Adding Heated Seats, Suggestions on wiring Options

[Mowog4]

I am looking for input on wiring a pair of heated seats. They draw about 5 amps each. Any suggestions on where I should run the power from.

[McMark]

Fuses 10/11/12 are all battery direct, I would use that to actually power the seat heaters because the wires are larger. Use a relay to keep the seat heaters from being 'live' all the time. Get piggyback connectors instead to cutting or damaging stock wires. Also, no crimp connector should ever be red/blue/yellow. Those are waiting for failure. Invest slightly more in a correct double crimp connector and some heat shrink. You look like a professional and you're less likely to have odd issues later.

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail...lkey571-60279-2
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.mouser.com-419-1480365438.1.jpg)

[Mowog4]

Mark
For those of us who strive to do a more professional job, but are usually limited to Radio Shack or Auto Zone, how about a couple of points on crimp on connectors:

What Crimpers do you suggest?
Do you prefer crimp on over solder?

The link to the terminal from Mouser was great, never had heard of them before. If you were going to suggest putting together some common connectors for an enthusiasts workshop what pieces would you suggest?
Thanks
Ed

Fuses 10/11/12 are all battery direct, I would use that to actually power the seat heaters because the wires are larger. Use a relay to keep the seat heaters from being 'live' all the time. Get piggyback connectors instead to cutting or damaging stock wires. Also, no crimp connector should ever be red/blue/yellow. Those are waiting for failure. Invest slightly more in a correct double crimp connector and some heat shrink. You look like a professional and you're less likely to have odd issues later.

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail...lkey571-60279-2
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.mouser.com-419-1480365438.1.jpg)

[McMark]

For those of us who strive to do a more professional job, but are usually limited to Radio Shack or Auto Zone, how about a couple of points on crimp on connectors:

What Crimpers do you suggest?
Do you prefer crimp on over solder?

The link to the terminal from Mouser was great, never had heard of them before. If you were going to suggest putting together some common connectors for an enthusiasts workshop what pieces would you suggest?
Thanks
Ed

Mouser is a great resource, but is extremely daunting because the catalog is huge and the search isn't that good. But uninsulated double crimp connectors of all types are available more places than your realize. NAPA Auto Parts has a decent selection. You can get bulk packs on eBay and Amazon. The main point is that if you're going to do wiring, and you don't already have connectors and tooling, you might as well get yourself set up with the good stuff.

This is similar to the crimper I use.
https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/SER18930/SER18930

Here's a pretty good quick overview, grabbed from (here):

I've gotten professional results with similar crimpers and connectors. Let me describe the process. These photos were scoured from the web, so they don't match each other (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

First, notice two things about the crimpers.

There are two different elevations in the crimp die, for any given wire size. The tighter one is intended for the actual wires, while the larger one is meant for the insulation.
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.stack.imgur.com-419-1480427839.1.jpg)

The crimp features aren't symmetric. One side has a single curve, and the other side has a double curve (making a ridge in the middle). The flat side of the connector should be against the single curve, and the open ends should be toward the double curve:
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.stack.imgur.com-419-1480427840.2.jpg)

Simalarly, the connectors themselves have two crimp areas, one for the wire and one for the insulation. Since your crimpers have two levels, the wire and insulation get crimped in a single step.

Strip just enough insulation off of the wire so that you can position both the insulation and the bare conductor in the appropriate places in the connector:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.stack.imgur.com-419-1480427840.3.jpg)

Finally, place the connector and wire into the crimper, making sure that the bigger aperture is over the insulation and the smaller one is over the wire. Crimp it!

Here's what it should look like:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.stack.imgur.com-419-1480427840.4.jpg)

Hopefully this helps.

However, it may be that the Pololu connectors aren't perfectly compatible with the DuPont housings. It seems that some people are getting it to work, and others are having trouble. If there's still a problem, I would try getting matched-brand pairs and see if it works better.

Oh, and the Pololu parts are spec'd to work with #22-#28AWG wire, so you should be fine there.

Good luck!