How to make a car heating with your own hands. Heated seats for cars - it should be warm in winter! Sequence of installation of heated seats

Almost every motorist with the arrival 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 size, which is why it often does not fit the seat as required. This discomfort is especially felt during long trips. Therefore, many car enthusiasts opt for the option of creating heating with their own hands, which guarantees increased reliability and dimensional accuracy. Plus, everyone can make such heated seats with their own hands the way they want to see it.

Do-it-yourself seat heating: preparation for work

This article offers you one of the options for creating a homemade car seat heater. To do this you will need a minimum set of tools and materials. Also, this method does not require special skills. First, make sure you have everything you need: both material and tools. Everything described below can be bought on any market without any orders or expectations. Once you have collected everything you need, get to work.

Required tools and material

To create heated seats yourself, you need to have the following at your disposal:

There are special kits for assembling your own heating devices that you need to purchase. Different versions of heating plates differ in some characteristics. One of the most common such sets is the Emelya set. Its average price is 2,500 rubles. RF.
To supply power to the heated seats, made by yourself, you will need an analogue 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.
Devices of this kind must have their own protection, which will prevent short circuits and protect against exposure to high current. This protection includes a fuse with a fuse link, which, if the current is excessively high, will break the circuit and prevent other elements from melting. In addition, to secure the fuse, you need to install a special holder.
It is necessary to purchase special terminals measuring from 6 to 8 mm. They must have a special tip, which is shaped like a washer and works on the same principle. In addition, purchase female-male clamping blocks.
To improve safety, it is recommended that all wires be laid in corrugation, which will protect against mechanical damage and excessive bending of the wire. The diameter of the corrugation is no more than 8 mm.
Regular electrical tape for insulation and protection against exposed areas that conduct current.
To fasten corrugations, wires and other elements of the system, we recommend buying plastic clamps. They are quite elastic and adhere well to any surface.
To signal the operation of the heater, you can purchase small LEDs that will serve as a kind of indicator.
Heat-shrinkable type of tubes up to 4 meters long.
Finally, you should have at your disposal the standard tools needed for any electrical work. This set usually includes a screwdriver, keys of different sizes, scissors, side cutters, an insulated knife, and a file. By the way, repairing heated seats yourself is done using the same tools.

How to make and install a heated car seat like a BMW with your own hands

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

Of course, all this does not play 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 pre-prepared 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 part of the cabin. As an addition to this kit, you receive a detailed diagram or instructions that will clearly and clearly explain all types of connection and assembly of the kit. Therefore, we omit this question and move on to the next point.

Start of work on assembling the heating structure

To begin with, you will need a seat removed from its place, 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 heater parts. A particularly good car for such upgrades is the Lada Kalina. Heating the seats with your own hands is quite easy. True, each brand of car has its own characteristics when removing the seat from its seat. This is especially difficult to do in those models that have built-in airbags. If done incorrectly, mechanisms such as the squib or the airbag release mechanism in collisions may be damaged. If you have instructions and diagrams for your machine, it is better to use them and protect it from unnecessary damage.

How to properly prepare a seat for installing a heating element

Installing heated seats yourself is a rather labor-intensive process and requires preparation. First you need to remove the upholstery of the chair itself. Usually it is mounted on special hooks. Sometimes the sheathing is attached to the hooks using tie rings, which are quite difficult to remove carefully, so they should be cut off with side cutters. There is no need to worry about this, since ordinary plastic clamps are an excellent replacement for these fasteners, which will continue to be used.

Next, after removing the casing from the body, you need to take preliminary measurements for the slot for the heater mat. To do this, we apply the mat to the place where it is attached and mark with a marker the required dimensions for the slot. This will allow you to later attach the heating element to the seat. But do not be too zealous, as you can cut the heating filaments. We pull 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 corrugated to ensure safety.

Connecting power to heating elements

The heater itself must be supplied with power from the battery. The cable must first go through the current protection - a fuse, and then be led to the system elements themselves. For a battery, the cable connection must be made to the terminal with the plus sign. The need to use a corrugated cable and a long cable is determined by the location of the power source.

Installation of adjustment and protection elements

You should install the control devices where it is most convenient for you, since they do not fit on a standard control panel and will look awkward there. Of course, there is the option of purchasing 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 a relay, which is connected with a positive wire to the ignition key. Typically, 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 connect the mass of wires of the entire set to the body of the machine. This completes the installation of the heater. As you can see, making heated seats yourself is quite simple.

Heated seats are a very useful and attractive feature that increases the comfort of the vehicle, but it is not present in all cars. Therefore, when winter comes, car owners are increasingly thinking about how to make heated seats themselves.

If you carefully study the instructions for installing the system on your car, there will be no problems. And thanks to the advice of experienced car owners, all the subtleties of the procedure will be revealed, and the final result will please you with quality.

The process of installing heated seats depends on the selected type of design. This can be a simple option, like a cover, a cape, or built-in designs that are not noticeable from the outside. The cost, details of installation, and operation also differ.

What you need to know when choosing cases and capes:

the price of the devices is minimal, but they are not suitable for the back sofa;
installation occurs very quickly, without causing additional hassle or problems;
power is provided by connecting to the cigarette lighter (this simplifies the task, but prevents the use of other gadgets);
the system and its wires can disrupt the attractiveness and layout of the car’s interior, and cause inconvenience.

The choice of built-in kits attracts:

the ability to make the system invisible, to adjust the heating of all seats in the car;
easy to provide power from on-board network, which frees up the cigarette lighter socket;
The external design of the interior and seats remains the same.

The built-in version differs more high cost, the installation process takes longer. But this solution is more effective and has high fire safety. And if you follow the technology, it’s not difficult to install such heated seats yourself.

To set up an effective system, you need to start by selecting a suitable kit, taking into account the design features of the cabin.

Popular embedded systems options:

Installation kits from German manufacturers are the most expensive, but also the most reliable and productive. Almost every complex is equipped with overheating protection. Weaco kits include different modes work.
The Russian-made Emelya kit is slightly cheaper, but also has decent characteristics. The heating element here is made of carbon fiber or in the form of reinforced cable.
Chinese versions are the most affordable, but you should not connect them due to their low reliability. Uneven heating, problems with the power button, and possible short circuits are common, which is typical for Autoline versions.

Choosing suitable option, you can also consider products from Taiwan - the Megalight kit. But for VAZ cars it is better to choose the Emelya system. To properly equip seat heating with your own hands, you need to select tools and materials.

What you will need for work:

screwdrivers and wrenches for removing seats;
clamps (if necessary), marker;
scissors, knife, pliers;
soldering iron, electrical tape, multimeter;
If the purchased kit does not contain double-sided tape, you need to buy it separately or use glue 88.

Important:

Before you start installing the system, you should check the package contents. Sometimes you need to additionally purchase wires, a fuse connector, and adhesive.

When thinking about how to make heated seats yourself, you should pay attention to the type of control buttons, their parameters and mounting options. If the buttons supplied in the kit cannot be installed in their standard place, you will have to choose another option for their location or purchase a special kit.

Attention:

The heating system must be built under the upholstery of the seats; dismantling is required to simplify the procedure and gain access to all points.

Main stages of work:

After dismantling the chair, you need to remove the upholstery, headrest, and plastic components. Removing the seat upholstery is simple; just unscrew the retaining rings at the bottom. When working with the backrest, first remove the headrest bushings.
Next, you need to take the heating elements themselves, where there is a self-adhesive film on one side. First, they try it on, placing it on the foam part of the seat and back.
Having determined the optimal position of the heating elements, you need to mark them with a marker. Many systems also have a temperature sensor; it needs to be secured.
Then, the protective film is removed from the heating elements, and the structure is glued along the applied marks. If double-sided tape is not included in the kit, it is applied separately, like the adhesive composition.
Before fixing the mat, you need to pay attention to the location of the wires. If it is the driver's seat, the wires should come out on the right, and for the passenger seat, on the left.
When the wires are removed, the casing and all finishing components are installed in place.

When thinking about how to make heated seats yourself, you should connect to the electrical system according to the diagram included with the kit.

You can also use this scheme:

using a multimeter, you need to identify the ignition and backlight power circuits (12V);
plus connect the thermal relay to the ignition connector (then power supply is possible only when starting);
using a fuse, the power must be connected to the battery;
minus is connected to ground;
the power button illumination is connected to the cigarette lighter;
all connections are soldered and then insulated;

The final stage is testing. If everything is assembled correctly, the heating will only turn on at startup. Otherwise, if you forget to turn off the heating, you may find in the morning that the car will not start due to a discharged storage tank.

With the onset of cold weather, car enthusiasts think about heating their car seats; the first thing that comes to mind is to buy heated covers or capes. But unfortunately, they do not always fit the size of the seat and create discomfort for the driver while driving. In the article we will look at how to make heated seats with your own hands, although it is more difficult to implement than buying covers, but it is worth it.

To install heated seats you will need:

A set of parts for heated seats (for example, the Emelya set), its cost is approximately two and a half thousand rubles;
Wires: approximately 6 meters of stranded wire with a cross-section of 2.5 mm for use as a power cable, for a control wire with a cross-section of 1.5 mm, (two two-meter pieces);
Fuse connector and fuse itself;
Wire with a cross section of 1.5 mm (control), 2 meters long;
6 mm terminals with washer tip and female-male clamping blocks;
M6 nuts are self-locking;
You can take corrugations for laying wires with a diameter of 4.5-8 mm;
Insulating tape;
Plastic clamps;
Red LEDs;
Heat shrink tubes;

As well as various tools: screwdrivers, side cutters, screwdrivers, scissors and a knife, a file, keys.

Do-it-yourself seat heating installation

As an example, we took the installation of heated seats on a BMW, which has a squib installed in the seat by the factory, airbags under the seat, and a battery in the trunk (and not under the hood).

These factors make heating installation somewhat more difficult.

If we talk about the Emelya kit for installing seat heating yourself, then on its box there is a connection diagram, with which there should be no questions.

The first step is to remove the seats from the mounting (since the heating is mounted inside the seats). The design may differ on different cars; you need to be especially careful if you do the heated seats yourself in a car with installed airbags. There is a danger of damaging the squib when removing the seats. It’s better to look at diagrams on how to remove and install seats specifically in your car in technical specifications. documentation.

Place the heating mats on the seat, try them on and use a marker to mark the places for the slots with which the mat will be attached to the seat frame and its upholstery. Naturally (and the instructions also warn about this) the heating filaments cannot be cut.

Having made the slits, we attach the heating mats to the seat upholstery through them with plastic clamps.

We stretch the heating mat's power wire through the seat foam. It is recommended to route this wire from the back, closer to the armrest. It is quite reasonable to place this wire in a corrugated PVC tube (by the way, this is how the “native” heaters are made from the factory).

Quite often, standard wires are short and do not reach from the mats to the place where the regulators will be mounted, so they are extended with the same wire, soldering the joint and placing the wire in a corrugation.

We take power from the power cable, through a fuse, and connect it to the battery, to the positive terminal. If the battery is in front, then this is easier to do, but if the battery is in the trunk, you will also have to remove the rear seats in order to run the cable in the cabin, under the carpet. Remove the positive terminal or turn off the fuse before proceeding.

The wires leading from the regulators to the heating elements must be hidden in corrugated material and carefully laid under the carpets. It is important to remember that the wire cannot be pulled, leave some slack in case the seat moves back.

Most likely, install the regulators where it is convenient for you, since it does not fit in the regular place for regulators on the console. And if you buy “original” heating control buttons, they may turn out to be more expensive than the entire set that you install.

All that remains is to connect the relay included in the kit for heated seats with the positive wire to the ignition switch. Just carefully follow the kit instructions and the connection diagram to the ignition switch itself. Although the contact numbers may vary between cars, you need to solder the wire to the contact where +12 volts appears in position No. 2 of the ignition switch.

Now we cut off all the wires connected to the relay (control and power to the heating mats), leaving a small margin, clamp (or solder) into female connectors, put on a heat-shrinkable tube and connect to the relay itself. We connect the ground wire to the body in the closest place.

Thus, with a little work, you will equip your car with heated seats with your own hands and will no longer depend on the cold weather outside your vehicle. This is not a difficult job for someone who knows how to handle the simplest tools.

How to make heated seats yourself - video

November 9, 2017

Manufacturers usually install a heating system for front seats on top-spec cars. The basic versions do not provide such a function, although in temperate climates it is quite in demand. The owner of a budget car has no choice but to make heated seats with his own hands.

Advanced car enthusiasts practice 3 popular options:

buy and put on a ready-made heater in the form of a cape or cover;
purchase an installation kit mounted inside the standard pillows;
Make your own heating elements from scratch and install them on your car.

Using heating blankets

The simplest way to quickly organize heating of the front seats is to buy a special cover with built-in elements. The product is sewn from thick fabric and equipped with elastic stretchers with metal hooks at the ends. The latter are needed to attach the pad to the seat.

The advantages of the car accessory are obvious - ease of installation and connection (the heating circuit operates from the cigarette lighter socket), the possibility of quick installation using stretchers hooked onto springs. But capes have much more disadvantages:

frankly unpresentable appearance;
to charge your phone or connect another gadget to power, the heater plug will have to be removed from the cigarette lighter socket;
only one of the two chairs is heated;
heated rear seats are not available.

Overlays also have less significant disadvantages that cause inconvenience. The accessory, held in place by elastic bands, fidgets across the chair cushion and constantly works at full capacity. Instances with temperature control have a higher price and often fail.

The option with car covers, where heating elements are sewn, is more convenient and reliable, but expensive. The material of the products is genuine leather, various fabrics and so-called eco-leather. The covers are designed for heating the front and rear seats, are equipped with thermostats and are connected to the on-board network separately from the cigarette lighter.

In addition to considerable cost, heaters in the form of covers have a second drawback - the complexity of installation. It is better to entrust the tensioning of products and electrical connection to specialists from a specialized car service center.

Installation of factory elements

For almost any car you can purchase a heating installation kit, which includes the following parts:

heating elements for seats and backrests;
connecting wires with connectors;
power buttons;
Temperature regulator.

There are 2 types of kits: original, designed for a specific car model, and universal. The latter are selected according to the size of the pillows.

To install such seat heating yourself, it is recommended to completely remove the seats from the car. Then follow these instructions:

For convenience, disassemble the sofa into 2 parts, separating the back.
Carefully remove the outer trim (the method of fastening depends on the make of the car).
Place the heating elements on top of the foam inserts and secure by gluing or in another way provided for in the kit instructions.
Stretch and secure the upholstery, assemble the chair and place it back into the cabin. Lead the wires down and lay them under the floor covering to the point where the buttons are mounted.
Insert the button blocks into the free space of the center console. Connect the heaters to the on-board network by installing an additional fuse.

It’s easier to install the original set of products yourself - the buttons are made to fit standard sockets with plugs, and the heating inserts fit perfectly to the size of the seats. You will have to tinker with the parts of the universal set - the button blocks need to be embedded into the plastic panel, choosing a convenient place. The protruding edges of the heaters are tucked under the side support elements.

Note. In some cars, it is not necessary to remove the upholstery of the sofas. The design allows you to insert the heater under the cladding from the rear side.

The many advantages of such kits are overshadowed by one drawback - the not very affordable price of quality products. Cheap Chinese copies that fit the sofas of various cars quickly fail, as evidenced by numerous reviews from car enthusiasts.

Materials for self-production of heaters

The cheapest way to get heated car seats is to make it yourself. For manufacturing you will need the following materials:

heating wire;
heat shrink insulating tube;
thick fabric;
connecting wires;
fuse block, buttons or plug for the cigarette lighter socket.

The main question is which wire to use to make the heater. The simplest option– buy a ready-made heating cable, but such a decision is associated with financial costs. It is cheaper to make the element yourself using the following materials:

thin high-resistance wire made of chromium-nickel alloy (in common parlance - nichrome);
LAN wires - a cable used to connect to the Internet (the second name is twisted pair);
thin copper wires from any other cables.

The length of the conductor for homemade heating is determined by the resistance of the section. Based on the power of each built-in element of 40 W, we obtain the required resistance of about 4 Ohms at a supply voltage of 12 volts. Connect the first clamp of the multimeter to the end of the wire, and use the second to determine the length of the heating circuit: move the contact until the display shows a value of 4 ohms.

Advice. If the conductor is covered with insulation, calculate the resistivity per 1 m length by measuring the entire section and dividing the reading by the meter. Then tap off the required amount of cable with a tape measure.

If you need to splice pieces of wire together to create the required resistance, connect the ends of the copper strands by soldering. Nichrome wire will have to be selected in one piece, since it can only be connected by welding.

Instructions for installing homemade heating

To install the heating elements yourself, it is better to remove the seats from the car and remove the trim in advance. Also disassemble part of the center console to install buttons and connect wires. Assembly is carried out in this order:

Take thick fabric and cut to fit the size of the seat cushions.
Lay the previously measured piece of wire in the form of a snake or in zigzags on top of the fabric. For uniform bending, screw the conductor onto 2 nails driven into the board.
Cover the improvised heater with a second piece of cloth and connect it to a 12 V power source for testing purposes. If the element is too cold, shorten the length of the circuit; if it is very hot, lengthen it.
Sew the heating wire to the top and bottom fabric, bringing the ends out. Solder the connecting wires to them and insulate them with heat shrink tubing.
Place the heaters under the trim, assemble the chairs and set them in place.

Connecting heated seats from the cigarette lighter is the simplest solution, since this electrical circuit is already protected by a fuse. To avoid occupying the socket with a plug, bring the wires from the inside and attach them to the contacts. Place the buttons and thermostat in any free space on the console, lay the wiring under the carpet.

Homemade heaters are certainly cheap. But how they will perform over many years of operation is unknown. That's why the best option– use high-quality factory products, although this entails financial costs.

Cold winters in Russia are not uncommon. And anyone who owns such a wonderful means of transportation as a car, convenient and comfortable just in the cold season, knows how difficult it is to start it in the morning in severe frost. Plus, a cold start wears out the engine much more and faster, and regular engine warming, although necessary, is very harmful.

What can be done in such a situation? It's simple - preheating the engine will solve the problem of starting the engine in the morning and save the car owner's nerves and time. Plus, you can make it yourself. We cannot ignore the fact that a factory heater is still more reliable and safer than a homemade one, but the option with homemade heating engine is also an option, and has every right to exist. And in this case, only its owner is responsible for the safety of the car.

Making your own heating

You can do it yourself in several ways to warm up the engine. One of the ways to make heating with your own hands is the method described below. When making any homemade device for a car, you need to be extremely careful when using it in the future - this is important.

There have always been plenty of craftsmen in Rus', and for the most part, engine heating can be made from a variety of materials. It can be either heating from a blowtorch, heaters based on a spiral, or from wire, as many minds as there are as many options. The only but significant drawback of such devices is their fire hazard, so this must be taken into account when manufacturing them.

So, it's worth considering one of the DIY heaters made from a 12mm gun casing, a glow plug, a relay and copper wires. Peculiarity this method in that it serves as a heater not for the engine as such, but for the fuel, which in turn allows you to start the engine in the cold season without any problems.

To make the heating itself, first in the sleeve, in its side wall and in the bottom, you need to make a hole in which the thread for the candle will be cut. After this, the sleeve should be screwed to the suction pipe, after which the entire structure is installed in the car tank, and a wire with on-board network voltage, that is, 12 volts, is connected to it.

This type of heating can only be used when the engine is turned off, otherwise a breakdown may occur, which will take a long and expensive time to fix. Therefore, it is worth noting again that it is best to spend some cash and buy factory heating, for the safe operation of which the car owner will be calm.

Types of factory heaters

All heaters can be divided into two types: electric and autonomous, where the first is powered from the network, and the second from the car. Moreover, the electric one is the simplest and much cheaper than the autonomous one.

The first type of heater is electric, and if we consider the simplest of them, it originates from a simple boiler. The difference is that the boiler is lowered into the water, and the heater is hidden under the hood, while connecting connectors equipped with powerful insulation are brought out onto the car bumper. Modern electric heaters are not so simple. They also have a special module with a fan, and many are equipped with a device that can recharge the battery. Plus, to all the delights of modern heaters powered by electricity, you can add a module with a timer that allows you to control it from a distance. But they also cost much more than a simple boiler, and even the simplest heater made on its basis.

The second type of heater is autonomous, installed under the hood and connected to the car. It can be installed not only in the power supply system, but also connected to the cooling system. The convenience of an autonomous heater is that it can be installed where it is most convenient for the car owner. It is not initially built into the system and the design of the vehicle itself. Such heaters, just like electric ones, can be equipped with a control panel that allows you to connect the heater remotely, and a timer. And the latest models can be controlled using only mobile phone. It is not necessary to install the heater in a special service; you can do it yourself, following the installation rules. The whole procedure can take only a couple of hours, no more.

And to summarize all of the above, it is worth adding that if a brand new car costs enough a large sum money, then saving on a pre-heater can ultimately cost much more than buying even the most expensive engine heating device.