jmbones
Veteran
If I hook the heated shield kit directly to the battery, will it put a drain on it even if it is not connected? For example, if the sled sits all summer, will it kill the battery?
Eggman
Extreme
It shouldn't as long as there is no competed path to the circuit. When you plug in the shield it completes the circuit. I would make sure you put a fuse close to the battery in case of a short though.
RX1Jim
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
No, it will not drain the battery unless the heated shield is plugged into it with the engine off. If you do decide to connect the heated shield circuit directly to the battery, be sure to put a fuse on the positive side. Without a fuse and hooked directly to the battery is asking to fry some wiring. You should also take the battery out of the sled prior to storage and connect it to a battery tender and periodically charge it. These batteries are not meant to be discharged completely since the battery will lose capacity.
RX1Jim
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
Use a fuse that is large enough to handle the electrical current drawn by the sheild but low enough to protect the wiring. Probably a 2 to 3 amp fuse with 18 to 20 gauge wire. My point is just make sure the fuse will handle the load and still be the weakest link.
jmbones
Veteran
So should I scrap the wire that came with the kit and wire it with some 18-20 gauge? Because the wire in the kit is SUPER thin and It'd be pretty hard to hook a fuse into it.
Eggman
Extreme
18-20 gague wire is really thin, I would solder and shrink tape a 2-3 amp fuse in line with the posative like rx1jim had stated.
i installed the fuse on the wiring kit that came with the sheild,just make sure to zip tie it good so the wires dont move around too much,mines been wired for 4 years with no problems
John1Ohio
Extreme
I have wired ours to our thumb warmer lead wire and these are the 6th sleds with heated shields. I solder an inline fuse and I have not had a problem on any of the sleds.
Assuming you have an RX, I hooked mine to the jumper cables that go from the battery to the chain case side of the sled. The positive jumper cable has an inline fuse already on it so you do not need to add one to it. Even though the heated shield wire will not cause a drain unplugged, I never leave a battery in a stored sled, bike, tractor, etc... Without a periodic charge it will be dead within weeks.
jmbones
Veteran
Thanks for all the tips. Where is it recommended to ground this to? The battery? I grounded it to a bolt near the battery and now the whole sled is a short if the connector from the heated shield hangs down and touches the tunnel or any metal parts.
jmbones said:
The positive lead of the electric shield connecter is inside the female end so it only connects when you insert the male end into it. If it touches the frame, it is only the ground that is exposed. I would ground it to the negative jumper cable, it has a good solid, unpainted, hidden ground point.
jmbones
Veteran
RedRocket said:
Thanks. I guess what happened was I left the short piece of cable with a male connector on both ends attached that goes from your helmet to the coiled cable on the sled. It fell from my sled and the male end touched the tunnel where your feet go and it started sparking. I will move the ground to the jumper lead.
I was able to look at mine, 2004, it is not fused.
RedRocket Quote earlier:
"Assuming you have an RX, I hooked mine to the jumper cables that go from the battery to the chain case side of the sled. The positive jumper cable has an inline fuse already on it so you do not need to add one to it."
I took a look at my sled the other day and did not see a inline fuse from the jumper cable to the battery. If it was fused I would think it would be large enough that in the event of a dead battery it would handle a jump from another sorce and the fuse would be much larger than the one needed to protect the wiring to your heated sheild.
In any event I took a amp draw from my heated shield and fused it with a 2 amp fuse and have not had a problem with that. I think that the sheild that I have drew .5 amp, this is from memory could be a little off.
My suggestion is that where ever you find a power sorce, fuse it. Adding a properly sized fuse to an allready fused circuit will not harm anything.
RedRocket Quote earlier:
"Assuming you have an RX, I hooked mine to the jumper cables that go from the battery to the chain case side of the sled. The positive jumper cable has an inline fuse already on it so you do not need to add one to it."
I took a look at my sled the other day and did not see a inline fuse from the jumper cable to the battery. If it was fused I would think it would be large enough that in the event of a dead battery it would handle a jump from another sorce and the fuse would be much larger than the one needed to protect the wiring to your heated sheild.
In any event I took a amp draw from my heated shield and fused it with a 2 amp fuse and have not had a problem with that. I think that the sheild that I have drew .5 amp, this is from memory could be a little off.
My suggestion is that where ever you find a power sorce, fuse it. Adding a properly sized fuse to an allready fused circuit will not harm anything.
grader
TY 4 Stroke Master
as far as removing the battery during summer storage, dont bother. it can and should be maintained with a low amp charger through the jumper ends provided. if you want to learn how your sleds battery is accesed, then remove it, but it can stay installed with no harm done.
RaWarrior
Extreme
There's no need to remove it from the machine. Just hook a trickle charge up to the jumper leads once a month for a few hours and you'll be fine. Or, just start the machine and let it run for a few minutes. These motors have almost half a kilowatt of charging power (460 if I remember) so they will charge pretty fast, even after all the other electrical accessories.
The battery in my lawn tractor sat from about September to just now, left hooked up, not charged, and it had plenty of charge to start it. The power doesn't magically vanish, if batteries in your stuff go dead after a "few weeks" you have a short somewhere.
Only time you want to disconnect/remove the battery is if it's an electric start ski-doo/sea-doo. The MPEM draws like .2watts at all times to keep the DESS post active, and within a month or so it will run the battery dead if not charged.
The battery in my lawn tractor sat from about September to just now, left hooked up, not charged, and it had plenty of charge to start it. The power doesn't magically vanish, if batteries in your stuff go dead after a "few weeks" you have a short somewhere.
Only time you want to disconnect/remove the battery is if it's an electric start ski-doo/sea-doo. The MPEM draws like .2watts at all times to keep the DESS post active, and within a month or so it will run the battery dead if not charged.
