Sargents heated seat wiring HELP?

[DSchrodt02]

I've just ordered some front and back sargents heated seats for my 2011 R1200GS. Each seat comes with a heat controller and relay. My question is do I need the relay's attached to each seat if I have a relay between a Centech AP-1/AP-2 and the battery? I'm trying to avoid running three trigger wires if I only need one relay. Also how big should the relay be to run both seats?

My next question is what is the best wire to tap into for the trigger wire? I'm thinking about using the yellow wire to the low beam light. However at night if I turn on the bright's, won't that cut the power to my heated seats. Is there a better wire to tap into, where is it, and what color is it?

 

[Reckless]

My advice would be to ignore the Centech fusebox & relay - use that for smaller load accessories - if you overload the box or relay with your heated seats you risk losing the accessories wired to the Centech.

Why not use the relays that come with the seats - wire them as the instructions show and use the power wire to the accessory socket as the trigger wire - there are only 2 wires and its not the brown one - red & green I think - I used it on Tuesday for a relay on my new 2011 GS. The accessory socket is centrally located and you should find enough room under the tool tray to stow the relays for the heated seats.

 

[(RIP) DitchWater]

Firstly, relays are power rated and since Sargent provide one for each seat I suspect that is because they are rated to the power comsumption of each unit and therefore yes, use one for each seat. Does it say that within the instructions?
Secondly, because your fuse board is already controlled by a relay you could consider ingoring the above mentioned but the relay will also provide you with electrical isolation should your controller develop a problem and you will not be able to turn down the heat without a screwdriver or turning off your fuse board.

I don't know where to connect the TRIGGER wire on a 1200 because I don't use CanBus fluid so, be careful or you might need to speak to the witchdoctor to sort your newly aquired electrical problems.

You are aware of the CanBus aren't you?

 

[DSchrodt02]

My advice would be to ignore the Centech fusebox & relay - use that for smaller load accessories - if you overload the box or relay with your heated seats you risk losing the accessories wired to the Centech.

Why not use the relays that come with the seats - wire them as the instructions show and use the power wire to the accessory socket as the trigger wire - there are only 2 wires and its not the brown one - red & green I think - I used it on Tuesday for a relay on my new 2011 GS. The accessory socket is centrally located and you should find enough room under the tool tray to stow the relays for the heated seats.

Firstly, relays are power rated and since Sargent provide one for each seat I suspect that is because they are rated to the power comsumption of each unit and therefore yes, use one for each seat. Does it say that within the instructions?
Secondly, because your fuse board is already controlled by a relay you could consider ingoring the above mentioned but the relay will also provide you with electrical isolation should your controller develop a problem and you will not be able to turn down the heat without a screwdriver or turning off your fuse board.

I don't know where to connect the TRIGGER wire on a 1200 because I don't use CanBus fluid so, be careful or you might need to speak to the witchdoctor to sort your newly aquired electrical problems.

You are aware of the CanBus aren't you?

I'm going to call Sargents seats to make sure of this, but I'm pretty sure they put a relay to each seat because the seats can be sold separately. Together the seats only put out 4 amps/48 watts max which is less than one Gerbings jacket. Unless someone has a bad experience with this, I'm going to cut both relays from the seats. Then I'm going to put a 60 or 70 amp relay between my battery and a Centech AP-2.

I'm still looking for the best trigger wire to put the relay too. I don't want to use the accessory plug, because I read about troubles of it not turning on or off with the bike consistently (I know the accessory plug stays on for several minutes after the bike is turned off). If I use the low beam, I'm pretty sure the power to the fuse box will then shut off if I switch to high beams.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Haven't seen the wiring but I imagine if you have 2 controllers you will need 2 relays. Each controller will control each relay probably because they don't have enough switching load on their own. If I am right then the relay will be between the controller and the seat and not between the controller and the battery.

 

[DSchrodt02]

Haven't seen the wiring but I imagine if you have 2 controllers you will need 2 relays. Each controller will control each relay probably because they don't have enough switching load on their own. If I am right then the relay will be between the controller and the seat and not between the controller and the battery.

The relays are between the controller and the battery. Another reason that I think the sargents seat setup is strange is because the relay puts the break in the ground. There is no positive wires to the relay. I thought that someone would have posted a different way of wiring these seats on some site. I guess that I'll try out a more simple way of wiring it and post some pictures if it works.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Right I found the wiring diagram for the seats http://www.sargentcycle.com/pdf/HEAT Chilli Seat Wiring Instrux for All Models.pdf it all seems right to me. What they advise is you trigger your relay (ignition on supply) via something like your tail light or accessory socket. That's why they have a relay in them so you don't load up those circuits. They are breaking the negative because it is slightly easier. Its common modern practice to switch the negative because thats the way transistors like to do things. You could reduce it to one relay so long as the load isnt too high for one which it might be. You could also drop them and use the one in your fuse box, again so long as it is big enough. Fuses are 20A (both added together) so a single relay for both needs to be at least that and a 30A would be better plus whatever else your running through it.

Hope that helps.