Troubleshooting heated gear...

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mimico_polak

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hey guys,
I recently got a heated jacket from the states as a gift from my sis and tried turning it on today but nothing...I double checked the connections, I replaced the fuse with different ones I had around (15A) on the lead wire.

It's a Tourmaster heated jacket, and I can't tell whether it's the jacket, or whether it's the wiring harness from battery to jacket.

Can anyone provide me with a way to troubleshoot what the problem could be? I ran heated grips off the battery so that's not the issue. I'm not very technical so just want to see the process in order to eliminate the culprit.

Thanks!
 
Can't diagnose over the internet, you need to see if you have power first, need a multimeter.
 
Does your harness detach? IF so, connect it up to the battery and run a multimeter into it and see if you get any voltage. IF you do then its the jacket. Might just be a place where its fried or cut. Is there no chance of exchanging it?
 
I have a tourmaster and I had to replace the controller. My symptom was that it would turn on but never turn off or change settings.

There is a plastic "nut" than unscrews, and then you pull out the controller connector with a bit of force. You should be able to use the continuity setting on your multimeter and the pigtails.
 
Awesome thanks for the replies guys. Ill go pick up a multimeter on the way home today and see if I can fin the issue. I wasn't sure on proper procedure piece by piece.

The jacket was bought on amazon out of the us so ill have to check on returns but I'll troubleshoot first.

any recommendation on a multimeter to use?
 
I have a tourmaster jacket as well and had to replace the battery side of the cable, it would work intermittently. The wire broke just behind the connector, but it wasn't visible. They are the same as the Gerbings so they are pretty easy to get.
 
Had a similar problem with my tourmaster vest.It kept shutting off after 10 minutes on it's own.After 3 different controllers I realized it was the vest that was the problem.Grand Prix replaced it without any hassles, now it works beautifully.Best $200 I ever spent
 
Hey guys,
I didn't really spend much time on this because of the way it heated up in May and let it go. Today I went back to it and unfortunately it didn't fix itself magically.

Here is what I did today, and it fried 2 of my fuses (15A) with the multimeter connected. Please excuse the layman terms and diagram as electric circuits was my worst course.

1. Multimeter set to 20VDC
2. Check battery with negative to positive - reading on MM - 12.5V
3. (-) terminal from MM with (+) connected to 15A fuse holder - 12.5V
4. (-) terminal from MM with (+) connected to end of lead - BOOM - got a spark and burned 2 fuses

Not sure what is causing it. Even when I connected the (+) to the lead to the jacket, and the (-) to the fuse holder there was about 12.5V showing plus or mins a few.

Can't seem to attach photo but I can PM it to someone if they're interested in taking a look.

Anyone have any input on this? I don't want to start replacing components until I have a better feel for what is wrong.

Thanks.
 
mimico_polak said:
4. (-) terminal from MM with (+) connected to end of lead - BOOM - got a spark and burned 2 fuses
Click to expand...
It should be next to impossible to blow a fuse when using your meter. What meter did you get, got a link?

Please explain in more detail for this step 4, where did you have the negative and positive multimeter wires?
 
This is the multimeter I used from CT: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...OVR~0251031P/Digital+Multimeter.jsp?locale=en In step 4 the negative lead was touching the negative terminal of the battery, and the positive lead was touching the red connector from the harness http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/t...-lead-wiring-harness-38-inch/part/TOUR-88-601 The 15A fuse was installed at the time. As soon as I touched the red end of the harness it sparked, and then the fuse blew. The setting on the MM was on 20VDC the entire time. When I connect the jacket, there is no power going to the controller and no lights come on.
 
The positive lead is the center of the connector, I'd bet money you touched the outer negative part at the same time and blew the fuse.
Guess how I know? LOL.
 
mikbusa said:
The positive lead is the center of the connector, I'd bet money you touched the outer negative part at the same time and blew the fuse.
Guess how I know? LOL.
Click to expand...
Probably this ^^

Also make sure you have the red multimeter lead plugged into the middle port on the meter (not the 10 amp port).
 
mikbusa said:
The positive lead is the center of the connector, I'd bet money you touched the outer negative part at the same time and blew the fuse.
Guess how I know? LOL.
Click to expand...

Well that will explain that...that's exactly what I did. At least it only cost 2 fuses. I'll pick up some more today and continue troubleshooting. If the lead is OK, then time to troubleshoot the jacket. Can anyone recommend how to properly do that? The controller is not getting any power from the looks of it, and I am HOPING that the jacket is fine and it's the controller is the issue.
 
chiefswallow said:
Probably this ^^

Also make sure you have the red multimeter lead plugged into the middle port on the meter (not the 10 amp port).
Click to expand...
Thanks, I made sure to plug it into the centre last night before I got started. I will also check continuity along the lines but need to figure out how it's all connected. Is the centre ALWAYS positive on the connector?
 
mimico_polak said:
Thanks, I made sure to plug it into the centre last night before I got started. I will also check continuity along the lines but need to figure out how it's all connected. Is the centre ALWAYS positive on the connector?
Click to expand...
Yes, that's so the power cant accidentally touch metal on the bike, and short out.
 
I would first turn your multimeter to the diode setting [--|>--] then hook up one lead to the (+) on the center jacket plug and (-) to the side of the jacket plug. If your jacket is using resistive wire you should hear a beep. That means there is continuity (it's like one big wire).

Next thing I would check is the jacket itself, set your multimeter to Ohm setting and see what your resistance is. It should be relatively high if it's got heating elements I'm not sure what the numbers should be but you could roughly calculate it using R = (V * V) / P. Set P to the power consumed by the jacket on high (it should be listed somewhere) and you know V = 12V ... solve for R does this match? if not your going to be drawing more current and it's shorting out. That means there's something wrong with the jacket.

The last place I'd check is the bike, I'm not sure if you hooked up the plug or if the factory did. If it came that way from the factory I'd be willing to say there's something wrong with the jacket. Unless for some odd reason the plug can't supply the amount of current the jacket requires.

Anyhow hope this helps.
 
Update. Ok I went through all the wiring with a multimeter for continuity and it appears to me to be the controller. Here is a schematic I made up of the different continuity readings on the controller connection. Damn it why doesn't GTAM allow me to insert pictures?? Anyway there are 5 ports on the connector. I insert the negative terminal into the first one on the bottom left. The readings going clockwise from the first one are as follows: Port 2 - ~1, Port 3 ~ 0.5, Port 4 ~ 0.5, Port 5 ~ 0.
 
Is this what the controller look like? If yes ditch it and get a Gerbings or Gears heat controller, they are compatible with Tourmaster, I use both a Gerbings and Gears controller with my gloves.
0000_Tour_Master_Control_Unit_for_Heated_Gloves_--.jpg
 
mikbusa said:
Is this what the controller look like? If yes ditch it and get a Gerbings or Gears heat controller, they are compatible with Tourmaster, I use both a Gerbings and Gears controller with my gloves.
0000_Tour_Master_Control_Unit_for_Heated_Gloves_--.jpg
Click to expand...

No, this is the heat controller I have (http://www.motorcycle-superstore.co...ol-Unit-for-Heated-Jacket-and-Vest-Liner.aspx) completely different connection. But I may go and buy a different one because this is getting silly. It also doesn't have the Tourmaster logo on it but some no name brand. I think Amazon re-seller packaged it in a bullcrap way.
 
I have a spare Tourmaster controller if you want it, or if you just want to test that the jacket is still good.

But you probably want one of these: http://www.warmnsafe.com/tour-master-heat-troller-adapter/

It plugs into the round controller connector, effectively bypassing the original controller and leaving the jacket on "high" all the time.

You then want one of these (or the equivalent FirstGear or Gerbings unit) to control the heat level: http://www.warmnsafe.com/single-portable-heat-troller-coax/
 
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