Seat Heater Problems

ericwolf · #1 03-15-2009, 10:36 PM

I have the Sports Imports LTD seat heaters purchased from the group buy a couple years ago. I had Cleaveland install them when they made my seats. When I went to do a test run today, the seats don't seem to heat up. The wiring and controller are installed in my -8A. The LED lights up on the switch and it appears to apply a voltage between the two prongs on the plug (used a multimeter). Also, I notice that the voltage displayed on my EFIS shows 12.5 volts with the switch off and drops to 12.3 when the switch is on. Yet they don't heat up after having them on for 5 minutes or so. It was in a 50?F ambient temp hanger. Any ideas?

Mike S · #2 03-15-2009, 11:26 PM

Do you still have the instructions???

There is a trouble shooting section in them.

Also, be sure you have the connectors plugged in correctly, the one with two wires if for the seat back, and the four wire if for the seat bottom.

If needed, I can copy the plans for you, and if I can figure out how, e-mail a scanned copy, or at the least snail mail them.

Bevan · #3 03-15-2009, 11:28 PM

I don't know what's wrong but you could check the dc current flowing through them. The wattage divided by 12 should be close to the # of amps you measure. If it's drastically different, there's an electrical problem.

I would also check the position of the pads to see that they are right next to the seat covering. In other words, check to see that there is no insulation between the element and the covering.

Also, check to see that the element has not been installed on the bottom side by mistake.

Can you partially open the seat cushion and put a hand in there to feel the elements directly?

Bevan

Norman CYYJ · #4 03-16-2009, 12:38 AM

I don't know if you are trying them without sitting on them or not. But I find that the heaters in my car don't seem to produce any heat at all. But if sitting on them the IR heat seems to be there. If they are drawing current then they are working.

db8 · #5 03-16-2009, 07:53 AM

Hi Eric. db8 here. I'm the guy who set up the group buy on the seat heaters. I have not fired mine up yet (seats are done but I'm just starting the electrical wiring).

I looked back in my info, and here is the name of the guy and place we got these from. I hope it turns out to be something minor, but if not, maybe Adam can help you out. I have never met him and haven't chatted with him since the group buy ended, but he seemed very conscious and customer oriented when I set this up.

Please keep us posted, because someone else from the group buy could run into the same problem. Thanks. Dave

Adam Gouda
Office: (800) 528-1432 x84
Warehouse: (301) 468-5849
Mobile: (301) 332-1763
Fax: (301) 468-5852
adam@sportsimportsltd.com

Sports Imports LLC
2271 Lewis Avenue
Rockville, MD 20851-2333
U S A

ericwolf · #6 03-16-2009, 09:00 PM

Thanks for the replies, I *think* it is fine now. Today I turned on the heaters again, but I let them heat up longer this time. I also was able to get my hand inside the seat more than yesterday. It took a while, but I finally started to feel them heating up. I also checked amp draw and found it to be about 3.5A per seat and slowly rising. My guess is that as they heat up, they draw more amps until they reach a certain regulated temperature. Also, it is running on 12V rather than 14V+ when the alternator is running. As a side note, as I was troubleshooting, the LED light stopped working in one of the switches and I figured it out to be a broken (poor) solder joint. If fixed that up and I was back in business. I don't think that I can make any more conclusions until I test them in flight.