Search This Blog

Sunday 5 February 2017

Heated seats loom

I've wired up the heated seats with the usual assistance from the cats. We added the heating pads when we re-trimmed the seats a few weeks ago.





To join the looms I have used 2 and 4 way 6.3mm connectors.



The panel for the switches is held in place using the screws that secure the cubby box. The making of this panel is detailed in an earlier post.



The additional relay socket is used as the connector for the loom in the fuse box. There is just enough space. I used two wires from the unused Air Conditioning harness connector (C786 in a 1997, 300TDi, harness H112). One of those is for the ignition trigger for the relay (White_Orange) and the other (browN_Orange) for a 20Amp feed for the heated seat harness. That wire is conveniently already fused.

I up-rated the fused link (4) under the bonnet from 20Amp to 50Amp. If Air Con is fitted that link is 60Amp, so this is a safe change.

In the fuse box

Under the cubby box

Two cables need to run between the fuse box and the cubby box where they join the heated seat harness. The cables go under the rubber matting of the transmission tunnel.

I ended up using three wires because I didn't have any 20Amp cable of a suitable colour so I used 2x10Amp orange cables plus a black for the ground for the relay. An advantage of the 10Amp cable is that it is noticeably thinner so lays better under the rubber matting.


The ground connection comes from new wires I had already run from the chassis. See my previous post about that.






Unfortunately the only relay I had was the wrong type so I can't try the heating out properly yet. When installed it will operate when the ignition is on.


While removing the drinks holders from the cubby box, the sticky Velcro strips came away from the MDF base. It came as no surprise that the Velcro bond was stronger than the glue.


I replaced the Velcro with a, much more reliable, screw.

==

Update: 8 Feb. 2017
The relay arrived yesterday and fitted last night. Shelley and I sat in the car with the engine running. The seats warmed up very nicely.
Another successful job completed.

==

Links:
Relay guide from 12 Volt Planet
Various guides for car wiring from Polevolt

No comments :