Small on-board 12 volt battery for display??

[Oregonsledder]

Okay, maybe this is a dumb idea, but In reading the owners manual for my new 12 PRO, it says you can read the instrument display with a 12 volt battery connection.
I’m used to manual gauges, and it seems like it would be a good thing to be able to see your instruments like temp, trip odometer etc. when you are stopped.

Lets say you get a bit warm and decide to stop for a while to let the sled cool down and have a beverage of some sort... The only way to know that you have cooled down is to start the sled. That’s no big deal, but I was thinking there might be a way to have some very small 12 volt battery on-board tied to maybe the key position for the electric starter. I don’t have electric start and never will.

I don’t have a shop manual yet, so I have not seen a wiring schematic.
Any thoughts on this? If the general consensus is that this is a dumb idea, I will just go take a nap the next time a thought like this hit me... LOL

 

[EricW]

The challenge as far as coolant temp would be that the coolant at the head where the sending unit is should acyaully get hotter as you sit and it heat sinks from the motor. The coolant in the tunnel on the other hand should be heat transferring due to its exposure to the snow/elements. So if you are sitting for 5 minutes and power your instruments (with external 12v) you might see a temp reading that is warmer than usual and as soon as you fire it up it will drop to cooler than usual pretty quickly as the tunnel cooled coolant reaches the engine/sending unit. This blast of cooler water to the engine has been discussed here a bunch.

For the purposes that you describe I would think that getting an accurate feel for true engine or coolant cool down may be hard to judge with a non-running motor. I don't understand much, am afraid of everything, and if it can go wrong it will with me. With that in mind, I always fire up my warm sled first, then put on helmet, gloves, goggles, etc. and take off in a reasonable fashion until I see the high 120's to low 130's for engine temp. This usually happens right away, but I have seen the wild swings in coolant temp after sitting. Just my .02. EW

 

[NapaMatt]

Actually.. it would be very handy...

I am sure it is do-able..


The way i have my Heat Shield Wired up.. All i would have to do is.. have a little 12v Power pack.. and put a Connector the same as the Heated Shield.. It would work.. Keep in your coat.. or pack..


But if you wanted the power pack Mounted on the sled..

Hmm.. The Cold/heat would take a tole on the batteries... If they were to stay on the sled..


Got any 12V remote Controlled Cars/Trucks Around with a nice rechargeable Battery pack? That would be the ticket... Light... Small.. Plus Rechargeable !!

Got to Remember this is the TEMP in the Head.. .. After you run it for a sec.. the COLD coolant is going to come from the Tunnel.. fyi


But in the other hand.. Just wait a few more mins.. With these long coolers it sure doesn't take any time at all for these to cool all the way down.. 10-15 mins..

 

[Oregonsledder]

Actually.. it would be very handy...

I am sure it is do-able..


The way i have my Heat Shield Wired up.. All i would have to do is.. have a little 12v Power pack.. and put a Connector the same as the Heated Shield.. It would work.. Keep in your coat.. or pack..


But if you wanted the power pack Mounted on the sled..

Hmm.. The Cold/heat would take a tole on the batteries... If they were to stay on the sled..


Got any 12V remote Controlled Cars/Trucks Around with a nice rechargeable Battery pack? That would be the ticket... Light... Small.. Plus Rechargeable !!

Got to Remember this is the TEMP in the Head.. .. After you run it for a sec.. the COLD coolant is going to come from the Tunnel.. fyi


But in the other hand.. Just wait a few more mins.. With these long coolers it sure doesn't take any time at all for these to cool all the way down.. 10-15 mins..

I understand the temp issue would be as you describe but that's only one thing that the display shows. Trip odometer and maybe the replay feature would be more practical, for the battery idea.

 

[Mr.Blizzard]

I run a 2.8amp 12 v sealed batt for my gps and other stuff .I charge it with sled charging system.Hot or cold no big deal

 

[Reg2view]

FWIW, you'll also be priming your fuel system when you connect the battery, if you use the stock port. That may be good, don't know, but the power plug to power up the gauge also starts the fuel pump.

 

[NapaMatt]

I checked last time...

Even just a 9 Volt ,.... Does the trick.. to power it up

 

[Oregonsledder]

I checked last time...

Even just a 9 Volt ,.... Does the trick.. to power it up

Thanks for your info! I'm thinking that it would be nice to be able to use the momentary switch position not being used for the electric start. It seems it would be handy to be able to check the trip odometer and other things by simply turning the key. Do you have something like what I'm describing hooked up to a 9 volt battery. If so where did you connect the battery.

Does any one have a wiring diagram?

 

[NapaMatt]

If you look down by the primary..

You will find a bundle of wires.. a couple plugs coming out..

One will be ECM Power... This is for TPS Configuring For PC-V

Other one will be DC PWR Is is where you can have a Power Source,, For GPS, or Heated Sheild...

Or Want to power up the sled MFD.. To see the coolant or Trip Miles..

Just Put at least 9 Volts.. to the DC PWR


FYI... Brown is GROUND!!
I can snap a pic.. later

 

[Mr.Blizzard]

I put a diode on plus wire of batt.This is so current only flows to batt and does not backfeed system.