Seat Heaters

[J. Matt Royston]

Anyone put electric seat heaters in your Bay? If so do you have pictures of where you put the control switches?
I want it to look as stock as possible.
Thanks
Matt

[Gregg in the 603]

Randy in Maine did, hit him up. He'll probably see this soon enough anyway
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1979 Mexico Beige Westy auto
Dirty Dover, NH

[Opossum]

[J. Matt Royston]

[notchboy]

[kkjellquist]

[RocketSurgeon]

Ooooo heated seats.... I was just think about this, looking up kits on eBay. Are there and pics of the install?
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69 Westy

[hagermanfolley]

Yes pics please.
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1970 Westy

[chabanais]

Worth it.

http://www.heatedseatkits.com/
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"I spud therefore I yam."

[Randy in Maine]

These are the ones that I have. His and hers. Switches go in the pedestals.

http://www.heatedseatkits.com/heatedseatkits/iheat2/index.html

They require up to 10 amps of juice each. I have a 70 amp alternator and camping battery. They are wired off the camping battery.

[northernbus77]

This is something I have wanted to do for a while now myself. I also have a couple questions.

I have a set of heated seat elements from a '04 Chev. Impala I got from the local junkyard. My questions are;

1. How do I determine the amp draw of these units?
2. What is the limit my 35 amp generator in my '71 can handle?

[Vince Waldon]

Yes, heated seats in an aircooled VDub are the cat's pajamas... heated pajamas at that. The version I use generates heat in 1-2 minutes... way quicker than the heated seats in my Jetta(s).

Mine are controlled by a couple of aftermarket plunger-type switches in the dash (one for each side) and I used two-terminal plugs:

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/Connectors-adapters/2-Way-12-in-Trailer-Harness/8198137.p

so that I can unplug the seats and remove them during the summer.

I upgraded to an alternator so can't comment on the power draw, other than to say the seats I sourced came with very tiny wires... I bet they only draw in the order of 5 amps or so.
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Vince Waldon Edmonton Alberta CANADA
1970 baywindow

[J. Matt Royston]

Thanks everyone! I can see in the picture that those switches were in a walk thru, My double cab is a bench and the pedestal is way different so we chose to go in the dash and lengthen the wire looms to accommodate. We aren't done yet but here are a couple pics.

Matt

[skid]

[DougB]

I installed the seat heater pads in my seats several months ago when I rebuilt them with new pads but only got around to wiring in the switch this past weekend. I bought one of the Install Bay kits that does the bottoms and backs for two seats, but also got the single 5-position switch that controls both seats (which makes it a bit more difficult to find a good mounting point). I ended up just mounting it on the side of the passenger seat stand...which makes it extend into the walkthrough "hallway" a bit...I temporarily installed it with two zip ties pending a better location.

I have a '75 and ended up jumping off the 16A circuit for the wiper motor and rear window defroster (which I've never used)...#10 if I remember correctly...then going into an auxiliary fuse block. So far so good!
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'75 Campmobile (tin-top to SpaceRoof)
'73 Fastback
'52 BMW R67/2
'41 Zundapp KS600
'55 Puch SGS250
A very, very understanding wife

[raygreenwood]

Just a couple of points...and I realize that having any heated seats in an ACVW is a huge bonus to start with.

If you are getting seat heaters out of the junkyard....get the newest ones you can and check on reviews of how well those heaters worked.
I work within the industry that makes most seat heater grids and window and mirror defroster grids.
The technology in the past 5-7 years has improved by orders of magnitude in heater grid quality, current draw, lifespan and control ability.

Don't do major mods on your seats for 10 year old heater grids

I have driven a lot of cars with heated seats and they are nowhere near equal. Much of it is in the design of the grid and the location of the pad within specific heats....but also has to do with quality of controls.

Many seat heaters are not very incremental. They either get too hot too fast...causing you to be constantly cycling them....or they do not heat very well or are very slow to heat up.

If you can find them...seat heaters from water cooled VW's from about 2011 on up are just plain awesome. The ones in my 2012 golf get significantly warm on high setting in less than a minute. They have three positions....you start them on three and your backside will be frying in the coldest weather in less than five minutes...then crank it down to 2 or 1 to maintain heat.

They also heat your back...not just the seat base pad.

A lot of the aftermarket heater kits have poor controls. Just off/on for many, not enough watts for others, poor construction for others.

From the looks of those in the pictures you probably have HSK....which are some of the better technology out there in aftermarket
http://www.heatedseatkits.com/heatedseatkits/index.html

Get the waterproof ones...trust me.

This company...Rostra Precision controls....
http://www.rostra.com/comfortheat-automotive-seat-heater-by-rostra.php

Most probably manufactures the kits for HSK....and I have made parts for Rostra (mostly mirror heating elements under contract)....and Rostra has a much better array of switches and controls available.

This company....does not have as much info on controls...but their knowledge of the differences in the parts (resistive wire versus resistive wire with membrane joiners for the pads)....exhibits experience at least in the mfg end.

As with everything else in acvw...do your homework and you will succeed. Ray

[DougB]

All good points! It never even occurred to me to reuse heater elements and/or controls from an existing car.

Here's the kit I bought (though I paid nowhere near what this kit is advertised for...not sure why the high price):

http://www.amazon.com/Driver-Passenger-Illuminated...l+bay+ibh3

The switches have off, plus 1 - 5...but there is a half increment in between each number, so the dials effectively have like 10 positions.

Admittedly this rectangular control makes it more difficult to find a good mounting point on the Bus, and is more the import car standard size for switch cutouts in the dash. You can't just drill a big hole and put in some circular switch like in the other pictures. I like the temporary location I found but wonder if I'll want to reposition it over time. I'll post a picture when I have a chance.
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'75 Campmobile (tin-top to SpaceRoof)
'73 Fastback
'52 BMW R67/2
'41 Zundapp KS600
'55 Puch SGS250
A very, very understanding wife

[raygreenwood]