Gerbings Lifespan

[RT66Rider]

My Gerbings heated jacket appears to have died on me, after nearly 5 years of faithful service.

I was hoping that it was only a controller issue, but after testing another jacket, the fault seems to be in the jacket itself.

 

Is 4-5 years about the norm for this jacket ?

[Kathy R]

My guess is that it's longevity is tied to hours used, rather than number of years used.

[dirtrider]

Evening Michael

 

Call Gerbings support, if a broken wire or open circuit inside they will more than likely repair it for you for free. Those things have a good guarantee on the electrical part.

 

[Paul Mihalka]

Check with Gerbing. I think they have a life-long warranty on the electrics of their products.

[RT66Rider]

Check with Gerbing. I think they have a life-long warranty on the electrics of their products.

Exactly right, electrically they are warranted for life.

I was just wondering if others have had major failures after 4-5 years of service.

[lkraus]

My guess is that it's longevity is tied to hours used, rather than number of years used.

 

Longevity may also be tied to storage practices. I can imagine sharp folds stressing the heating elements. Does the jacket get stuffed into a pannier from time to time?

[RT66Rider]

Longevity may also be tied to storage practices. I can imagine sharp folds stressing the heating elements. Does the jacket get stuffed into a pannier from time to time?

Of course it does, but I usually try to roll it up when I stow it to prevent any hard bending of the filaments.

And by the way, this is the older style filament, not the new Microwire technology.

 

I'll be contacting Gerbing's today to see what they can do for me.

And I will update this thread when I get some feedback from them.

[BMWRich58]

Longevity may also be tied to storage practices. I can imagine sharp folds stressing the heating elements. Does the jacket get stuffed into a pannier from time to time?

Of course it does, but I usually try to roll it up when I stow it to prevent any hard bending of the filaments.

And by the way, this is the older style filament, not the new Microwire technology.

 

I'll be contacting Gerbing's today to see what they can do for me.

And I will update this thread when I get some feedback from them.

 

Good luck with Gerbings...they've been good to me.

My "older style jacket" from 2001 see's quit a bit of action and still performs flawlessly!!!

About stowing...usually sits on a hangar when not in use but had been packed for many a trips.

Like you said earlier,I avoid any sharp folds or tight packing.

[tallman]

No, ours are older.

 

Warranty info

 

 

[RT66Rider]

Boxed up the jacket this morning and sent it to their Stoneville NC office.

I asked them over the phone if it would be possible for me to pay the difference and just have them send me a new 'MicroWire' jacket, but they told that this wasn't possible....

 

Oh well.

[Kathy R]

[BrianT]

I have one of the old style jackets with the old style plugs, but mine's been bullet proof electrically. Bought new 12/01 and 140k miles later still going strong. Only issues I had were seams that came apart and needed restitching after much use, but never a problem with the electrics themselves.

[elkroeger]

I think I got about a year of heavy, daily use out of mine. It was repaired for free. And then I sent it in for another repair a couple years later. That second time around, they just sent me a new microwire jacket. Cross your fingers, maybe you'll get lucky too.

[Shiny Side Up]

I have one of the old style jackets with the old style plugs, but mine's been bullet proof electrically. Bought new 12/01 and 140k miles later still going strong. Only issues I had were seams that came apart and needed restitching after much use, but never a problem with the electrics themselves.

 

Same-o Same-o here...

Was going through some old paperwork about a month ago and found my original puchase receipt. October 2003.

Never had an issue. I bought a Tourmaster vest some time ago as a backup, but have not needed it yet.

[RT66Rider]

Cross your fingers, maybe you'll get lucky too.

Yes, that's exactly what happened. It took about a month, but when it arrived, it was a completely new MicroWire Jacket.

Good on them.

[KDeline]

Only issues I had were seams that came apart and needed restitching after much use, but never a problem with the electrics themselves.

 

Yea I had that happen to 3 liners, two are mine and one is the wife's. It was an issue around here for a while. I repaired mine but I think it was a defect that should have been looked into more.

[Lone_RT_rider]

I have one of the old style jackets with the old style plugs, but mine's been bullet proof electrically. Bought new 12/01 and 140k miles later still going strong. Only issues I had were seams that came apart and needed restitching after much use, but never a problem with the electrics themselves.

 

Thats where I am at too Brian. I have often thought about getting the new microwire liner, but mine has been too faithful to replace. I need to find a seemstress to repair the stiching soon though. This is a great time of year in the south to have that repair done. lol.

 

Shawn