Rode through a blizzard Wednesday so I had the jacket cranked up, that night I had a HUGE blister. When I got back home yesterday I discovered the recall - they said they will be replacing it. PO# 3796

There is a link to the recall, and it has a place to report additional problems. Please use it!

this is not good that jackets outside of recall are causing blisters. there's a new style Gerbing jacket for sale on flea right now that's not part of recall. sure don't want to see someone get burned ...

Was your burn in the area where the cord plugs into jacket? My wife got burnt in the same area with a microwire jacket worn inside a aerostitch 2 piece. She thought it was layers of clothing bunched up causing the discomfort. When I finally got a response from tech support they told me it was due to a poor connection where the cord plugs into the jacket. My feelings with Gerbings are "Burn me once, shame on you, burn me twice, shame on me." I do not know if things have gotten any better with the new factory, but I do know they will never see another dime from me.
Her jacket does not fall under the recall.

I finally got burned in this area, which has always been a little bit of a hot spot in my Gerbing's jacket liner (#3279). But I did a very stupid thing: rode 15 hours (heading home a few weeks ago from The Dragon) and let myself get tired, wet, cold, & hungry. Goodbye judgment, so when I felt some discomfort on my belly, I ignored it. Result: two big blisters.

I've decided to attack the problem at its source by wrapping the wire bundle near the power connectors (inside the liner) in Roxul insulation (fire- and melt-proof). I haven't tested this yet.

UPDATE: I've learned that one common source of overheating is the connector. Poor contact where it plugs into the jacket can cause the connection to heat up, a lot, and the fix is to spread the male contact pin so it makes a tighter fit in the socket.

I have done this but have not been that keen on testing it in 90-degree weather ;-)

This is all very interesting. Several years ago I bought a Gerbing jacket for my wife and was surprised to find that the power connections were through a 5.5mm x 2.5mm coax (barrel) jack & plug. These connector sets are typically rated to 5A max. If you add up a jacket (6.4A), pants (3.6A) & gloves (2.2A) 12.2A total, you are carrying a lot of current through that barrel set.
I questioned the ability to carry the 15A that they claimed at the time and called the Gerbing people to see what they had to say. They claimed that their connector parts were specifically manufactured to their specs and they warned users not to use any other manufacturers parts in their place. It is interesting to note that they no longer list any specifications for their controllers, cables & wiring or connectors that I can find. In fact their website sucks big time. It is some horrible book thing with NO controllers or cables listed.

A few years ago we looked for a similar barrel connector set for some military electronics and the highest current capability we could find was 5A. More recently, when we went looking for a barrel connector set for our Baryl product line we were able to find a 7.5A jack and plug pair. This is still a long way from 15A. We specifically warn our users that they cannot power heated clothing with our Baryl jacks and plugs.

I'm now wondering if they did indeed have some special high current barrel connector sets at one time but tried to go cheap and dirty with some catalog items that wouldn't carry the current. It would interesting to know what changed in their manufacturing process and materials.
Cheers,
-Shov

This is all very interesting. Several years ago I bought a Gerbing jacket for my wife and was surprised to find that the power connections were through a 5.5mm x 2.5mm coax (barrel) jack & plug. These connector sets are typically rated to 5A max. If you add up a jacket (6.4A), pants (3.6A) & gloves (2.2A) 12.2A total, you are carrying a lot of current through that barrel set.
I questioned the ability to carry the 15A that they claimed at the time and called the Gerbing people to see what they had to say. They claimed that their connector parts were specifically manufactured to their specs and they warned users not to use any other manufacturers parts in their place. It is interesting to note that they no longer list any specifications for their controllers, cables & wiring or connectors that I can find. In fact their website sucks big time. It is some horrible book thing with NO controllers or cables listed.

A few years ago we looked for a similar barrel connector set for some military electronics and the highest current capability we could find was 5A. More recently, when we went looking for a barrel connector set for our Baryl product line we were able to find a 7.5A jack and plug pair. This is still a long way from 15A. We specifically warn our users that they cannot power heated clothing with our Baryl jacks and plugs.

I'm now wondering if they did indeed have some special high current barrel connector sets at one time but tried to go cheap and dirty with some catalog items that wouldn't carry the current. It would interesting to know what changed in their manufacturing process and materials.
Cheers,
-Shov

Very, very interesting. Thanks! I'm more and more convinced the burn I got was not from the jacket wiring, but from the connectors overheating.

Maybe Gerbing thinks that the control will keep things down to a dull roar via pulsing? The only time I had trouble was on a cold, wet 15-hour ride (!).

This is all very interesting. Several years ago I bought a Gerbing jacket for my wife and was surprised to find that the power connections were through a 5.5mm x 2.5mm coax (barrel) jack & plug. These connector sets are typically rated to 5A max. If you add up a jacket (6.4A), pants (3.6A) & gloves (2.2A) 12.2A total, you are carrying a lot of current through that barrel set.
I questioned the ability to carry the 15A that they claimed at the time and called the Gerbing people to see what they had to say. They claimed that their connector parts were specifically manufactured to their specs and they warned users not to use any other manufacturers parts in their place. It is interesting to note that they no longer list any specifications for their controllers, cables & wiring or connectors that I can find. In fact their website sucks big time. It is some horrible book thing with NO controllers or cables listed.

A few years ago we looked for a similar barrel connector set for some military electronics and the highest current capability we could find was 5A. More recently, when we went looking for a barrel connector set for our Baryl product line we were able to find a 7.5A jack and plug pair. This is still a long way from 15A. We specifically warn our users that they cannot power heated clothing with our Baryl jacks and plugs.

I'm now wondering if they did indeed have some special high current barrel connector sets at one time but tried to go cheap and dirty with some catalog items that wouldn't carry the current. It would interesting to know what changed in their manufacturing process and materials.
Cheers,
-Shov

your analysis misses one very important point. which is rarely does anyone leave their heated clothing on high for very long. note I'm basing my comments on my old style insulated Gerbings using wired dual controller.

have not used new style Gerbings jacket without insulation. so more heat may be needed due to lack of insulation. also lack of insulation would exacerbate burn problems. having insulation between your skin and heating elements cannot be a bad thing.

pulse width modulation is how output going to heated jacket/pants/gloves are controlled. I've ran my old style Gerbing insulated gear down to 15f with a one piece Aerostich RC and ran it about half way on dial. jacket/pants/gloves combo... have only used heated socks one time. stuck with heavy wool socks.

just upgraded to wireless dual controllers .. we'll see how that goes. sure is nice to reduce clutter of wires. hard to test much at 95f