Problem with heated gloves on '13 V7

[pyoungbl]

I have a friend who was an avid long distance rider.  He set a few significant records (Alaska to Key West, NYC to LA, coast to coast across Canada) so he was always wired up to stay warm.  On one ride his Gerbing gloves malfunctioned and he ended up with 3rd degree burns on his hands.  As a result I can understand why the gloves might now have a protective feature to avoid this very problem in the future.  A call to the glove manufacturer would go a long way to help understand what's going wrong here.

My '13 V7 has no problem when I run a Powerlet or Warm N Safe liner at full power...as long as the engine is turning 3-3.5K rpm.

Peter Y.

[Vagrant]

just an FYI, I have oxford heated grips on the V7 and once they shut themselves off and a couple of times the green light was flashing showing battery saving mode. a couple of times when on 50% and above there was very little heat. now I suspect they too are shutting down from to much voltage with mine hitting 17-17.4.
also I pulled the regulator last night and cleaned off the very HD paint on the mounting surface and the regulator to make sure it is grounding properly. seems to have brought the charging down to 16.5 at idle and 17.1 at 3-4000 RPM. I didn't pull the tank to see if there was a normal ground strap.
all this being said means call the glove co. and ask them 

[canuguzzi]

I have never said the battery is the issue, I did say the battery could be the issue and recommended methods to test and find out if that was true or not.

 

What we do know, contrary to advice, that it is not the LED lights. :Beating_A_Dead_Hors e_by_liviu

The objective here is to help the OP figure it out, some understand that, others see the objective as being different.

Changing lights from LEDs obviously didn't help nor eliminate them as a problem because that problem never existed in the first place.

Sending the gloves back likewise, wasn't the problem, that too didn't exist.

Testing the battery, the charging system, the wiring are however, valid in isolating the problem and resolving it.

The gloves need a fewnthings to work. Good wiring, proper installation, knowledge of how to use them and...

Sufficient voltage and amperage to power them.

Without sufficient volts and amps, they won't work. OP has the necessary information on how to go about insuring both volts and amps are available. What is causing insufficient voltage and amperage will eventually be determined.

It could be another electrical component that is part of the charging system but first, check the very easy things, batteru, wiring etc then work back to testing and changing regulators and such. Just swapping parts is....

Changing LEDs out for Halogens or other lights as was suggested is like changing the oil and hoping the bike runs after running out of gasoline.

[canuguzzi]

One more thing, the OP hasn't seen 17 volts anywhere, yet this seems to be some issue.

If the charging system was delivering 17 volts to the battery and overcharging it, then pray tell, why doesn't someone here simply explain to the OP how to test for that and help rather than suggest he start spending money to swapnparts in the guessing game that might seem to fix the problem but doesn't find the root cause?

Swapping parts doesn't fix anything unless you know for a fact the original part was the cause of the problem. There could be other problems that caused the part to fail and then you are back to square one later on, swapping parts in the hope it works.

Pete was soooooo right on that. 

[Kev m]

Charging system diagnosis is pretty simple, but most manufacturers don't provide any direct regulator testing these days.

Like many solid state components they want you to test around it.

That said there are some rules of thumb.

Undercharging is usually the stator, and when possible you check by testing stator output. If unregulated voltage is low, you've got the culprit. If output is normal, you replace the regulator.


Overcharging is almost always the fault of the regulator.


Both rules of thumb assume you've already checked the condition of the battery, wiring, and connectors.

Anyway 15 or 17 volts, both cases point to faulty wiring and/or regulators.

[swordds]

There is a thread on the Guzzi Tech forum regarding the "very common" problem of a V7 - V7II faulty voltage regulators overcharging (15.1 volts) and the serious problems this will cause. Can I copy and post the thread here?  Anyway recommendation is to require the dealer to correct the problem before the cam sensor is burned out. Perhaps OPs gloves have an overvoltage protector so they won't accept 15 volts and just a matter of time before the too high voltage damaged other parts. I am going to check my charging system tomorrow. In the meantime let me know if I can paste the comments here.

[Kev m]

You can copy what you want it's a public forum.

[swordds]

I am to ignorant to figure out how to cut and paste just a section of the very long thread. But the gest is that overcharging is a very common V7 problem, 15 volts charging will eventually cause some serious problems probably leaving the bike stranded on the road, and the overcharging problem needs to be corrected ASAP.  Also, over charging is possibly the cause for the gloves not working, so if the OP is reading (and anyone with a 2013+ V7) you should check out the post on GuzziTech V7 forum regarding over charging. I am not sure if the problem applies to the V7II but I plan to check mine hopefully tomorrow. Can I  just attach my voltmeter to the batter terminals and the start the engine to see the changing output?

[Tom H]

That is what I would do as the easiest way to check the voltage.

Tom

[canuguzzi]

If the voltage problem is that common (not implying in any way it is not) then why aren't there complaints about it?

A complaint on a public forum isn't a complaint.

If just ten people (or less) all had the same problem and filed a complaint, MG would fix it. Forums won't fix it and digging into your own bank account is up to you but does it make sense?

Seems they go for about $100 and S&H&T. That would put a lot of gasoline in the fuel tank.

[drlapo]

I'm going to talk to my dealer about the voltage regulator on my 13 V7: 15.45 volts at all
RPM and that's not good

[canuguzzi]

I'm going to talk to my dealer about the voltage regulator on my 13 V7: 15.45 volts at all
RPM and that's not good

PM sent on how to get it fixed under warranty.

[drawnverybadly]

Hey all,

Back with an update, I ordered and installed a shindengen regulator (FH020AA) and that did the trick. The voltage at idle is now 14.3v and it holds steady as I rev up to 3000rpm. The heated gloves now work perfectly, I'm guessing that Tourmaster heated gear has an unadvertised over-voltage protection that protects you from burning your gear out.
While I had the tank off to access the regulator plugs I also changed out the fuel pump, at a little over 9000 miles and 2 years old, the stock half plastic fuel pump looked fine with plenty of life left, considering it only cost me an extra 20 mins of labor and $6 in parts I'm not too stressed out about doing it but I'm sure it could have lasted plenty more miles and years.
I also changed out the clutch, throttle and return cables. The throttle cable was fine, the clutch cable sheathing was a bit melted from engine heat and the return cable was totally rusted and snapped.

It looks like NYC is about to get a nice stretch of 70 degree days but if springtime decides to be fickle again at least I'll be riding with warm hands.

Thanks all for the help! 

[Kev m]

Thanks for reporting back!