I'm sure some of you have noticed that HD's offerings of electrically heated clothing have changed, with the newest products (e.g. jacket liners, glove liners, pant liners, and sock liners) being deliberately wired using 2.5mm x 5.5mm COAX connectors versus the previous SAE connectorss, with the 2 different connector types being made deliberately non-joinable,unless you go to aftermarket adaptors.

Now, after extensive research, I understand why. The old equipment was both inefficient and unsafe. In this thread, I'l explain why.

My education on this started with a ridea, taken 3-1/2 weeks ago, with my decade-old HD 12 volt electric vest that used embedded wires to heat (only) limited areas of my front and rear chest, plugged in via SAE connector, to my existing battery charger SAE connector on the bike. That vest had no temperature controller - it was simply either on or off, and the on-off switch was not easy to reach and turn on or off while riding.

During that ride, the temperature started out quite cold, but warmed up during the 3.5 hour ride. When the outdoor temperature got reasonably warm , I was on a stretch of highway with no good place to stop, so I continued to ride without shutting off the vest. It soon got to be uncomfortably warm, but I am pretty physically insensitive to discomfort and pain, and did not experience anything worrisome.

However, when I got home, and was taking the riding gear off, I felt some pain in my back, and used a mirror to take a closer look. I found I had a blister at one point, and a few other areas where my skin was visibly red (like a sunburn). The blister broke while I was replacing the shirt, and my wife was horrified by what she saw. She took a photo of it, and emailed it to our younger son, who is a registered nurse. He said I should go to a clinic right away.

To make a long story short, the doctor said I had a 2nd degree burn there, and he was HOPEFUL that it would not require a skin graft!

Now, 3.5 weeks later, the burn site is STILL healing, my wife has to apply a special cream to protect it against infection and to help the healing, and it needs to be freshly bandaged 3 times per day to prevent the forming scab from being damaged via abrasion when I set with my back against a chair ot sofa cushion. I also cannot let it get wet when bathing. Who knew that an electric vest could harm a person that way!

So, here's the technical background to all this:

It turns out that these vests, without some form of thermostat control added, would hit about 155 degrees F if left on when the ambient temperature is warm enought o not require any artificial heating. Unfortunately, human skin begins to get uncomfortable (for most people) by about 110 to 115 degree F, and will acquire a 2nd degree burn by contact with something in the region of up to 130 degrees. THAT's why I got my burn.

In addition, the old heated vests like mine were pretty inefficient. They had wires in only 3 sections of the left chest, the right chest, and the back. The limited areas, and the wiring technology, meant uneven heating of your skin, and the vests pulled 6 or 7 amps.

The NEW "nanofibre" technology that HD adopted is much more efficient, and WAY safer, although also way more expensive.

It uses "cloth" that has nanofibres of carbon fiber. This cloth is TEN times less resistant to electrical flow than copper! Because of the incredibly low electrical resistance, and the "distributed" versus "wired" approach, garments made from nanofiber have much more even heat distribution, no concentratedheat versus cold areas, can be folded for storage in a saddlebag without breaking wires, can heat a body MUCH more effectively with lower peak temperatures, can easily heat sleeves (unlike vests or wired liners) and way lower current draw (about 3 amps versus 6 or 7 amps). They CAN still get to potentially high enough temperatures to burn skin, BUT they don;t NEED to because of the better heat distribution, and because HD (and other suppliers to skiers and construction workers) sell them with BUILT-IN temperature controllers, they can't GET hot enough to burn skin.

HD obviously does NOT want you to be able to connect your wife's old vest to the same power supply as your new nanofibre jacket liner, because of the obvious danger that could create. I think that's why they changed connectors AND made joining the 2 technologies impossible using their old "splitters". HD in fact EMPHASIZES that the new garments must only be used with the COAX wiring setups, and they provide a new harness to connect to your battery.

If you do not intend to "mix" new and old technologies, you can still buy, on the aftermarket, short 2.5mm x 5.5mm coax cables with an SAE connector at the other end, so that you can still use your SAE battery tender connector already connected to your bike's battery.

That is what I intend to do.

Jim G

 

Warm & Safe Heated Clothing the Warmest Clothing in the Universe – Warm & Safe Heated Gear (warmnsafe.com)

 

No. That "Warm & Safe" website does NOT mention nanofibre anywhere. They use thin wires. So does the well-known Black Jack (Canadian) line of heated garments. Not the same thing. And neither of these companies include a temperature controller in the garment. The controller is extra, which means people cna use the garments without the safety of a temperature controller.

Jim G

 

For years I used the heated clothering that only had the on/off switch. I did place the switch where I could get to it with a gloved hand.

Now I have the adjustable temp controler and all is well with the SAE connection. I doubt it was the type of connection that caused your issue.

 

Gerbing heated gear. I don't know how it works. It just works. There are a few pieces of kit that will make or break a trip. Could not ride without it on a recent trip from NC to Alaska and back. Woke up one morning camping in BC Cananda. Misplaced my SAE connector. Sheer panic for 5 minutes until I found it.

 

I spent too much money trying different heated gear. We now have a mix of Harley, Hotwired, and Gerbing. I only use the Gerbing. All of them have controllers.

 

Hope you heal soon.

While the post might alert or save someone pain and suffering it seems like there are a few concerns that can be taken by the user of a heat generating device.From a distance it reads like a user error.

A simple switch, thermostat or a quick disconnect from power source (SAE connector).
It reads like the switch was difficult for you to reach for some reason.
The second, a thermostat was not used by you.
The third was not used (disconnect SAE).

You report being pretty physically insensitive to discomfort and pain, and did not experience anything worrisome.
That statement is a major concern, because if someone is insensitive to discomfort, pain or perhaps has numbness then such a user should probably move away from a heat generating unit.
Heating pads and their use by diabetics would come to mind.

If any pain was felt then a strong pull at an SAE connector should have been able to be initiated.

 

Been using Warm&Safe along with Gerbing heated gloves for years.

Without a heat troller, all you have is a short circuit using your heated gear as a resistor.

Have used this heat troller for over ten years, best investment I have made. Mount the remote controller on my handle bars and adjust as needed.

It is dual so one side for my jacket, the other for the gloves.

https://www.warmnsafe.com/collection...l-heat-troller

 

It was not the type of connection that caused my problem. HD changed the connector type in order to prevent mixng the 2 technologies (rider and passenger) on the same connection, for safety reasons that have nothing to do with the connector. The issue would be 2 garments with wildly different resistances and felt heat if just one controller, or NO controller, was used with the 2 different technology garments plugged in on ONE circuit. HD did not want to make that possible, so changed the connector type.

Jim G

 

Do you have a cited reference from Harley Davidson or some other source about the safety concerns and changing the connector type to prevent mixing of the technologies?

Or is it just hearsay and supposition?

My Warm& Safe has coax connections and has wires in the clothing. I am sure I could mix and match the nano-fiber stuff with my connections.