electric jacket thing, has anyone made an entire suit, like out of a pair of overalls? [or coveralls] I am thinking this could be a good option to save having separate sockets to power it.
also what sort of difficulty is involved in sewing the wires to the material? I would imagine it is quite a large job. plus I dont have a sewing machine, doh.