Electric4Me
Well-known member
No. If they are in parallel they are essentially independent of each other. Think 2 light bulbs plugged into the same wall outlet.ruckus said:
DIY seat heaters
- Thread starter Electric4Me
- Start date
Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:
gascant
Well-known member
What a great time we had yesterday doing 3 LEAFs, two of whose owners did all 4 seats. Many thanks to Electric4Me and his father-in-law for their patience, teaching, and support. Also thanks to Electric4Me's wife who allowed us to take over the garage and driveway for a very full day--luckily we had all just pulled out of the driveway when she returned from her errands. We didn't actually finish the job in the 8 hours, but remaining work is mostly electrical hook up--each car was fully functional when we left.
We'll put together tools and spare parts lists separately and post. Full set of instructions will also follow.
We'll put together tools and spare parts lists separately and post. Full set of instructions will also follow.
lemketron
Well-known member
I have to say I found their warranty somewhat amusing:jcobb said:
How do they know how many miles you put on those heaters? :lol:
arnolddeleon
Well-known member
There is a work in progress wiki page http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=Seat_Heaters documenting the process.
arnold
arnold
Last Friday afternoon I finally completed the electrical wiring for front and back seat heaters. With the addition of the Harbor Freight 12v heater (item 96144) I now have no need for the Leaf heater (except for perhaps defrost).
Many thanks to Electric4Me for starting this mod and helping the three of us out the day after Christmas with the majority of the mechanical work (seats out, pads in and seats back).
I went with the Nissan switches for the front and being an Electrical Engineer had to go with a complete custom wiring harness which allowed me to remove 17+ feet of unneeded wire from the standard kit plus the two relays (but at the cost of much more labor).
If you are going for speed with the Nissan switches go with Arnold's modified wiring that just replaces the round switch with the Nissan switch and keeps of the original kit wiring and relays.
The heaters work great and I think are a must for the Leaf. I think I can now skip any preheating in the morning saving more Kwh.
For my wife and I we start with HI which gives heat within 60 seconds but after a few minutes need to switch down to LO. Once the 12v heater has the cabin warmed up even LO is too much.
Jim
Many thanks to Electric4Me for starting this mod and helping the three of us out the day after Christmas with the majority of the mechanical work (seats out, pads in and seats back).
I went with the Nissan switches for the front and being an Electrical Engineer had to go with a complete custom wiring harness which allowed me to remove 17+ feet of unneeded wire from the standard kit plus the two relays (but at the cost of much more labor).
If you are going for speed with the Nissan switches go with Arnold's modified wiring that just replaces the round switch with the Nissan switch and keeps of the original kit wiring and relays.
The heaters work great and I think are a must for the Leaf. I think I can now skip any preheating in the morning saving more Kwh.
For my wife and I we start with HI which gives heat within 60 seconds but after a few minutes need to switch down to LO. Once the 12v heater has the cabin warmed up even LO is too much.
Jim
lemketron said:
I was interested in that as well. They actual provided a warranty card that the "installer" is suppose to fill out (including mileage) and mail in. I filled it out myself and mailed it back in. I doubt anything will happen in the next three years but we will see.
gascant
Well-known member
Turbo3 said:
I also did a custom wiring job but did not save as much wiring as Jim. Detailed directions for adapting to the Nissan Switches are here http://www.mediafire.com/?7kttxlq135h4j23
This document will grow over time as we get more experience. Between this file and the Wiki, you can get a good feel for the level of involvement.
jcobb said:They are not OEM but I like my switches very well. They look built in; similar to the switch for the headlight angle; and have 10, count them 10 different heat settings. 0-5 in 1/2 increments.
Warning I did have to shave a little bit off the console to get them to fit but am very please with the results.
Can this single-dial switch be installed in Leaf’s console for rear seat heaters?
I got seat heaters come with single-dial switches. It seems that it needs a place with size of 55 (mm, D) X 40 (H) X 22 (W) to hold one switch .
Any input will be highly appreciated.
Thank you.
Zhaohui
EVDrive
Well-known member
I put in a dash mounted switch for the rear seats. I was worried about them being left on as well. I just drilled out one of the blank switch place holders on the dash and put in a 30 amp rocker switch form O'Riellys parts store.
arnolddeleon said:
EVDrive
Well-known member
Installing seat heaters was a wild job. It took me about 20 hours to do all by my lonesome. Totally worth it though. I used the dial switches and they heat up fast and feel great.
A few things I learned:
I cut my hands pretty good a few times like everyone else and the good news is that my blood came right off the seat with just a bit of sparkely water.
Building a wiring harness takes a while especially if you add in a dash switch and tape it like it came out of the factory.
Don't turn on your car with the seats out. If you do the airbags will shut off. Search the forum for airbag warning light and a quick no dealer fix/system reset is posted by another forum member. I was kicking myself all weekend thinking I could have broke the airbags and might have to pay through the nose to get them fixed.
If you order the dial kit used by myself and others in this thread, order 3 weeks ahead of time. Sports imports say they ship in 24-48 hours but they don't. They took over a week to ship and another week in transit.
A few things I learned:
I cut my hands pretty good a few times like everyone else and the good news is that my blood came right off the seat with just a bit of sparkely water.
Building a wiring harness takes a while especially if you add in a dash switch and tape it like it came out of the factory.
Don't turn on your car with the seats out. If you do the airbags will shut off. Search the forum for airbag warning light and a quick no dealer fix/system reset is posted by another forum member. I was kicking myself all weekend thinking I could have broke the airbags and might have to pay through the nose to get them fixed.
If you order the dial kit used by myself and others in this thread, order 3 weeks ahead of time. Sports imports say they ship in 24-48 hours but they don't. They took over a week to ship and another week in transit.
hill
Well-known member
My switches and pads have been sitting on top of the file cabnet now for about 3 weeks. Ahhhh, if only there were more hours in a day.
gascant
Well-known member
Ha! At our last seat heater installation party, I did mostly electrical work and still managed to cut myself. Good thing our host had some band aids or I might have been using a bit of the bubbly stuff on her seats, too.EVDrive said:
EVDrive
Well-known member
That was a great party. 3 new leafs being taken apart was a sight to see. Everything i learned about taking apart my Leaf i learned at that party
We have to come up with something else to mod and have another Leaf mod party. I hope Enginer comes up with something new and amazing that we all need and decides to share it with us.
We have to come up with something else to mod and have another Leaf mod party. I hope Enginer comes up with something new and amazing that we all need and decides to share it with us.
gascant said:
waidy
Well-known member
EVDrive said:That was a great party. 3 new leafs being taken apart was a sight to see. Everything i learned about taking apart my Leaf i learned at that party
We have to come up with something else to mod and have another Leaf mod party. I hope Enginer comes up with something new and amazing that we all need and decides to share it with us.
What about Ingineer's heater mod and headlight mod? I think that would be interesting.
simpleleaf
Member
- Joined
- May 4, 2011
- Messages
- 17
I am finally getting around to installing my seat heaters using the OEM switches. I am tapping into the shift indicator lighting circuit and I need to know which wires to tap. The Wiki photos look like they are tapping the white wire and the black wire but I need to make sure. Also which wire is the +(power) and -(ground). Thanks in advance.
hill
Well-known member
After sitting around for over a half year, I finally got around to installing my pads & OEM switches (front only). I tapped into the empty slots in the fuse tray. MAN ... on high, my keaster gets so warm, I shove/sit on my hands / use the excess heat to some good use. Then i drop the setting to 'Low'. Works great!
gascant
Well-known member
simpleleaf said:
Yes, use the illumination circuit for the shift indicator. It's the white connector that is easily removed when you remove the shiny console cover. To tap into the circuit, find the white wire on pin 5 and the black wire on pin 4. The white is the + and the black is -. It's a little neater if you slice through the shrink wrap and make the splices about 6" away from the connector. Then, you can just wrap some electrical tape around the whole thing and no one will be the wiser. Works great. Pins 4 and 5 are on opposite corners of the connector.
eBay seller heatedseat now does a kit that includes knock-offs of the Nissan OEM switches. I just ordered one today. Going to do the switch installation while I have the console apart to do the LED shifter mod, even if I don't get around to fitting the heating pads until we get closer to winter.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/180915095174?item=180915095174" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/180915095174?item=180915095174" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
arnolddeleon
Well-known member
Install enough wiring so that you can install rear seat heaters as well if you want to without having to fish power cables again.
FYI the round switches are better for rears since they smaller and we have already figured out a place to fit them on the back of the center console.
arnold
FYI the round switches are better for rears since they smaller and we have already figured out a place to fit them on the back of the center console.
arnold
arnolddeleon said:
You read my mind!
