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How they work Posted by Ari [Email] (#2847) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Ari) on Fri, 24 May 2002 12:48:35 In Reply to: Re: Heating elements, David G. Mills, Fri, 24 May 2002 10:11:08 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
In the 9000, and 900 with controllable seat heater-
The control on the dash is NOT a rheostat. It is truly a controller.
Inside the seat there is a heating element and a temperature sensor. The heating element and sensor share a ground point under the seat. Two wires - one the 'live' end of the heating element, the other the sensor - go to the controller.
The knob on the front of the controller is a four position rotary switch. It selects a resistor, which corresponds to a Seat Temperature. The controller looks at the seat temperature (from the sensor in the seat), and if the temperature is LESS than the setting on the switch, a relay in the controller closes and sends full voltage to the heater. Once the seat temp exceeds the setting on the switch, the relay opens. For a hotter seat, the relay stays closed longer.
So the heating element sees either full voltage or zero. And it doesn't care about outside temperature - only the temperature of the seat. And at a "3" setting, that seat is pretty hot.
You should be able to tell if the seat is working even on a warm morning. Just don't park the car with the seat in the sun. Set it to three, and SIT in the seat. If you aren't sitting in the seat, you really don't get good conduction from the heating element to the surface. It should only take about 2.5 minutes to get the seat to temperature on a "3" setting.
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