- Joined
- May 8, 2008
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- Location
- San Diego, Ca.
I am very grateful for the response I've received and continue to receive on the headlamp mod. No matter how good you build something the person installing and doing these mods is the person who makes it successful! So Thank You! 
Once again I've been busy thinking about what else I might offer in addition to the headlamp relay mod that I think might be an advantage for us motorcyclist.
Every year around this time some of us are in colder riding conditions and thinking about heated grips and the same scenario seems to repeat. How do I power/slave these off the battery? This is not just heated grips but most any accessory we might want to power from the battery separate from the bike's circuits.
Obviously you can run down and buy the standard fare relay, wire it up and you're good to go. The thing that I've never liked about these set-ups is usually the spade connectors that are usually used. They seem to either be poorly made low quality or lack the ability to keep a tight secure contact. They can lack mechanical stability and the insulation can easily be compromised. This usually will end up creating heat and degradation at the connections and can result in the connector failing because of an open circuit or a shorted circuit.
For those interested I've started to build power relay assemblies along the same lines as the headlamp relays I build. They are built using the same type relay and relay socket. They are silicone insulated. Silicone is great! It has a rubbery consistency that is great for mechanical strength and protection. It has a high heat resistance and is a great insulator!
It seals out water and won’t break down from oil or water.
When I build these I apply silicone between all the soldered connections. I then use heat shrink tubing to make a great water/dust proof, mechanically stable assembly.
This is an advantage in the tight confines of motorcycles. It simplifies how and where you mount the relay assembly because of it’s resistance to elements and higher mechanical strength.
I also use a double pole relay. This means there are 2 sets of contacts carrying the current.
If for some reason the relay would ever fail. You can easily and economically replace it with a new relay because it is socket mounted and serviceable!
The assembly includes an inline fuse and ring connectors for both battery connections. One small gauge wire to a keyed source and two wires to power your accessories.
On the FZ6 there is an easy source to get control signal from. This is the “Starter interrupt relay” located on top of the battery.
Attaching the white, light gauge wire, from the power relay to the red with white tracer wire on the starter interrupt relay provides the needed switched power. Any bike can also use it’s running light or tail lamp circuit instead for a switched source.
The relay will provide 20 ampere of current to your devices.
This is a total 260 watts of accessory power.
Wattage equals voltage times current so 13 volts DC times 20 amps equals 260 watts.
There is some good info here to give an idea of the wattage the FZ6 can produce: http://www.600riders.com/forum/garage-mechanical-help/1827-fz6-electrical-power.html
This power relay is suited for what ever you might need to provide power to on your bike.
There are advantages to using switched power for your accessories. One would be these circuits are shut down when the bike is shut down. This would obviously shut off the drain on the battery should you leave something plugged in.
There is a way to have an override switch for those emergencies where you might want power through the relay while the key is off. This can be arranged should that be a concern and talk to me on a great way to do this.
I’m including a PDF with instructions. This unit is very easy to install so there is not much to the instructions.
Once again I've been busy thinking about what else I might offer in addition to the headlamp relay mod that I think might be an advantage for us motorcyclist.
Every year around this time some of us are in colder riding conditions and thinking about heated grips and the same scenario seems to repeat. How do I power/slave these off the battery? This is not just heated grips but most any accessory we might want to power from the battery separate from the bike's circuits.
Obviously you can run down and buy the standard fare relay, wire it up and you're good to go. The thing that I've never liked about these set-ups is usually the spade connectors that are usually used. They seem to either be poorly made low quality or lack the ability to keep a tight secure contact. They can lack mechanical stability and the insulation can easily be compromised. This usually will end up creating heat and degradation at the connections and can result in the connector failing because of an open circuit or a shorted circuit.
For those interested I've started to build power relay assemblies along the same lines as the headlamp relays I build. They are built using the same type relay and relay socket. They are silicone insulated. Silicone is great! It has a rubbery consistency that is great for mechanical strength and protection. It has a high heat resistance and is a great insulator!
It seals out water and won’t break down from oil or water.
When I build these I apply silicone between all the soldered connections. I then use heat shrink tubing to make a great water/dust proof, mechanically stable assembly.
This is an advantage in the tight confines of motorcycles. It simplifies how and where you mount the relay assembly because of it’s resistance to elements and higher mechanical strength.
I also use a double pole relay. This means there are 2 sets of contacts carrying the current.
If for some reason the relay would ever fail. You can easily and economically replace it with a new relay because it is socket mounted and serviceable!
The assembly includes an inline fuse and ring connectors for both battery connections. One small gauge wire to a keyed source and two wires to power your accessories.
On the FZ6 there is an easy source to get control signal from. This is the “Starter interrupt relay” located on top of the battery.
Attaching the white, light gauge wire, from the power relay to the red with white tracer wire on the starter interrupt relay provides the needed switched power. Any bike can also use it’s running light or tail lamp circuit instead for a switched source.
The relay will provide 20 ampere of current to your devices.
This is a total 260 watts of accessory power.
Wattage equals voltage times current so 13 volts DC times 20 amps equals 260 watts.
There is some good info here to give an idea of the wattage the FZ6 can produce: http://www.600riders.com/forum/garage-mechanical-help/1827-fz6-electrical-power.html
This power relay is suited for what ever you might need to provide power to on your bike.
There are advantages to using switched power for your accessories. One would be these circuits are shut down when the bike is shut down. This would obviously shut off the drain on the battery should you leave something plugged in.
There is a way to have an override switch for those emergencies where you might want power through the relay while the key is off. This can be arranged should that be a concern and talk to me on a great way to do this.
I’m including a PDF with instructions. This unit is very easy to install so there is not much to the instructions.
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