Do-it-yourself seat heating: we consider a good example. Do-it-yourself seat heating installation Universal two-channel seat heating regulator

Many motorists who do not have seat heating installed in the car from the factory buy special cape covers with a built-in heater, which is enough to plug into the cigarette lighter and you can enjoy warm seats. But there is one problem, of course there are covers with additional functionality, but they are expensive, and most of what is sold does not have any additional service, and forgetting to turn off the heated seats, you risk getting a completely discharged battery. It is also not always necessary to warm up the seats at full power, for this a simple controller was developed that allows one button to turn on the heating by 100%, 65%, and also turn off the seat heating, in addition, the controller will automatically turn off the heating after 10 or 20 minutes his work (selected by jumper)...

The seat heating controller is based on an inexpensive ATMEL ATTINY 13 microcontroller.

The device works as follows, when the supply voltage is applied to it - the heating is turned off, the microcontroller is in sleep mode, when you press the S1 button, the device lights up a green LED, which indicates that the heating is turned on at 65% (about half the power), if you quickly press again , then the red LED will light up and the heating will turn on at 100%, the next press will turn off the LED and turn off the controller, and the heating will automatically turn off after a time selected by the jumper (jamper) 10 or 20 minutes.

When programming the microcontroller, we leave the fuses at the factory.

For radio details:
Resistors are any low-power.
The electrolytic capacitor must be tantalum.
Microcontroller with any letters.
Stabilizer LM7805 or similar.
Power transistor IRLZ44 (not to be confused with IRFZ44, it is not suitable)
LEDs can be 2 separate and you can have one two-color one in which the color changes when the polarity is reversed.

Download the scheme and firmware for the microcontroller

The idea of ​​implanting in Karina seat heating sat in my head for a long time, but there were no plans for its implementation before this winter. I don’t even remember why I decided to put them on - most likely it was some kind of random conversation in which this topic was raised. I didn’t feel any particular need for this function, although in frosts at -25 degrees, thoughts about heating still appeared, but the main reason was the most common interest in trying to realize what was planned with my own hands.

After smoking the Internet together with Kolyan, we came to the conclusion that for installation you need to take a ready-made kit "Emelya UK-2", since the kit includes modern heating elements made of carbon fiber, flexible in structure and not breaking during prolonged use, as is often the case happens with regular heating elements. In addition, the set is designed for two seats, two elements for each - for the seat and for the back, which is doubly great. Also, the advantage of the kit is that it already has all the necessary wiring, relays and switching regulators for 8 positions of heating intensity. Of course, there is an instruction for connecting all this stuff to the car wiring.

The main stumbling block was the very heating regulators, the shape of which did not allow them to be inserted into regular places instead of plugs at the checkpoint, and indeed an adequate place where it would be possible to cut out places for them, so that it would look normal and be convenient for the driver to use them, and the passenger was not found in the cabin, and I really did not want to fence the collective farm or install them under the steering wheel.

Remembering that the car already had all the standard wiring for seat heating, including chips at the gear knob, chips under the seats and a fuse under the steering wheel, I decided not to run into money and try to implement an interesting installation option based on implanting heaters into the seats from "Emelya UK-2", connect them to native chips under the seats, and instead of Emelevsky regulators, order regular heating buttons for native places and connect them to native chips. True, this option turned out to be twice as expensive due to the space cost of regular switches.

In theory, everything looked very nice:

No need to be smart with connecting the buttons to the wiring - they are connected to regular chips;

According to information from the forums, Emelevsky heatings do not really need thermostats, since carbon fiber heats up to a maximum of 35-40 degrees with constant heating, so there is no risk of burning the seat - I had to take a chance and take a word;

Taking into account the previous point, I didn’t have any need for the Emelevsky regulators, since, heating the seat to the desired state, the heating can always be turned off, and even more so if the maximum temperature corresponds to the specified one, then it can not be turned off at all in frost;

There were no problems with connecting the elements themselves to standard three-pin chips, since there were electrical circuits at hand, after smoking which it became clear that a minus and two pluses come to the chip from the button (for two degrees of heating), of which it was decided to use only one , since there were only plus and minus on the heaters themselves;

Due to the fact that the buttons were designed for two degrees of heating, and only one was planned to be used, I wanted to use the second position of the buttons for other functions that could be activated at a time when heating is not needed, namely - I wanted hang on them the inclusion of additional illumination of the trunk and illumination of the engine compartment.

As I said earlier, I eventually replaced the trunk lighting with an LED one powered by a limit switch, but I still wanted to hang the engine compartment lighting in the second position of one of the heating buttons, but later this idea had to be abandoned.

So, having allocated a budget for heating, after some unsuccessful searches in the season itself, an installation kit "Emelya UK-2" was found and purchased in one of the auto shops for 3200 rubles, and regular Toyota buttons were ordered in parallel for about 1800 rubles. a piece.

While Ekzist was looking for my buttons, Kolyan and I unscrewed both of my front seats one weekend and installed Emelevsky heaters in them at home.

We didn’t take pictures, everything is quite simple there - all the twists are removed on the seats, the protective plastic casings are unscrewed, the clips are bent along the bottom of the seat, and the trim is slowly pulled to the center of the seat. Inside, in several places it rests on metal rings, which mercilessly bend back and are thrown out - plastic ties are then inserted instead of them (100 rubles for a set of 100 pieces). There is no need to completely remove the casing - it is enough to pull it off so that it is convenient to slip the heating element under it until it stops, having previously removed the substrate that protects the adhesive layer from it. By the way, the element itself lies exactly on the middle part of the seat. In the center, you will have to make three holes in the heater sheet for the screeds - here you need to be more careful and not cut the heating threads, although the holes for the holes just fall on the empty sheet. And the threads are well palpable - it's hard to make a mistake. We lay the wire so that it does not fray anywhere, bring it out under the seat, and collect everything back.

There are even fewer problems with the back - we open the bottom bracket, remove the support handle on the driver's seat and roll the trim up to a sufficient height, after which we attach the heating and lay the wire in the same place as the first one. Putting the back back together.

The heating element is held on an adhesive base that sticks to the seat surface, after which it will definitely not move anywhere during the ride. I didn't add anything extra to it.

At this the most difficult stage was completed.

Within two months, I received several refusals from different suppliers for regular buttons. As a result, all options for a more or less adequate price were tried - everywhere they refused. There are only options for 4000 per button. I began to think what to do now. There was an option to try to order buttons from Avensis at 2500 per switch, but there were several types, and I still did not fully understand how they were implemented depending on the year of manufacture of the car. After smoking Toyota catalogs, I came to the conclusion that the most realistic option was to order seat heating buttons from Lexus IS 200 / Lexus IS 300 / Toyota Altezza - they fit just under regular seats (button with a frame), were made for one degree of heating (included -off), they had an on indicator, and there were many options for suppliers in Existe up to two thousand rubles. There was also an extreme option to order them through a friend from an Ebay auction. Well, no one canceled the showdown, of course, although such rarities usually do not happen there. The only drawback of these buttons was that they had an orange backlight, and the seat pictogram was made for a horizontal arrangement, and in Karina the buttons at the gearshift knob are located vertically - so it turns out that the seat will look sideways. Well, in this case, it was also necessary to ring the regular chips and the buttons themselves in order to correctly splice them when connected. Nothing to do - ordered.

At the moment, only one button has arrived (84751-53010, 1380 rubles), the second one is still in search, as there are refusals again.

Now let's talk about connection. As soon as the cherished button arrived, it was immediately dismantled for the purpose of studying the microcircuit. Only now a surprise was waiting inside - the entire wiring of the contacts turned out to be soldered into plastic, and I didn’t succeed in understanding anything, looking at the insides.

Button internals

The response part of the button also turned out to be non-separable, it turned out to be unrealistic to get to the window with the icon, and the idea to clean off the orange coating and highlight the button in green was successfully rejected. Well, all right, all the same, the emergency gang button is normally different in illumination from the rest - red instead of green, and here the heating means, let them be orange. Looking ahead, I’ll say that it looks harmonious, and in the first Avensis, the glass heating is made in the same orange color, although everything else is green (plus a red emergency gang), so everything is fine with that.

I decided to try to ring the button myself, having a lamp tester, an adapter from the phone and a couple of wires at hand. I didn't expect it to work out so quickly.

Button and connector

If it is useful to someone, then here is the assignment of contacts, starting from the top, and then in order from left to right:

1 - minus to the lamp for turning on the heating;

2 - minus to the button illumination lamp;

3 - plus on the heating element;

4 - plus on the backlight;

5 - plus from the ignition switch.

As for the chips, then everything is called elementary. I will describe in simple terms. The last two contacts with a green wire are plus and minus from the dimensions (green wire is plus, black and white is minus), a thick black and white wire in the center of the chip is plus from the ignition, a thin black and white wire from the other edge is minus on the button switch-on lamp, and the remaining two red wires with something are the pluses going to the chip under the seat. I used the one that is thicker.

Button wires

It's even easier under the seat. The two red wires are the positives coming from the button. The one you use will be yours. I chose the thicker one. Black and white wire - minus.

For convenient connection, I took the wiring from the Emelevsky kit and cut off two pieces of wire with chips for connecting heaters - in case you have to remove the seats so that it is convenient to turn them off. I attached the terminals and connected them to the chips under the seats. Polarity, as far as I understand, is not important here.

Connecting the Emelevskaya wiring to the chip under the seat

In general, I can proudly say that I succeeded! The heating is turned on only when the ignition is on, the backlight of the button lights up in orange when the dimensions are turned on, when the button is turned on, the on indicator lights up, also orange. The seat warms up from cold to hot in 3-4 minutes, and at maximum heat you can ride without turning it off - it doesn’t bake anything, you don’t have to fidget, it’s just very warm. The button itself turns on with fixation, so before you leave the car, you can not turn it off - then you come, start it, and the heating itself is already warming, since the button is already on.

Set button

Heating mode on

Illumination of the button in the dark when the dimensions are on

It’s a pity that I managed to do all this only by the end of winter, but I managed to fully appreciate the beauty of this function in severe frost - you warm up much faster on a warm seat in a cold car. Especially nice is that the seat back is also heated - very comfortable. I liked driving with the heating on, even in mild cold - much more comfortable than without it.

In anticipation of winter, I decided to improve my winter driving conditions and purchased a Chinese-made ZL033 heated car seat cover from one of the chain stores for less than ten dollars. I planned to buy a more expensive one, but for that kind of money it was hard to refuse a purchase. The manufacturer honestly indicated in the technical specifications that the service life of this heated cape is One year. And indeed, until spring, the cape warmed the body perfectly, and when the frosts ended, it stopped warming.

Despite the low cost, the Chinese cape-warmer turned out to be easy to use. The cape itself is made of polyester, the line is even, there are elastic loops and elastic bands with hooks for attaching to the seat. The connection is made through the cigarette lighter socket, there is a switch for two modes of heating and switching off. The plug has an LED connection indicator.

Only during operation one drawback appeared, it was not clear what position the switch was in, and in the dark it had to be searched for by touch. I eliminated this shortcoming by installing two LEDs of different colors in the mode switch.

As a result, it turned out that the red LED, in addition to the planned function of indicating the inclusion of the heating mode, also performed an additional function - indicating the integrity of the winding of the heating element of the cape.

Before its breakdown, the red LED began to glow periodically when the cape was bent in the LO switch position, when only the green LED should have been lit. After analyzing the electrical circuit of the cape, it became obvious that the lower winding of the heating element according to the circuit is on the verge of a break, which ultimately happened. When the nichrome wire broke in the lower winding, the red LED was energized through the upper heating winding.

Heated cape wiring diagram

The heated cape is connected to the car's on-board network using a plug that is inserted into the cigarette lighter socket.

The supply voltage from the negative terminal of the plug is supplied to terminal 2 of the operating mode switch. When the switch knob is in the middle OFF position, no voltage is applied to the heating filaments and the cape does not heat.

To turn on the heating, you need to move the switch knob to one of the positions HI (maximum heating) or LO (minimum heating). When the switch is in the HI position, the current from the 2nd contact of the switch will flow to the 1st one and will flow from it through the upper terminal of the lower winding to the lower one, then through the tremoprotector, the 10 A fuse installed in the plug and then through the central contact of the plug into the vehicle's on-board network.

The resistance of the lower winding is 3 ohms, therefore, the heating power will be 48 watts. If the switch is set to the LO position, current will flow from pin 3 to the top pin of the top winding. The total resistance of the series-connected heating windings will already be 4 ohms and the heating power will decrease to 36 watts.

The VD1 LED, connected in series with the resistor R1, is an indicator of the presence of voltage in the cigarette lighter.

The section of the diagram drawn in blue is the result of the modernization of the cape. VD2 glows red when the switch is in the HI position, and VD3 is in the LO position. Resistor R2 limits the current through the LEDs.

How to disassemble a cape for repair

It is necessary to start disassembling the cape by removing the clamp of the current-carrying wire. In order to remove it, you need to unscrew two self-tapping screws.

Removing the wire retainer did not open access to connecting the wires to the heating elements and I had to cut the fabric and foam from the back of the heating cape. It is good to make a cut with scissors or a sharp knife. In this case, you need to be careful and accurate so as not to damage the wires and the cut turned out to be even. Then, after repairing the cape, it will need to be sewn up with threads.

An autopsy showed that the heating winding was connected to the current-carrying wire by twisting, followed by soldering. For insulation, insulating tubes are put on the rations.

A thermal fuse is included in the gap between the black wire and the lower end of the heating element for fire safety. This fact was a pleasant surprise.

He removed the insulating tubes from the joints of the ends of the heating windings with the current-carrying wire and checked the reliability of the connections. No defects found. The rations were shiny and good quality. Once again I rang the windings with a tester. The resistance of one of the heating windings, the lower one in the electrical circuit, instead of 3 ohms, was infinity. I had to start looking for a place to break.

Previously, in order for the current-carrying wire not to interfere with work and not to break off the ends of the heating windings with its weight, it was necessary to disconnect it from the windings by heating the joints with a soldering iron. In order to get to the heating conductors, I had to literally turn the car seat cover inside out. The next picture opened before my eyes.

On a sheet of foam rubber with a thickness of about two millimeters, the heating wires are wrapped in an insulating tube neatly serpentine on glue. From above, the conductors are covered with a translucent sheet of thin, not durable elastic material with a sticky layer. Access to the wires to find the place of the break was complete. The only thing left to do is to find this place.

Finding the place where the heating element breaks

Since the winding conductor broke off from kinks as a result of mechanical impact, you should start looking for a break in the part of the cape that spreads over the seat. To search, it is necessary to connect one end of the probe of the device to the beginning of the winding laid on the seat; according to the diagram, this is the connection point of the two windings. In the photo above, this is the right side of the cape.

The heating winding wire has a diameter of 0.3 mm and is not covered with an insulating layer. Therefore, a way to search for a break with a sewing needle is available. You need to take a sharp thin needle, attach the second end of the probe to it and pierce the insulation of the heating winding with the sharp end to find the place of the break.

For a faster search, you first need to divide the length of the heating winding wire into approximately two equal parts and make a puncture in this place - a continuity. If the chain is ringing, divide the far part of the winding also conditionally into two equal parts, and make the next puncture in this place. Mark the puncture sites with a marker to make it easier to find. If the chain does not ring, then the breakage point is between the last two punctures. Again, divide this area into two parts and make another puncture.

The halves ringing method allows you to find the place of the break by making the minimum possible number of punctures. I found a break through five insulation punctures with an accuracy of 3 cm. Insulation punctures in this case are harmless, because due to the elasticity of the plastic, the holes will be tightened and there will be none.

Heating element repair

After determining the location of the broken wire of the heating element, you can begin to repair it. To do this, carefully cut off a few centimeters of insulation along the wire to the level of the wire, pick up the bare wire with a needle and pull it out. Then cut the insulation further to half the diameter until the second end of the wire appears.

The test showed that the metal from which the spiral of the heating element is made is well tinned with lead-tin solder with rosin flux. I tinned the ends of the wires, cut the insulation cut along it and put an insulating tube on one of the ends of the wire. I twisted the ends of the wire together and soldered the place of twisting with solder. If you do not have experience with a soldering iron, you can get acquainted with the soldering technology on the site page "How to solder with a soldering iron".

Next, you need to connect the ends of the probe with the ends of the repaired winding and additionally check if there are any more breaks, slightly bending the cape for the seat. If the resistance is stable, then the repair can be considered complete.

It remains, having shifted to put on the insulating tube at the junction and glue it and the winding torn off from the foam rubber during the repair process with Moment glue or any other heat-resistant one.

Heated cape assembly

The cape is turned back to the correct side, the current-carrying wires are soldered, and the cable is fixed with a retainer. I fastened the section of the foam rubber with adhesive tape in order to make it more convenient to sew up the fabric.

It remains to sew the incision with threads. It does not require greater strength and the step of the rhyme can be made more than one centimeter. It is advisable to take a thread thicker so that it does not cut the fabric of the cape.

Heated car seat cover repaired and ready for further use. Sea trials confirmed that the cape began to heat the seat as successfully as before the repair.

As you can see, it is not at all difficult to repair a heated cape, and if desired, almost anyone can perform this work, following the method outlined.

Setting the operation mode indicators
into the switch

To indicate the supply of voltage to the heated cape in the plug, which, when connected to the vehicle's on-board network, is inserted into the cigarette lighter, there was a red LED. And to indicate the heating power mode or to turn it off at night, it was necessary to look for the switch in the dark by touch, since such an indication was not provided.

Therefore, immediately after buying the cape, I installed two LEDs of different colors, red and green, into the switch to indicate. On the electrical diagram of the cape, the added elements are displayed in blue. Any two LEDs, a 1.8 kΩ resistor and a small piece of wire, these are all the necessary details for making an additional indication.

To disassemble the switch, unscrew the two screws and remove one of the covers. Next, in the cover with inscriptions, two holes with a diameter equal to the diameter of the optical part of the LEDs need to be clarified. Mounting is done hinged. One output of each of the LEDs is connected by soldering to each other and a resistor is soldered to them. A piece of wire is soldered to the second end of the resistor, the second end of which is connected to the black (brown) wire of the cable. To the remaining free ends of the LEDs, one wire is soldered, the ends of which are soldered to the extreme terminals of the switch.

For reliable fastening of the LEDs, the place of their installation and installation is filled with silicone. As I already reported above, when the lower winding is broken, in the LO switch position, both LEDs glow. Thus, you can find out the reason for the inoperability of the seat cover.

The photo shows how the indication occurs in the switch positions OFF (off) - the LEDs do not shine, LO (minimum heating, 34 W) - the green LED is on and HI (maximum heating, 44 W) - the red LED is on.

My review
about heated cape made in China ZL033

The reliability and quality of the ZL033 heated cape matches the price. The cape served one season flawlessly, warmed up quickly and warmed well, even in severe frosts. It is not necessary to expect a long service life from her by paying $ 10. If desired, you can extend the life of the cape for another couple of seasons with the help of repairs. So my feedback is positive.

But still, I decided not to tempt fate and bought a new, more expensive and reliable one, choosing a heated cape, in which the heating element is made of carbon fiber.

Almost every motorist with the advent of winter begins to think about comfort and warmth in his car. In most cases, the choice falls on relatively cheap, but not very effective capes or covers that serve as heated seats. In addition, such a cheap product is not always suitable in terms of dimensions, which is why it often does not fit the seat in the way it is required of it. Such discomfort is especially felt during long trips. Therefore, many of the motorists stop at the option of creating heating with their own hands, which guarantees increased reliability and dimensional accuracy. Plus, everyone can make such seat heating with their own hands the way they want to see it.

Do-it-yourself seat heating: preparation for work

In this article, you are offered one of the options for creating home-made heating for car seats. To do this, you need a minimum set of tools and materials. Also, this method does not require special skills. To get started, make sure you have everything you need: both material and tools. Everything described below can be bought in any market without any orders and expectations. Once you have everything you need, get to work.

Necessary tool and material

To create seat heating with your own hands, you need to have the following at your disposal:

1. There are special kits for building your own heating devices that you need to purchase. Different versions of heating plates differ in some characteristics. One of the most common such kits is the Emelya kit. Its average price is 2,500 rubles. RF.
2. To supply power to the heated seats, made by yourself, you will need an analogue of electrical wiring, consisting of a copper wire. For power elements, you need to purchase approximately 7 meters of insulated wire with a cross section of at least 2.5 mm. In addition, you will need a control wire that does not require high conductivity and therefore has a cross section of no more than 1.5 mm. Its length must be at least 2 meters.
3. Such devices must have their own protection, which will prevent the occurrence of short circuits and protect against high current. This protection includes a fuse with a fusible insert, which, if the current is too high, will break the circuit and prevent other elements from melting. In addition, to secure the fuse, you need to install a special holder.
4. It is necessary to purchase special terminals with a size of 6 to 8 mm. They must have a special tip that is shaped like a washer and works on the same principle. In addition, purchase clamping pads of the "mom-dad" type.
5. To improve safety, it is advised to lay all wires in a corrugation, which will protect against mechanical damage and excessive bending of the wire. Corrugation diameter - no more than 8 mm.
6. Ordinary electrical tape for insulating and protecting against bare areas that conduct current through themselves.
7. For fixing corrugations, wires and other elements of the system, we recommend buying plastic clamps. They are quite flexible and adhere well to any surface.
8. For a light signal of the operation of the heater, you can purchase small LEDs that will serve as a kind of indicator.
9. A heat-shrinkable variety of tubes up to 4 meters long.
10. And finally, you should have the standard tools needed for any electrical work. Such a set usually includes a screwdriver, wrenches of different sizes, scissors, side cutters, an insulated knife, and a file. By the way, do-it-yourself seat heating repairs are done using the same tools.

How to do the manufacture and installation of a car seat heater according to the BMW type with your own hands

As a prototype for demonstrating the process of installing the heater, a BMW brand car will be used, which by default has several design features, such as a saw blade installed by the manufacturer, located in the seat. In addition, these cars have an unusual location for the airbag: they decided to put it under the seats. Another feature is the location of the battery, which is fixed in the luggage compartment instead of the usual place under the hood.

Of course, all this is far from playing into our hands, but thanks to a complex example, it will be easy and clear how to bypass various kinds of obstacles when installing heating elements.

Heating set "Emelya"

The Emelya seat heater kit is prepared in advance for self-installation by the driver of the car. This accessory is positioned as a do-it-yourself heated rear seat, but it can also be used for the front of the cabin. As an addition to this kit, you will receive a detailed diagram or instructions that will clearly and understandably explain all types of connection and assembly of the kit. Therefore, we omit this question and move on to the next paragraph.

Start of work on the assembly of the heating structure

To begin with, you will need a seat removed from its seat, into which it is planned to install heating elements. Therefore, we remove the option we need from the mounts and prepare it for the internal installation of parts of the heater. A particularly good car for such upgrades is the Lada Kalina. Do-it-yourself seat heating is quite easy to do in it. True, each brand of car has its own characteristics when removing the seat from its place. This is especially difficult to do in those models that have built-in airbags. If you do something wrong, then mechanisms such as a squib or airbag release mechanism in collisions may suffer. If you have instructions and diagrams for your machine, it is best to use them and protect it from unnecessary damage.

How to properly prepare the seat for installing a heating element

Do-it-yourself installation of seat heating is a rather time-consuming process and requires preparation. First you need to remove the seat upholstery itself. Usually it is attached to special hooks. Sometimes the skin is attached to the hooks with the help of clamping rings, which are quite difficult to remove carefully, so they should be cut with side cutters. There is no need to worry about this, since ordinary plastic clamps, which will be used, serve as an excellent replacement for these fasteners.

Further, having removed the casing from the body, it is necessary to carry out a preliminary measurement for a slot under the heater mat. To do this, we apply the mat to the place of its attachment and mark with a marker the required dimensions for the slot. This will allow you to further secure the heating element to the seat. But do not be too zealous, as you can cut the heating threads. We stretch the heater power wire through the foam rubber and bring it out behind the seat under the armrest. The rest of the wire should be wound into the corrugation to ensure safety.

Connecting the power supply of the heating elements

The heater device itself must be powered by a battery. The cable must first go through the current protection - a fuse, and then be led to the system elements themselves. At the battery, the cable connection must be carried out to the terminal with the plus sign. The need to use corrugations and a long cable is determined by the location of the power source.

Installation of adjustment and protection elements

Control devices should be mounted where it will be most convenient for you, since they do not fit into a standard control panel and will look ridiculous there. Of course, there is the option of buying push-button heater control stations supplied by the car manufacturer itself. But they are very expensive and do not justify themselves.

And finally, you need to mount the relay, which is connected with a positive wire to the ignition key. As a rule, this lock should supply 12 volts to the system when the key is turned. We connect the second output of the relay to the fuse, and we hook the mass of wires of the entire set to the machine body. This completes the installation of the heater. As you can see, making heated seats with your own hands is quite simple.

Undoubtedly, we all love comfort and coziness, the presence of which can hardly be said, for example, in a car with a leather interior frozen in winter. And the question here is not in the upholstery of the cabin, but in the inevitable discomfort in frosty times. Do-it-yourself seat heating is the best way to avoid this discomfort.

Important!

Installing car seat heating is a rather responsible matter, especially for those who are “you” with an electrician, therefore, in order to avoid force majeure situations, be sure to consult an electrician or an experienced installer of home-made seat heating systems before getting down to business.

Buy or make?

In the modern market of auto parts and accessories, you can easily find heating removable covers (capes) and even entire heated seats. Their low cost and ease of connection are undoubted advantages, therefore, if finances allow, as they say, do not show off and buy a ready-made version.

Of course, if there is no money for it, you will have to do everything yourself.

What you need.

• Nichrome wire 0.5 mm in diameter and 10 meters long.
• Relay.
• Button.
• Wires and connectors for mounting the heater in the car.

Do-it-yourself seat heating: instructions.

1. First, you need to make 4 spirals from the wire: it is most convenient to do this with a wooden beam and two nails driven into it (without hats, they should be bitten off) at a distance of 4 cm from each other - just wind the wire around the nails in a figure eight, forming spirals.

1. Find a piece of fabric, preferably denim, that is the right size for your car seat heating (approximately 30cm x 30cm). Using a sewing machine, stitch 4 rows of spirals parallel to each other to the selected fabric flap. Connect the spirals with wires. The power of such a heater reaches 40W. Connect the resulting structure through a relay to a power source (cigarette lighter).

Unfortunately, this type of seat heating, regardless of whether it is homemade or bought in a special store, has a number of fairly significant drawbacks.

• There is a risk of getting burned, because no one gives a 100% guarantee that any of the wires will not fail, igniting right under its warmed owner.
• Such covers are often characterized by uneven or spasmodic heating.
• This heating element is connected to the power source through the cigarette lighter socket. However, at present, many drivers use this connector to connect a navigator, a DVR, etc., and a splitter in this situation cannot be a way out of the situation, because seat heating requires a considerable current consumption, which is disproportionate to several connections to the network at once, therefore the driver or his passengers will have to choose what is more important at the moment: warm up or drive according to the instructions of the navigator, for example.
• Another point: the considered heating option is very inconvenient to use due to the presence of wires in its design that interfere with the driver, and passengers from the rear seats do not have the opportunity to warm up in this way at all, unless, of course, you extend the wires leading to the relay.

Based on the described disadvantages of the above heating method, we will consider the built-in version of the heating elements. Such a solution to the issue can rightfully frighten many car owners, because, in addition to assembling the structure itself, the driver faces a difficult task in installing it. However, this option will solve many of your problems in one fell swoop (the wires are hidden, the interior has not been changed, the cigarette lighter socket will remain free, because all elements are connected directly to the car's wiring), providing an opportunity to warm up in winter frosts not only to the driver and passenger sitting in the front seat, but also to the “guests” from the back sofa.

How to make built-in heated seats with your own hands?

First you need to purchase the so-called backbone of the entire structure - heating elements. Why buy rather than make your own? The issue is your safety. Since the elements are built-in, and any inaccuracy in independent work cannot be identified and eliminated in a very short safe period of time, it is better and more reliable to use ready-made elements. Their choice is quite large. We will focus on the domestic manufacturer Emelya (Russia), whose product quality is not inferior to reliable Germans, and the price is much more pleasant.

Included with this set you will find an electronic temperature controller and protection against overheating.

The heating element in "Emel" is represented by an armored cable or carbon fiber.

Additionally, you will need:

• Screwdriver Set,
• wrenches for disassembling the chair,
• plastic clamps,
• scissors,
• knife with interchangeable blades
• insulating tape,
• multimeter,
• heat shrink tubing,
• pliers, marker,
• soldering iron,
• double-sided tape (glue 88 is possible),
• stranded wire 2.5 mm sq. section - for wiring.

To begin with, decide on all the control buttons and their fastening, so that if necessary (suddenly they will not be in their regular place) to purchase suitable for this car.

Now we can get down to business.

1. Disassemble the seats: start with the headrest, then remove the plastic elements, then the seat upholstery, making room for laying heating mats. To remove the "back" trim, remove the plastic bushings for the head restraints.

1. Attach the sheet with heating elements to the seat foam, marking its dimensional contours with a marker. Following the marked lines, stick strips of double-sided tape or use glue 88. If there is a temperature sensor, also install it on the foam rubber.
2. Glue (attach) the heating mats to the space provided on the seats. Here you should pay special attention to the location of the wires. Do not forget that on the driver's seat they should be on the right, and on the passenger seat - on the left. Pull out the power wires.

1. Install the "native" skin on the supplemented foam base, using plastic clamps in the places necessary for this. Also, return all plastic elements, head restraints to their original position and install the seats in their original places. In this case, the wiring should be laid in the places where the power supply and controls are connected.

A very important point: the wires leading to the heating mats from the regulators must not be laid tight, leave such a margin that will allow you to calmly move the chair back if necessary.

1. It's time to connect the heating elements. In this matter, the instructions that come with the installation kit should help you. If she is not an assistant for you in connecting the unit to the on-board network, it would be better and more correct to turn to professionals for help. If you are confident in the correctness of your actions and are ready to try to deal with this stage on your own, we recommend that you pay attention to certain recommendations:

• It is necessary to detect the power supply (12V), ignition and backlight circuits with a multimeter.
• Connect the positive wire of the thermal relay to the ignition lock connector, which is powered only after the key is turned.
• Connect the power cable to the positive terminal of the battery through the fuse.
• Bring the negative wire to the "mass", to the cigarette lighter contacts - the button backlight wires.
• All connections, of course, must be soldered and insulated. Then you can check the system.

Important point:a properly assembled system will only work when the ignition is on. Otherwise, you run the risk of not starting the car someday.

Only one question remained unanswered: what about the rear sofa of the cabin and its heating? For those who constantly travel with their family in a car, this is a very important point. But there is nothing complicated here either: the installation and connection of the rear seat heating system is similar to that described above. The only difference is that for one sofa you will need two sets of heating elements.

Video.