Heated seats wiring

[Veetail88]

I have the heated seat option in my classic aero seats. They came with a nice wiring harness that is no doubt NOT tefzel!

Have all y'all just used the included harness or did you rewire with good stuff?

[Mike S]

I used the wire that came with the seat heaters, as far as it was hooked to the switch, thermostats, plugs, and heaters.

Rest I spliced on to aircraft wiring.

[Sparky]

I also have Classic Aero seats with heaters. I replaced the wiring harness with tefzel wire, mostly because the pre-fabricated harness just didn't fit my installation. While I was at it, I also replaced the relays with the same type I used in the rest of the electrical installation, so I could use them as spares in the field if need be (after all, seat heat isn't mission critical). I eliminated the relay sockets and just used standard spade connectors.

Also, I added spike suppression diodes on the coils of the relays to prolong seat heat switch life.

Here's a schematic of my installation:

[704CH]

Not to change the point of this thread. But can someone shoot some detailed pics of the harness and switch that comes with the heated seats? I don't thing classic aero has details on their site and I am curious. Or point me to a site that has pics? Thx.

[vfrazier]

Seat heaters

You'll find a few generic photos there. If you want a photo of a specific harness, I'll be glad to forward a photo. Just drop an email to me at vincefrazier@gmail.com

The harnesses are all similar. They are automotive type wiring, but as a poster above pointed out, you can modify them with Tefzel wiring somewhat if you desire.

Personally, I wouldn't go to that much trouble, but I'd recommend always having the fuse or breaker properly installed, as you should for anything electrical.

[BillL]

I have been installing the wiring for the heated seats. The wiring diagram earlier in this post is correct for my seats.

1. The harness comes with automotive type insulation.
2. It takes 4 wires for the switches.
3. There is 18 inches of lead that comes from the center of the seat back or cushion.
4. There is a relay needed for hi low settings.

So - there are several ways to position the components that affect the amount of wire needed.

1. The minimum wire run method would be to locate the switch on the side of your plane near the seat, but not where it can be bumped or things can sit on it. This allows you to mount the relay close by and not have to take apart connectors. You can simply run two power wires from the firewall area. It can be tefzel and be fused either in the seat area or in the panel area. If in the seat area, then you can run +12v/GND and use them for both seats.

Minimally, you might only need ~25 ft of wire for a 2-wire power run.

2. Mount the switches in the panel so they are pretty and can be found easily. Then mount the relays close to the switch, a short power run to the switch, then three wires for each seat. This is a 6 - wire option for both seats. My wire run for this configuration (3 wires) was 12 feet from the panel switch to the seat locations on a -7. Yes, that is 3 wires X 12 ft ea X 2 seats = 72 ft AND I had to take apart the connectors, remove the terminals and reassemble.

I mounted the switches in the panel before I knew the diagram because others were done that way. I chose tefzel wire as it was going along with the other wires in a bundle and it just felt right that they were all the same.

So now you know what you are getting into, either way.

Here is a picture of the heating elements, switch, and harness. Sans relay cube.

[crabandy]

I did as BillL described, I kept the main power wires/switches/relays right behind the panel close to the fuses and ran tefzel down to the seats.

[gblanck]

I didn't use the supplied harness except for the connector and a short length of the provided wiring into a second connector that mates with the fuselage side wiring (which is tefzel). I also threw away the supplied switch & relay and instead used one of the 7A PWM dimmers as a heater control. Not flying yet, but the PWM dimmer seems to work well.