My Choice
1, Dragon, dont know if they are still around?
2, RB Imports
http://www.rbimports.com.au/RB_Racing/p ... /index.asp
3. Sportsbike not too shabby
Found this helpful:
Cheap or expensive?......... the more expensive warmers have better element distribution, heat more evenly and more quickly. The cheaper warmers have poor element coverage, heat more slowly and have more variation in tyre surface temperature.
Features to look for and avoid?:
Look for:
• Longitudinal straight heating element with uniform spacing between the strands.
◦ or heating technology not using hot wires (expensive).
• Heating element that covers the whole tyre and the bead part of the rim and even the rim.
• Built in side skirt that has the depth to overlap the rim to approximately its full depth (the rims 'inner diameter'). Most warmers tested only covered the tyre tread surface.
• Digital adjustment or at a minimum dual temperature feature if going to use wets or long time between sessions/races.
• Air tight outer material e.g. SuperTex material (not goretex) to reduce heat transfer to the external environment.
• Two year warranty (I know not part of the testing but anything less and you may regret it).
Features that are suggested to be avoided:
Consistent with budget and your intended use – e.g. Every millisecond counts racing, club racer, occasional track day, safety and confidence at any cost or “I can get enough heat into my tyres on the warm up lap”.
• Single “sine wave” heating element per side, especially with no side skirt.
• Longitudinal multiple element strands that are wavy, can result in hot spots when two 'waves' come close together and likely to burn out wiring over time.
• No side skirt – result is inadequate warming of the rim (if you believe rim temp is important). Though good insulated draft excluders can mitigate this.
• Warmers that are too large for the tyre. E.g. 190 on 180 tyres, retailers will tell you it will fit but it will not be as effective or efficient as the correct size warmer. Especially if the thermostat heat sensor is close to the end of the warmer as some are or they are designed to have the sensor on the edge of the 190 tyre – they may be past the tread edge on a 180 tyre.
• If not digital - preferable: Two light indicators, one for when the warmer is in 'warming mode' and one for power.
• Less than two year warranty
What to check with your warmer now.
• Borrow someone's heat sensor and check your tyre temperature after one hour. Do this regularly. Three of those tested here were potentially faulty and resulted in under heated or overheated tyres. (Infra-red heat sensors cost $100 from Dick Smiths or are available on the interweb thingy!) But probe sensors may be better.
• Check the inside of your warmers for brown 'burn' spots that indicate a hot spot or damaged wire element. Get them checked by someone capable of repairing them if necessary. Alternatively if you find the burnt material is over a spot where two strands of the element are close together, see if you can separate them and remove the hot spot.
• If you don't use your warmer for some time, spread the warmer out and turn it on for a few minutes to get rid of/reduce condensation. All warmers that had not been used for some time left water marks on the tyre after ten minutes. It appeared that the longer a warmer had not been used the more water it left on the tyre. All water had evaporated by the 25 minute mark. Some warmers state that they should not be used when water is present. Read your warmers instructions.
$299 Non Digital ........But web site is telling me $295.00 without discount?????