Heated seat wiring help

I just installed some of these in a corolla for my girlfriend. It was very easy. Other than needing silver tape to remove the backing on the heating pads adhesive strips.

 

If the guy above is correct and they only draw 5.03 amps on high, x 2 is 10.06, how much will the relay draw also and that should work if I just go to the cig lighter with both then right?

 

Run a new circuit. Use the cig lighter for the control power. Use #14 wire with a15 amp fuse. #18 will be good for the control wires. And 14 for ground if it needs to be extended

 

In my opinion this is one of those instances where you can but you shouldn't. For reference Toyota factory wiring for heated seat power is run directly from the battery through a fuse and relay on a dedicated circuit.

 

Ya your probably right, Im just being lazy and finding it hard to understand the simple basics of doing the install.
I just dont understand still how to hook the relay up because its the 5 prong type like this picture. Also here are the two seat heater plugs and they have yellow wires running from them. Its confusing. It runs to the switch

 

Try looking at this pic instead...
I did not remove the shrink tubing on the relay connector on my install. However I can tell you how it's wired by the way it's operates. I had 4 wires to connect in order to make it work. Main power, ground, key on, and illumination.

Main power was run to the fuse box and an add a circuit used to tap a feed.
Ground wire was connected to bare metal under the dash.
Key on was tapped from the cigarette lighter
Illumination was tapped from the lighters light.

When I hooked up the key on, the relay clicked. That's number 85 or 86 on the relay, with the remaining terminal going to ground.
This tells me that this relay is feeding power to the switch that turns the heat on and off through terminal 87. The main power is connected to terminal 30. 87a should not be used.
Hope this helps.
If

 

I dunno I can seem to understand this stuff no matter how basic it is. I might just run both to the cig lighter and hope it doesnt blow up......with me in it of course

 

If you decide to wire it up to the battery just follow the diagram I posted last week. Stick a piece of heat shrink over relay pin 87a since it isn't needed for this circuit.

 

Ok makes sense, I was like wtf goes to that one. Shouldnt be hard to cover it with the plastic thing already there. Do you know what the hell they have going on with the yellow wire from the seat pads to the control?

 

If red is hot and black is ground on the harness then the yellow is probably the connection between the two heat pads (similar to connecting two resistors is series since each heat pad is essentially a resistor). One thing I'd suggest you do, since you don't have the schematic, is trace where all the wires go and draw a picture of the circuit. It will probably make more sense to you once you have a diagram.

 

I ran 2 additional relays that are triggered by an accesory circuit, 12 gauge wire runs from relays to seat heaters. When i did the wire sizing, they want the distance from battery to seat heater and back to ground. Came between 14 and 12 gauge. Can take pics if interested.

 

Would be nice if you have time

 

I have a question on the subject. So I installed seat heaters yesterday. My kit came with a pre wired relay leaving me with a wire for power which I ran from an fused aux box I have off the battery, then a power for the relay which I used an add a fuse from the cigarette lighters (so that the system would be powered only when the truck is running), and another for switch illumination which I used an add a fuse for as well.

All is well, switch illuminates when the lights are on, heaters work. BUT, the heaters also work when the truck is off?? The power outlets don't work, but the heaters do..

Any thoughts?

 

Assuming this is in a Tacoma; did you mod the lighter/power outlet to stay on when the truck is off? I just recently installed some in the gf's car and one wire energized the relay... Just a thought

Edit: missed the power outlets not being on..duh

 

No. Interestingly, the power outlets work like they always have, only powered when the truck is on.

 

K, does one wire make the relay click?

How many settings on the switch; hi, low, variable?

The set up I have works like this:
The red fused main wire goes to either 30 or 87 on the relay. The other goes to the heater control switch then to the heating pad elements. That wire, will more than likely be spliced so that each element for each seat has power. Same for the wire coming from the relay if you have 2 switches.

One wire to light the switch, and one wire to make the relay click, 85 or 86 and the other to ground.

Hope that helps

 

I'll have to look at the relay, it was pre wired. I have the same control that you have pictured further up on the page.

 

As was /is mine. I didn't cut the shrink tube to see where the wires went. I'm a controls electrician. I figured it out.

 

So this is how i went about wiring my seat heaters. I have hi/off/low settings on the seat heater rocker switch, high draws just 5-6 amps and low is about 4 amps. I mounted the relays and tied the grounds together (pin 85, black wires). For me the blue wires (pin 30) were power off the relay so i ran each to a 10 amp fuse that attaches to the battery. The yellow wire (pin 87) off each relay supplies power to the seat heater so that goes to a 12 gauge wire i have running through the harness grommet, i follow the ebrake cable path and connect to the seat heater power (that comes off the seat heater relay). I tied the white wire (pin 86) together and this goes to a 16 gauge wire that is connected via fuse tap in the accessory space (ran through grommet). Red wire is just taped and not use (pin 87a).
So power comes off battery, through 10amp fuse to relay mounted by battery, then ran inside vehicle to 10amp fuse of seat heater power wire (which then goes to seat heater relay then to seat heater (if you were to follow the path). Seat heater also has its own groun that i have attached by the ebrake mounting cable (pull back carpet).
Doing it this way ensures you will not overload any circuits and you will not kill your battery as the relays are switched power from the accessory fuse.

 

Figured it out. Moved the add a fuse for the switch to the ignition 2 fuse. Works like a charm!