Machines | SparkFun Engineering Roundtable #22 DIY Heated Seats

videos | at work | information | view | construction

1. So nooby :D
2. I'm in the process of installing aftermarket heaters in my truck, and I'm doing things a little differently. First, the kits I got came with relays, which I think is probably advisable so the little rocker switches aren't handling so much current. The other part is a little overkill, but I'm running a 8ga (50A fused) wire from the battery and through a relay controlled by another switch in the dash into the passenger compartment. The wire runs to an aux. fuse block that I'll then take off power for the driver and passenger seat heaters. The plus here is that everything is triply fused, and I have additional fuse positions for other accessories that I might want later (CB Radio, Raspberry Pi, etc...)
3. @patrick day APE-LIKE!?
4. Neat project. I appreciate the safety advice from other commenters, but as a noob, I'm curious why ground gets connected to the car or engine frame rather than the negative terminal of the battery? I assume they are connected and that a car's frame is its ground point, but is there a reason not to use the negative battery terminal? Thanks for any answers and for sharing the idea. Plus I love the drill wire twisting. 
5. Uhm, those pads are 5V. Power is non-linear (P=(V^2)/R). At 5V they give out about 3.5W and at 13V they give out about 20W. So yeah, this is a really bad idea...
6. All this worry about "danger". Stop. It's a great project that could be safer by following some of the suggestions in the comments. If you say it's dangerous and have no advise why are you watching this channel.
7. I was going to make a comment about your rather ape-like method of stripping wires...but you redeemed yourself (GREATLY) with the drill as wire-wrapper.  I hadn't seen that technique before.  Thanks!
8. Well, since you asked for tips as well, one thing I do when soldering red and black wires like you did, is to have the point where it connects (the two bits of wires), over-shoot the other joint you are going to make. That way if the tape rubs through sometime later it will not arc across to the other polarity if in a harness. <edited out a bit that did not make much sense when I re-read it>
   
   Sort of like this. 
   
   I--(+)--------I - red wire
   I-------(-)----I - black wire
9. I might put two sets of pads in series to bring it closer to the recommended 5v. (wouldn't want them to melt if you left it on on a hot summer day)
   
                |-(+ )--(+ -)-|
   [bat+]--|                    |-[chassis]
                |-(+ )--(+ -)-|
   
   I'd also wire it in on one of the relays in the car that will only turn on with the ignition, that way you can't accidentally drain the battery.
10. Very dangerous as posted.  Please don't do this.
11. you could wire it after the ignition in such a away that they would only turn on when the keys are in the ignition or the car is started
12. Dangerous without some serious modification.
13. Suggestions. First off, you really need a fuse on the power wire close to the battery. Without a fuse there is a very real fire danger if the wire is shorted to any part of the car chassis. You might want to just use one of the power wires that are usually available inside the dash somewhere that only have power when the car is running. This way they are already fused and the heaters won't drain your battery if you forget to turn them off. Also, I would use heatshrink tubing on the wire connections for any permanent install, electrical tape doesn't last forever. In general, good work, continue making :)
14. Hm. A burning car might be a little to hot... 
15. Not wishing to be a killjoy but this looks dangerous and you could set fire to your car :-(
    No overload protection, no temperature limiting protection, supply cable looks underrated and fatigue of pads could cause heat spots.
    Best buy quality "safe" heated seat covers as an alternative :-)
16. I would advise some sort of auto shutoff circuit so you don't forget to turn them off and kill your battery or set your car on fire... :-)
17. You are going to burn your ass off! :D
18. No fuse?
19. Sorry, had to give this a thumbs down. This approach shown in the video is just downright dangerous! There are no fuse on the positive wire, there are no strain relief on the wires, the wires are too thin to use in an automotive environment, they will rub trough and cause fire. Also, the negative connection on the engine block is not factory, someone mounted something extra in the engine compartment, and thought the mounting screw for the heat shild was a good way to gound the connections - not a very good idea :-/ there are hundreds of grounding points in the car, the one in the feet area, behind the door jamb being the obvious for this project.
20. Nice project. If you have some more time you could even use two MOSFETs and an arduino with a potentiometer an a sketch converting the reading from the potentiometer in to PWM signals to control the MOSFETs so you are able to adjust the temperature or you could even integrate a temperature sensor so you could set the heating pads to a specific temperature.
    And for your next project you mightwant to consider using heat-shrink instead of duct tape. Keep up the good work. :D