Heated jacket question - modification

[mimico_polak]

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hey everyone,

looks like my job involves me being outdoors a bit more than normal so was wondering if anyone has any recommendation on using the motorcycle heated jacket (Gerbins/Gears) without a connection to a moto battery?
Basically is it possible to find a small / lightweight battery with +/- terminals that can power the jacket with availability of recharging? Not sure if this is possible but might be a solution as the jacket would fit great underneath my reflective parka. Otherwise I'll have to look into buying an actual heated jacket for this winter.

Thanks!

 

[meme]

I've bought the 12v cigarette adapter for a friend who was using the vest on a construction site. But he has a lighter in his machine to plug into.

 

[GreyGhost]

The info I can find says a Gerbins heated jacket pulls 77W at 12V. Powering it at full steam would be a nightmare for batteries. Can you get away with lower power? If you feed it with 4 alkaline batteries (6V power supply), the jacket should pull ~40 watts (~3A draw). Each D cell holds 1.8 Ah so you'd need to change batteries every 40 minutes. If you can get away with 1/4 power (2 D cells in series) you would get away with 1.2 hours for every 2 D cells. I'm not sure reducing the voltage further would provide much heat to you as it is spreading it over such a large area.

The short story is, your jacket is designed to be hooked up to a limitless (relatively) source of power, your best bet is to buy a jacket designed to run off a battery. For instance, the gerbing heated vest draws 8 W at full power.

 

[CruisnGrrl]

http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforum/showthread.php?187007-cheap-heated-jacket

pick up the heated hoodie for 75$ if they still have them in stock. Less headache. you can buy their 12v adaptor for in vehicle use or make one yourself from parts from sayal.

 

[Lightcycle]

Gerbings offers a flexible 12V lithium battery pack: http://gerbing.com/collection/12v-lithium-8ah-flexpack-kit.html

At 8Ah, it should power a 2.2A liner for 3.5 hours at max heat. Looks kinda bulky though.

 

[CruisnGrrl]

Gerbings offers a flexible 12V lithium battery pack: http://gerbing.com/collection/12v-lithium-8ah-flexpack-kit.html

At 8Ah, it should power a 2.2A liner for 3.5 hours at max heat. Looks kinda bulky though.

wow that's expeinsive. for $200 you can get the hoodie mentioned above plus enough battery packs to go all day.

 

[nfq]

http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforum/showthread.php?187007-cheap-heated-jacket

pick up the heated hoodie for 75$ if they still have them in stock. Less headache. you can buy their 12v adaptor for in vehicle use or make one yourself from parts from sayal.

Home depot's out in mississauga had a few of these laying about.

 

[CruisnGrrl]

Home depot's out in mississauga had a few of these laying about.

I thought the Home Depot price was a little bit more expensive then the price at Milwaukee for their clearance

 

[nfq]

I thought the Home Depot price was a little bit more expensive then the price at Milwaukee for their clearance

You're right. $99.99 at Home Depot.

 

[mimico_polak]

Thanks guys appreciate the input.

I did the numbers and I don't see myself finding a reasonably priced battery pack that will give more than a few hours of juice to the jacket.

ill check out the HD hoodies tomorrow as there's one near me in Etobicoke as well.

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