heated throttle cable for max iv

[djgeiman]

I just put on a new heated throttle cable my old one I had set up with 12 volt heat trace it just was not doing the job the new one I installed I hooked up the red wire to positive and the black to ground turned on switch and nothing.
I put in an after market switch panel and running all my accessories out of that I read the installation procedure posted on here but I figured since I had power and ground in the back already I just hook it the way the heat trace was any help wpould be appreciated

[Mike]

Let me walk through it out loud. See if this is what you have? The black wire from the throttle cable housing should go to ground. The red wire from the throttle cable housing should go to one side of a switch, then from the other side of the switch to one side of a fuse and finally from the other side of the fuse to the positive terminal on the battery. Is that what you have?

[djgeiman]

I have the black hooked to the ground stud on the motor mount a hot wire running from a switch panel on the dash to a fuse holder in the back and out of that to the red wire on the throttle cable

[djgeiman]

One other thing the switch panel is also a breaker panel

[Mike]

I'm assuming you checked the fuse? If it's fine, then it's time to get out the multimeter and see if you have voltage at the throttle cable plug/housing. If you have voltage there with the switch on then it's a problem with the throttle cable.

One more question, how do you know it's not working? Obviously you are feeling the cable to see if it's warm but how long are you leaving the switch on before you do so? I have one on my Max II but it's not wired up. I have only needed it once and I just jumped it straight to the battery but it didn't get very warm on the outside, however, it did melt the ice fine. Other members that use theirs more frequently may be able to chime in on how warm their cables get.

[msafi65]

The heater wire in the housing should ohm out at 10 ohm. They don't get very hot unless hooked up to running engine. Just jumped mine the other day at zero to thaw it and move and hooked to truck didn't get warm enough to feel for ten minutes but I could see snow melt before that. As Mike said test for voltage at red wire and then use the ground and test for voltage flow through the ground wire.

[djgeiman]

I checked the fuse its good. I checked the wire with a test light it has power. I did not check the ohms however it does not even feel warm when its on. I turned it on the other day I let the machine run for an hour with it on and it never did anything.I will work on it tomorrow if I do not get called into work for other frozen stuff.
THANKS GUYS FOR ALL YOUR HELP! THE PEOPLE ON THIS SITE ARE BEST!
Dave G.

[wheeler]

Hate to tell you this after you bought it, but I would just put antifreeze in the cable line. I've done mine that way for a couple of years now and it works great.

[ARGOJIM]

Try moving the ground directly to the battery, even if only temporarily.

[ken white]

If you have an amp meter, connect the amp meter in series with one of the wires, connect directly to the battery, and measure the current flowing through it - about 1.2 to 1.4 amps.

If you don't have any current flowing, then your cable is bad or it has a connection problem.

If you have current flow, the cable is good, and you will have to perform the same test through the switch and wiring you installed.

If you get current flow through your wiring and cable, then you are just impatient and everything is working OK.

If you don't, chances are the switch(s) is bad so you will have to use the ohm scale to and measure the on/off contact resistance of the switch/breaker.

Good luck.