Building Heated Gear. Raiders generator output.

[Sweet Tooth]

I am going to build my own heated gear. I heard that our raiders make 448 watts at 5000rpm. The wire that i am going to work with will be around 1 ohm per 10 ft. With a pair of thermals most likely. What i need is how much does it make at cruisein speeds and is 448 watts correct. At around 2500rpm it should make 228watts- what ever the other electronics draw.

[gostr8r]

I will call the tech that just checked mine last week. He checked it when the bike wasn’t running, then while starting, then again at 3000 rpm. I can’t remember the values tho, but will try to get them from him today.

[gostr8r]

Sweet Tooth, they got back with me but the values they gave me was the battery charge values, not the amps at any time. I use quite a lot of extra stuff on my bagger so I would think you would be fine on yours.

[Sweet Tooth]

Yeah i was reading back in one of the other post and seen that you used heated gear gps radio and some more things.  I didnt want to overload my bikes chargin system and have it fail on me. But seems like you have tested that already

[ROADKILL]

You don't need heated gear....just nuke 5 or 6 Hot Pockets and stick'em where ya get cold

[Sweet Tooth]

You don't need heated gear....just nuke 5 or 6 Hot Pockets and stick'em where ya get cold

.  Theyd prob be cold before 30 minutes.  . I am just makin something so my whole bag ant full of nothin but clothes because the temp drops so fast before we get home .  I

[PhysicsDude55]

This is from the sticky "12 Volt Power" where people are trying to figure out the power rating of the Raider's electrical system.  Its rated at ~450 watts at 5000 RPM, but it is unclear what it is rated at at slower speeds and idle.  If the true rating is 450 watts, all the electronics on the Raider use about 150 watts, worse case scenario, which leaves 300 watts for accessories and heated gear, which is A LOT.

ManiZ did a full test of his heated gear to make sure the Raider could handle it.

Wanted to add an update. I have used my Gerbing's gear a handful of times so far, mostly to/from work in upper 20s to low 30s. Today I finally tested the charging system's ability to support it while idling.

With the bike turned off, my battery usually reads between 12.9v-13.1v. Pulling into the garage after getting back from work today (i.e. fully warmed-up engine), I checked it while at idle and it read 13.8v, never varying more than +/- 0.1v over a few minutes. I then hooked up the heated gear and turned it up at the way, testing the battery every minute or two for 15 straight minutes while the bike idled (needed enough of a test period to notice the slowest drain, if any). Voltage never varied at all!

Turning off the bike, I tested the battery and saw the same high 12s/low 13s as usual. To see how quickly the gear drains the battery with the charging system disengaged, I turned up the gear to max again (engine still off) with the voltmeter connected. Within 10 seconds, it dropped about 0.5v and kept that pace until I finally disconnected the gear after about 40 seconds.

What that means is that an additional 104w drain (77w for jacket + 27w for gloves) on the system at idle RPMs does not drain the battery. It was reassuring to know for me personally, because I have never had to to turn the jacket above 1/3 of the way on the temp controller and the gloves above 1/2. It also means that even if someone is wearing all 4 pieces of Gerbing's gear and doesn't turn up the controller beyond about 60% of the way or so, the Raider will easily support it even at idle (104w/177w = 58%).

And that's just with the two items I own. I will repeat it when I get the heated pants and insoles just to see whether the additional drain makes a difference at idle.

I should emphasize that I am neither an EE nor an expert mechanic, this was just a test anyone with a voltmeter can conduct. Please don't take this as the final word by any means; your mileage could very well vary!

Stay warm.

Long story short, the Raider has a very stout electrical system, and can handle heated gear with no issues, even at idle.

[Sweet Tooth]

Glad to know that . I had found that it was around 400 + watts but wasnt sure if that was accurate or not.