Adding auto folding mirror and heated seats

[Rhymes with Paris]

1 hour ago, RobertR said:

yes, set your car interior on fire is a good way to learn things. You will definitely remember that.

Yes, I certainly do.

A MK4 Granada in the 80s.

Driving over to my brother's house one evening with the dog in the back.🐩

I had only bought the damn thing the day before(the car, not the dog) and was trying it out,as I had been asked to find a car for a friend.

The normally very calm dog became very restless about half way there, and looking like he wanted out of there.

I soon found out why, pulling into the road where my brother lived, smoke started coming out of the dashboard.

Brakes on quick, and dog and me out,by which time flames had started, some kind soul had seen this drama unfold, and rang the fire brigade 🚒🔥,no mobile phone back then.

Fire brigade turned up, and quickly got top side of it, but by then it was well alight, and a write off.

Luckily,all this took place opposite a very busy pub in the middle of summer with most of the punters enjoying a pint in the pub garden.

It certainly provided much entertainment for them , and much embarrassment for me.🥺

Turned out, the previous owner had done that old trick, and replaced the stereo with a cheapy in a rush, and the twisted together wires had parted and caused a short.

This taught me two very valuable lessons.

1. Always trust the dog's nose.

2. Never buy a car from a man with a screwdriver in one hand, and a blaupunkt stereo in the other.

 

[Vins213]

8 hours ago, RobertR said:

sorry mate, but if you can't answer this on your own, don't mess up with the wiring at all.

well, I have already changed various things in the car, like the CC lever, the auto lights switcher removing the entire steering wheel, with the help of @flash22 I have installed the auto folding mirror doing the entire wirings, I have f*ked the master mirror switch because of a wire not connected correctly by me, but my question was simple: why serial and why not parallel circuit? I know the basic, I'm just curious about the choice

in parallel circuit, if one resistor stops to work, the other one will work
in series circuit, if one resistor stops to work, byebye

so simply: why series circuit? Again, I trust what @flash22 says, but I wanna know why 🙂 

[RobertR]

in series, they will be 1/4 rated power.

[Vins213]

simply for that? I was thinking something different...so thanks Robert!

they are 50W/2 seats, so 25W per seat, with a rated power DC 12V 27 ± 3W and a 35+10/5°C thermostat 

[Vins213]

do the maths

my Battery is a 12V, so:
Tension: 12V
Rated power of one seat: 25W

Current: 2,083A
Resistor: 5,76Ω

In series circuit: Rtot 11,52Ω >> 12,5W per seat

Correct? Basically in parallel circuit I have 'maximum power', in series circuit 'minimum power'

[flash22]

In essence yes, on paper

[Vins213]

so in series it's done for safety in real life? lol

[flash22]

Not really you run something at a lower current, it will extend its life, with a heat pad it will take longer to heat up

[Vins213]

43 minutes ago, flash22 said:

Not really you run something at a lower current, it will extend its life, with a heat pad it will take longer to heat up

Thanks! the important thing is that it works...I hope to take the seats apart this weekend and install the pads

[Vins213]

Aaaaaand this doesn't work 

I will try a single pad and see if it works

[Vins213]

Single pad works, I'll connect them in parallel 

[flash22]

Do you get power to the seat with the switch on ? and the car running/ready mode does the switch light up when you push the button

do a diode check on the mat, they may only work in one polarity

 

[Vins213]

1 minute ago, flash22 said:

Do you get power to the seat with the switch on ? and the car running/ready mode does the switch light up when you push the button

do a diode check on the mat, they may only work in one polarity

 

I tested the setup in series with a 12v Battery that I use for various things, 52Ah

 

the switcher works perfectly with a 12v exit when switched on

[Vins213]

Works fine in parallels

[Vins213]

Question: do they work correctly? The left mirror in video close and open firstly than the right one, listen carefully (sorry for the bad light, but they are unsynchronized)

 

 

[RobertR]

10 hours ago, Vins213 said:

Question: do they work correctly?

 

 

IMG_3525.MOV

yes.

[Vins213]

6 minutes ago, RobertR said:

yes.

Ok, so the OEM is not synchronised also

thanks! 

[RobertR]

They don't communicate together, folding mirrors have a PTC component in series and when the little electric motor is overloaded( when goes into stop position ) the current is limited with that PTC component and after a while the power for the motor is cut off.

If they are out of sync it's only due to internal mechanical resistance, they are don't exactly the same so they will move a little differently.

I have auto folding mirror on every car I have owned and almost never used it 😄 but it's good to use them time to time, becase they can get stuck(a common problem in my current bmw, there is little moving pin and when not used for a long time, this pin can get stuck and during unfolding, the mirror turn all the way up 😄, happily, it's easy to fix, so no major problem)