Long-Term Review: Thermic C-Pack 1700 B Boot Heaters

[Noodler]

I do that on a posted footbed

Yes. A channel can easily be cut into the foam posting. OR... you can do what I've done and that is to post over the cable and then grind the posting flat. This method guarantees you won't feel the cable or a channel.

 

[Ron]

Since I cant remember the last time I skied so many days at or below zero, I have been using my Thermic's nearly every day (purchased on pro-form). Coming off the Hotronic's, these heaters are light years ahead in terms of battery size, the ability to mount the battery out of the way and the security of the mount (I have broken several hotronic plastic mounts). The other feature I love is the "Motion Control" setting. It uses your phones GPS to detect movement and then turns the heating down to conserve battery (you can select how much and the level of heating when static) but turns it up when static. I was skeptical about this but in trying it out, it really works. The bluetooth based phone app is really handy. Its much easier to look at your phone to see the battery life, current settings and such and adjust as needed.

Thermic heaters and a Kolkea heated boot bag; life changer

 

[James]

Since I cant remember the last time I skied so many days at or below zero, I have been using my Thermic's nearly every day. Coming off the Hotronic's these heaters are light years ahead in terms of battery size, the ability to mount the battery out of the way and the security of the mount (I have broken several hotronic plastic mounts). The other feature I love is the "Motion Control" setting. It uses your phones GSP to detect movement and then turns the heating down to conserve battery (you can select how much and the level of heating when static) but turns it up when static. I was skeptical about this but in trying it out, it really works. The bluetooth based, phone app is really handy. Its much easier to look at your phone to see the battery life, current settings and such and adjust as needed.

Thermic heaters and a Kolkea heated boot bag; life changer

What happens if your phone dies or you forget it that day? How do you control the heat?

 

[Ron]

You can use the controls on the battery. when in that mode, it allows a high, medium and low setting. (flashing LED). Its automatic, nothing to change. And that may be fine for a lot of people. I had no intention of using the bluetooth options but once you start using them, its really nice to be able to look at battery levels, heat settings (1-10) not the standard high, medium, low. I tend to run mine at about a 3-4 and my feet are slightly chilled but not cold. I dont like when my feet get hot.

The battery size and mount alone is enough reason for me to use the thermic's.

 

[Tim Hodgson]

@Ron How do you use the battery to turn on the Therm-ic 1700 boot heaters?
How do you change the heating level up and down using the battery?

 

[Ron]

@Ron How do you use the battery to turn on the Therm-ic 1700 boot heaters?
How do you change the heating level up and down using the battery?

do you mean how do you turn the heaters on? Simply press and hold the main button on the battery.

using the battery only to control the heat: you can change from low, medium high by pressing the main power button. the led light will blink once with a pause for low, twice with a pause for medium and 3x for high

Once you turn the battery power on, and pair your batteries to the phone, it will automatically join for phone use.

 

[nd_1975]

Since I cant remember the last time I skied so many days at or below zero, I have been using my Thermic's nearly every day (purchased on pro-form). Coming off the Hotronic's, these heaters are light years ahead in terms of battery size, the ability to mount the battery out of the way and the security of the mount (I have broken several hotronic plastic mounts). The other feature I love is the "Motion Control" setting. It uses your phones GPS to detect movement and then turns the heating down to conserve battery (you can select how much and the level of heating when static) but turns it up when static. I was skeptical about this but in trying it out, it really works. The bluetooth based phone app is really handy. Its much easier to look at your phone to see the battery life, current settings and such and adjust as needed.

Thermic heaters and a Kolkea heated boot bag; life changer

I have one question on the motion control feature. I understand it can turn down the setting while skiing but does the GPS read a lift as moving and have it lower then as well?

 

[Ron]

I have one question on the motion control feature. I understand it can turn down the setting while skiing but does the GPS read a lift as moving and have it lower then as well?

I'll reach out to the rep to get an answer. I would think it does but there might be a speed threshold that a lift probably doesnt meet., All I Know is, I dont have cold feet .

 

[James]

So I guess it cones down to Sidas vs Thermic as everyone I know with the Hotronic is sick of them breaking and not working.

 

[Philpug]

I have one question on the motion control feature. I understand it can turn down the setting while skiing but does the GPS read a lift as moving and have it lower then as well?

It's not GPS, just motion sensor.

 

[Ron]

"official" answer coming shortly to all your questions!

 

[snoroqc]

own a Sidas Neo. Cant find the user guide. How can I select le low, medium and hight temp ?

 

[Ron]

own a Sidas Neo. Cant find the user guide. How can I select le low, medium and hight temp ?

[email protected]
+ 1 (866) 732-9144
5628 Airport Way S. Suite 280 Seattle WA 98108 United States

 

[S.H.]

So I guess it cones down to Sidas vs Thermic as everyone I know with the Hotronic is sick of them breaking and not working.

I like my Hotronics!

I know I'm in the minority but I haven't really had any issues with them breaking/not working. Same set of heaters, cords, and batteries for 5 years now (2 pairs of boots). Probably won't move them to the next pair, my fitter is now a Thermic dealer, will probably go that way instead

 

[Noodler]

own a Sidas Neo. Cant find the user guide. How can I select le low, medium and hight temp ?

It just takes successive short presses once the unit is turned on. Low is green, Orange is medium, and Red is high.

 

[GPetes]

So wouldn't running the cable out the out side of the voot be better for the cable instead of out the arch as to not cause any damage from pressure when on the inside edge. Just a thought.

 

[GPetes]

Reviving this thread to pass along a fairly major change in how I'm running the heater cable. We had a good discussion last season about the pros/cons of the different ways to run the cable. I was still running my cable up the back of the liner all last season, with the cable coming out at the heel, and then covering the cable with gaffer tape up the back of the liner. Well, I also use silicone spray throughout the season to make it easy to go in/out of my shells "racer style" (liners on my feet). Unfortunately, the silicone would seep into the gaffer tape, causing the tape to eventually fail around the edges. So I was replacing the tape about once/month. Also, I noticed that on my liners that got heavier use, I was actually wearing through the cable covering and exposing a little bit of the metal wires. Neither of these things were good, so I was considering what options I had to solve these problems.

Fast forward to today; I finally figured out a slick solution that I wish I had thought of long ago. Note though, that I really didn't want to bring the cable out at the arch since my footbeds are all already built with the cables coming out at the heels (with posting over the cabling too). That also eliminated bringing the cable out of the toe (a la @SBrown). I have skied with the cable running up the back while inside of the liner (when testing footbed changes) and that sucks too. The cable ends up shifting and kinking and generally doesn't feel great right against your Achilles.

And then it dawned on me... similar to how I stick the heating element between the layers of my footbeds, I could run the cable up the back of the liner between the layers of the liner material. So I checked my ZipFits and sure enough, it's pretty easy to separate the layers of neoprene and padding that run up the back of the liner. I needed something to "open up" the channel and make sure I could fish the cable through this area. I decided to use a flexible, very fine tooth hacksaw blade. The hacksaw blade was the perfect width, easy to push up through the channel (separating the layers) and the teeth on one side could be used to gently widen the channel to fit the size of the plug on the end of the cable.

It took a bit of work to fish the cables up through the channels, but it worked. I cut a small slit at the top of the inside portion of the liner cuff to pass the cable out of. So the cable goes from the heel of the footbed, directly into the channel at the Achilles area of the liner, and the finishes through a slot in the neoprene up near the top. I put a small piece of gaffer tape over the cable where it passed through the slot to reduce any possible wear-n-tear on the neoprene. If anyone is interested, I can post some pictures.

In my indoor testing, I think I've got a pretty damn good solution. The cable is no longer exposed at the heel, so going in and out of the shell is a non-issue. I won't have to replace any tape due to it getting saturated with silicone spray either. When wearing the boots, I cannot feel the cable at all through the neoprene layer and I've also eliminated a layer of gaffer tape going up the back.

I think this is definitely a DIY proposition though, as I doubt skiers would be able to talk a shop into running the heating element cable in this manner. But you never know... I also have no idea if this is possible with other liners. YMMV.

I just did my boot heaters and used KT Tape, seems to have stuck to the exterior of the liner well.

 

[Tony S]

Since I cant remember the last time I skied so many days at or below zero, I have been using my Thermic's nearly every day (purchased on pro-form). Coming off the Hotronic's, these heaters are light years ahead in terms of battery size, the ability to mount the battery out of the way and the security of the mount (I have broken several hotronic plastic mounts). The other feature I love is the "Motion Control" setting. It uses your phones GPS to detect movement and then turns the heating down to conserve battery (you can select how much and the level of heating when static) but turns it up when static. I was skeptical about this but in trying it out, it really works. The bluetooth based phone app is really handy. Its much easier to look at your phone to see the battery life, current settings and such and adjust as needed.

Thermic heaters and a Kolkea heated boot bag; life changer

I've been using the 1300 version for two years. The Bluetooth connection and the app have been flaky, no matter how many times I have updated the app and the firmware. This is often the case with Bluetooth in my experience. The heaters had been working fine regardless. (As other posts have pointed out, you don't NEED the phone app in order for the heaters to work.) I did not get a pro deal and paid through the nose.

However, now it appears that one of the heaters is not working. The battery apparently works, and the app can see it and control it, but the app also reports that the heater is not working and that I should "check the connection." This is corroborated by my one cold foot! Obviously I have double and triple checked that the wire is plugged all the way into the battery. I don't see any obvious breaks in the wire. What next steps do Pugs suggest re: troubleshooting / repair?

 

[Ron]

I have experienced that and unplugged the cord from the battery and then plugged it back in, and also I closed the app (not just minimized it) and re-opened it and it "found" the battery. but the heaters were working at all times. I dont tend to look at the app wile skiing anymore since I am good with the way it works and I dont tend to change the heater settings.

 

[Tony S]

I have experienced that and unplugged the cord from the battery and then plugged it back in, and also I closed the app (not just minimized it) and re-opened it and it "found" the battery. but the heaters were working at all times. I dont tend to look at the app wile skiing anymore since I am good with the way it works and I dont tend to change the heater settings.

Yeah, finding the battery isn't the issue. It finds the battery but then says, essentially, "the heater attached to this battery isn't working." And my foot is cold, which backs up the report. I'll try to get a screenshot.