Want HOT hands?..It can be done!!! EDITED FIRST POST

[Sled Dog]

I have been reading this post for some time and I made a call to Yamaha today (Customer Relations 800 962-7926) and spoke with a gentleman named Ian. I told him that I own a 2006 Apex GT and that two of my friends also own Apex's, one is a 2006 Apex RTX and the other is a 2007 Apex ER and that all three of us are not having any heat to our grips. I also asked if there was the so call "ECU Tech Bulletin" and he told me NO.

I expressed the concerns that everyone on this site has about junk heat warmers and he told me that anyone that calls about any problem with Yamaha products a claim will be filed. I also asked if anyone at Yamaha frequents these type of websites and he told me that he had a few die hard sled guys that he knows within Yamaha proably do frequent this site and others. I also stated that there was a "garage fix" for this problem and that it entailed using 2006 bars ect, ect. He told that Yamaha does not have anything to fix this problem now but if everyone takes 5 minutes tommorow to call and talk to them about our concerns then this might happen sooner than later. Remember when you call to be polite and not scream and yell this will help our cause in the long run.

I have Ian's extention written down at work and I will post it tommorow so everyone can call the same person.

For your first post you got it exactly right. This is what we need to do! Welcome to the site.

 

[tripleboy]

The plug in was wired to the cig.lighter outlet from the dealer had the dealer wire the grips like the diagram. I have it apart it apear to be wired right I think. Are the two grip on separate fuses??

 

[Riceburner]

Dan my guess is the rocker, power and grips all go to the CPU. I would not use the CPU as the pulse circuit may be a new can of worms to the CPU and it is not needed.

Absolutely. X 2

Talk about a variable draw potentially messing up the CPU.

130 watts cycling like crazy sounds like it could be trouble.

From the battery though sounds like it could be the real deal.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

guys,

I just was sitting here wondering,why do the hotgrips get so hot when the new elements will not?..i thought it was just due to the design but is it true they hot grips pull more power for some reason?..now that yammie is talking about more draw i think its the grips that pull more power correct?..


well,if this is true...isnt there a way to make the 07 element grips heatup more too?...or are they only designed to draw a certain amount...if so,can we make the hotgrips draw less somehow?..somwhere in between the series and parallel which are iether too cold or too hot...no way to wire it in between?

dan

 

[Port-Parts]

After following this post for awhile and being urged by others I figured I would add my .02 cents on this subject. After talking to Yamaha US techs they confirm that by using the 07 style jumper harness that puts the grips in parallel and then using the 06 bars or putting 06 bars on a 07 is not a recommended fix by Yamaha and may cause damage to other components. In my opinion whenever you are dealing with something as technically advanced as the systems are on these sleds if you start doubling or tripling the amount of amps flowing through a factory engineered system you are asking for trouble down the road. One thing I don't think people are fully considering is that if a failure occurs to the ECU it might not only render the handwarmer circuit useless but could also cause the sled to not run and leave you stranded as the ECU controls the ignition and fuel injection system of the snowmobile as well as many other circuits. I personally would never feel comfortable tampering with any of the factory engineered circuits.

Another option that is out there that I have personally used and feel is a safe alternative for getting additional heat is to install a set of aftermarket accessory grip heaters inside the handlebar tubes to supplement the factory grips. These kits are completely wired separately from the factory grips and include a high/low switch to vary their output. The way they are wired is much like if you wiring in an accessory like a heated shield or heated boots/gloves/etc. I personally know of about 7-10 sleds that have had this done and the heat they provide in combination with the factory grips is very satisfactory (I think a couple site members might want to chime in as some site members I know have done this mod) and they also allow you to regulate the heat via the factory warmers or using the high/low settings on the accessory heaters. The biggest challenge to installing these kits is getting the heating elements inside the handlebar tubes on the 06's as the hooks are bolted onto an insert that is tack welded into place inside the bars. The insert needs to be removed then the elements installed and then the insert needs to be spot welded back into place - some that have installed these kits have made wedge blocks like aftermarket hooks use to reinstall the factory hooks. Here's is a link to the style kits that we have used on the 06 style sleds. The second link is to a style kit that I believe would work on the 07 style handlebars although we have not used that style kit yet but may in the near future. To use the second style kit in an 07 would require putting a hole through the end of the grip and then covering it with some sort of plug. Here's the links.

06 Bar Style Kit
http://www.portyamaha.com/eshopprod_cat ... Y_POLL.htm

Possible kit to use in 07 style bars
http://www.portyamaha.com/eshopprod_cat ... T_BY_K.htm

One last note on these set-ups is that if you normally run a bunch of other accessories on the sled like heated shields, GPS, 100 Watt Headlights, ETC. you may overdraw the available voltage/wattage and run into issues by draining down the battery while using these. By themselves we have not run into any issues like that however.

 

[Port-Parts]

guys,

I just was sitting here wondering,why do the hotgrips get so hot when the new elements will not?..i thought it was just due to the design but is it true they hot grips pull more power for some reason?..now that yammie is talking about more draw i think its the grips that pull more power correct?..


well,if this is true...isnt there a way to make the 07 element grips heatup more too?...or are they only designed to draw a certain amount...if so,can we make the hotgrips draw less somehow?..somwhere in between the series and parallel which are iether too cold or too hot...no way to wire it in between?

dan

Dan

The 06 design grips have less heating element to them and have less resistance through them I believe around 2.2 ohms. The 07 style grips have around 6.0 ohms resistance each. That means when the 06's were wired in series they had around 4.4 ohms resistance in the circuit which pulled roughly 3 amps through the circuit. For 07's in parallel they pull about 2 amps. When you wired you 06's in parallel they pull around 7 amps which is why they get so hot! I honestly believe the engineers at Yamaha have played around with all the combinations when designing these sleds and have come up with combinations that electrically work (physically is another story) while maintaining the ability to control them through the digital gauge and ECU.

Here's a very good link to understanding how this stuff works and should help you understand that the only way to make the 07 style get hotter would be to increase the voltage which is not possible in the 12 volt system or change the resistance in the grips but that is not possible without changing grips.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/question501.htm

 

[Tork]

Thanks Kev,
I almost called you to ask what a CPU costs. Need to order some parts anyway.

 

[SERPAGS]

HANDS

I think we should take a poll and see how many of us made the MACHZED MOD and then wait to see how many of us have CPU problems.

I for one think there was never such a bulletin from Yamaha. Maybe Kevin at Port Yamaha can confirm ?

 

[NOS-PRO]

I for one have rode Kevin's (port parts) sled, and know the kit he put on his sled works. I went with the 07 update bars, and now will go his way.

Thanks for the post Kevin, and for being such a great dealer!

PORT! PORT! PORT!

 

[MrSled]

I have installed these extra heaters kits on several sleds and all have had no problems but I also ran a fused link a relay from the battery to bypass the sleds system completely.

 

[4Fighter]

The extra-tall windshield helps too.

 

[87gtNOS]

Ok i found the link...any ideas guys what would be best way to hook this up?..im game to buy one and try it....would it go right into our main wire boot OK and just set it to low?
http://www.hotgrips.com/product_detail. ... ccessories

YES i see its a "timed switch" which means it turns it on HI power every few seconds depending on how hot you want it...Im not sure if this would work well within our stock setup or be only good for hooking up directly without the stock level switch involved...we really need an electrical engineer for this!..LOL

dan

Dan, looks like a reohstat.....I sell those too.....gimme 20 mins...

hehe, funny thing is, if I wired right from my battery, I am all set because I have the harness for my battery tender hanging there where my jumper leads are!! I may just plug the grips into that!!

 

[87gtNOS]

how's this?? or similar...
http://smartcat.colehersee.com/sc_a...o=7496&strUOM=en&strStateVar=print&strKeyVar=

 

[Taz107]

I have installed these extra heaters kits on several sleds and all have had no problems but I also ran a fused link a relay from the battery to bypass the sleds system completely.

Installing mine in the next week or two, what did you use for your switched 12v supply? Where did you mount the switch? Any pics?
Thanks...

 

[Port-Parts]

Thanks Kev,
I almost called you to ask what a CPU costs. Need to order some parts anyway.

FYI - The ECU units retail for $623.31 and the digital guage meter assembly's go for $624.87.

A couple other notes on ideas stated above if you try to wire your factory grips directly to battery voltage and unplug them from the factory system you will have the check engine light on at all times showing a code for the handwarmer system. As far as a bulletin regarding not tampering with the factory set-up by using a mixture of 06 and 07 parts/wiring I have not seen one but I believe the report on this started from a Canada source. I have spoken to Yamaha US technical support regarding this and I repeat was told that it is not a recommended fix by Yamaha.