Can anyone tell me if the seat warmer in the FEH is supposed to shut off on it's own after heating, or is it supposed to run until you shut them off ?

We used ours for the first time on our 2007 FEH last night, and the "bun warmers" seemed to shut down after just a few minutes. However, the lights on the nearly-inaccessible switches stayed on.

We read the manual and it doesn't mention the seat warmers turning off automatically.

 

On my 06 the seat heat shuts off once it has reached a certain temp. While it may feel that they are no longer on, it just means that they are keeping your buns heated to the same temp...so they get used to it.

This is most likely a safety feature controlled by a thermostat within the seat heat controls.

Ohh, and during all this time the light does stay on.

 

As a general rule there is a thermostat embedded within the seat bottom. Once your "seat" begins to warn the FEH seat on its own the seat heating is no longer needed, most especially in a hybrid.

The FEH/MMH seat heating is likely designed to bring your seating surface up to a comfortable level and then shut down until your "seat" is absent long enough for the FEH/MMH seating surface to cool below the thermostatic setting. As long as you remain seated the seat heat will likely not cycle back on again.

Some seat heating systems have two settings, a HIGH level, which I find is too hot after awhile, and a normal level. I suspect we can all understand why a hybrid would not have the "high" seat heating level.

 

Someone needs to get a thermometer and stick it under their rear end. Then we'll know if in fact the system gets hot and then shuts down or if your rear end is just getting used to the heat.

 

If anyone is interested, there is a wiring diagram showing the seat heaters on page 2-28 of the FEH/MMH Modifier's Guide.

 

Cool now I can modify the passenger seat with a non-stick surface and higher power then be able to make breakfast on my way into work!

Seriously though... thanks for posting the reference.

 

Yep, just re-wire the heaters to run off the 330v HV battery, instead of that wimpy 12v one.