$35.00 Heated Jacket Liner (DIY)

[65 Flathead]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

I use a Heat troller. make sense?

Yep, i did understand you correctly. How many watts is your vest rated.

[tslewisz]

Originally Posted by BuddingGeezer

For practical purposes 30awg copper wire has 1 ohm resistance per 10', so 30' have 3 ohms resistance. My '91 Honda ST1100 runs at 15Volts. 15/3= 5 amps. 15V x 5 amps = 75 watts. I originally used this on a BMW K100LT which put out 14V. wich produced 65 watts. I originally sewed the thread into a zip out quilted lining and I noticed the extra heat from the BMW to the Honda. I bought a new winter jacket, so I stripped the wire and sewed it into a Wal Mart Starter brand jacket just like the original poster, but I will wear it turned inside out to provide a little insulation from the wiring. Mine plugs directly to the battery with an inline off/on switch. The wire I used was Radio Shack 30awg copper hook up wire. It is a single strand wire and was $3 for 50'. I no longer can find it a RS. Stranded wire like the original poster used would be better, simply because the multiple wires are more pliable and would tend to not be as breakable when folded. I have only broken a wire 1 time and all you do is connect it back.

Since I no longer have the quilted insulation between me and the wiring the 15 volts may be too hot. If so I'll add more wire to cool it down.

Ralph Sims

Thank you.

[levain]

Originally Posted by 65 Flathead

Yep, i did understand you correctly. How many watts is your vest rated.

45 watts. 3.3 amps

[papaduc]

Originally Posted by trumpet

I'll draw it out later and post a schematic

Thanks for the time and effort to post the photos and such

But heck $22.00 is a very good deal for a controller. I used to use a portable one since I have multiple bikes, at that price I could mount one to each bike and still come out ahead.

[trumpet]

Originally Posted by papaduc

Thanks for the time and effort to post the photos and such

But heck $22.00 is a very good deal for a controller. I used to use a portable one since I have multiple bikes, at that price I could mount one to each bike and still come out ahead.

I'd been noodling a sealed controller for permanent mounting in the bikes fairing. Just have a knob, led, power switch, and connector.

Lazy wins though, I've only been planning to do this through 3 bikes at this point.

[GS Addict]

Interesting thread
Just a comment, I built my own controller using a power mosfet and found I had to drop the switching frequency to the 1-10 hz range or the controller would inject a ton of noise in the intercom/audio system.
In the application of heating control that low frequency is of no concern.

[65 Flathead]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

45 watts. 3.3 amps

Well if you run 20 feet (5 loops of 2 ft) for each sleeve and wire them in series for a total of 40 ft of wire, this will give you an additional 43 watts (21.5 watts per sleeve). Put this in parallel with your 45-watt vest, and you’ll be pulling just over 9 amps total on your controller. As best I can tell, most of the power MOSFETs in these are rated at 15 amps, so in theory you should be good.

Keep in mind though, that this is my first attempt at heated clothing, and mine is untested in actual cold weather riding. So everything I have done so far is still “in theory”

[mr_magicfingers]

Fantastic information here, think I'll be searching for some wire to run into the liners of my jacket and trousers this winter.

Cheers,

Justin.

[M2]

Hi,
I decided to try one myself. I bought the same starter jacket. Did not want to order wire and wait so I used 30 ga. transformer wire. The insulation is not as thick but supposed to be good to 200 c. It fits into a large needle nicely. I used 2 forty ft lengths. One in the body and one in the sleeves. I am planning to connect those in parallel. Two things I found that made the installation of the wire easier. One was to plan where the wires go and mark with a silver sharpie. You can use the marks to estimate wire length. Second was to have wife wear jacket turned inside out while I wired up the jacket. Better than working with jacket spread out on table. I didn't stick her to many times.
I tested the jacket connected to a battery and seemed to work fine. I will borrow a meter to check amps later. Now I need to decide on connectors, controller, etc.

Mike

[M2]

Originally Posted by GalenEvans

5.5mm X 2.5mm jacks. Plugs are 5.5 X 2.5 x 12mm long.

I can find Plugs that are either 9.5mm or 14mm long. Which one would work?
There seems to be only one 5.5 X 2.5 jack size.

http://www.action-electronics.com/dcpowerplugs.htm


Thanks

Mike

[65 Flathead]

Originally Posted by M2

I can find Plugs that are either 9.5mm or 14mm long. Which one would work?
There seems to be only one 5.5 X 2.5 jack size.

http://www.action-electronics.com/dcpowerplugs.htm


Thanks

Mike

I went with "Size N". UPS Tracker says my controllers (PWM's) Will be in tomorrow, so if the temp stays the same here (40's in the am) I'll be able to give it all a good test run this weekend.

[Ledude]

Thanks for the great thread and the easy to understand and follow data/instructions... I wanted a liner/shell similar to what Gerbin and others use and was able to find one at Kmart, it is made by Basic Edition and you can get it on sale for around $10-17.00 ... It has a mesh lining and a few pockets with elastic cuffs, neck and hip/base. It is a shade heavier than the Walmart wind breaker... the only thing it can't do is fold itself into one of the pockets...

they run on the large size, so buy one size smaller than your regular size, I bought a medium which fits me very well with a 44 chest size.

Kmart jacket

[Inprogress]

Where are they? WHERE ARE THEY??? Man I watch way to many CG movies.

Any pics on the gloves yet? Very interested?

We don't have such cold whether as you guys in the north, but, if it means being less bulky on the bike (think Michelin man), then I am a go for it.....just sad no matter what, my jacket will cost me a lot since my G/S don't generate that much power to play with.

Happy trails and I like it.

[65 Flathead]

Originally Posted by Inprogress

Where are they? WHERE ARE THEY??? Man I watch way to many CG movies.

Any pics on the gloves yet? Very interested?

We don't have such cold whether as you guys in the north, but, if it means being less bulky on the bike (think Michelin man), then I am a go for it.....just sad no matter what, my jacket will cost me a lot since my G/S don't generate that much power to play with.

Happy trails and I like it.

I'm kind of in a holding pattern on the gloves. i have had some reservations about my original design. Not electrical issues, but physical routing of the wire. I had originally started by burning small holes in the Thinsulate liner, and threading the wires through them. Then i decided to do a little sewing to hold everything in place and have no wire touching skin. Now, I'm wondering if the Thinsulate will keep the heat from getting to my skin effectivley, and am considering sewing a second liner in the glove with wiring attached.

I haven't had any time to work on them due to work, but my goal is to finish the whole setup this weekend. Pics and build report will be posted then.

Sorry for the wait, yes, my hands re REALLY sorry for the wait!

[Ledude]

Found another source for the teflon wire, Bulkwire.com, at $20.67 for a 100 feet spool and $4.95 for s&h.

it has the following specs:

Conductor
Silver-plated stranded copper wire

Insulation
Extruded PTFE

Temperature Range
-65°C to +200°C (-85°F to +392°F)

Compliances

• MIL-W-16878E/4 Type E
• MIL-STD-104

Applications

• Aviation
• Military
• Racing
• Commercial

Voltage Rating
600 VAC