Car seat as a chair / Audi A8 Seat

[hotsauce2007]

Hi,

I´m developing one project right now, look what I´m trying to do:
I want to build one chair using one audi a8 seat, why? Because I can set the adjustments using the commands of the seat and make it warm or cold.

The seat has heater and ventilation, massage settings and adjustments for almost all the seat parts.

I found one A8 seat cheap and is working as it should, but I noticed that the deep adjustments are made in the LCD panel inside of the A8, but we can set the entire seat just connecting the PHASE and NEUTRAL to one power supply that can handle with 110v to 12v and 30A

This will work with almost all the electric seats, you just need patience and a little of help with electric diagrams.

Here is the project and some photos:

.

.

Frame

.

Seat in white version

.

Electric diagram of the Audi A8 Seat:

 

 

Diagram for wiring

 

.

Another example of wire connections:

 

Wires and external connections for the seat

.

 

Yellow = AIRBAG PLUG - don´t touch and don´t cut, just live it alone or if you have anyone to help just remove the airbag module from the seat and sell it our trow it away

 

 

Project made with one seat from BMW E46
 

 

 

Project made with one seat from Citroen

 

.

 

Engineer of the seats:

 

 

 

.

For the seat to work properly, we need to find the electrical diagram of the seat and make the connections, fortunately most of the assemblers obey a standard in the assembly / connection of the seats, where the yellow pin is for the Airbag and we should avoid the same and Airbag may be removed from the seat to prevent accidents.

Simply plug the larger wires into a 12v and 20A or 30A power source, depending on the quality / power of your seat, if you do not want a wired chair, simply put a motorcycle battery under the chair and make a charger to plug into the socket when it is empty.

To connect the seat without a car or motorcycle battery, we need a power supply with 110 or 127/220/240 for 12v 30A or 20A (depending on your seat and number of engines).

How to wire:

 

 

Just find the PHASE / NEUTRAL of the seat and turn on the PHASE and NEUTRAL of the source, do not forget to turn on the correct polarity, if you turn on the opposite the motors will turn in the counterclockwise direction

 

One project done with one BMW seat, ( google image )

 

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/4f/b2/99/4fb2992d0d0875d8c5dd04052844828a.jpg
.

 

 

I will post more photos as soon as I finish the project.

 

My entire home and projects:

 

https://hardforum.com/threads/post-your-workstations-2016.1887080/page-8#post-1042912905

 

Thanks

 

The seat and the bases made with stainless.

 

 

.

 

doing the threads for the screws.

 

 

.

 

Done

 

 

.

 

Back

 

 

 

 

.

 

Side

 

 

 

 

.

 

Now I will fix the support for the battery and start with the wiring

=]

[dizmo]

For the cooling, does it take place in the seat or does it use the AC system?
You might not be able to use the feature.

Interesting idea. I think it'd be awfully heavy for a computer chair though, not to mention the weight needed to counter balance the chair.

[8-Bit Ninja]

14 minutes ago, dizmo said:

For the cooling, does it take place in the seat or does it use the AC system?
You might not be able to use the feature.

Interesting idea. I think it'd be awfully heavy for a computer chair though, not to mention the weight needed to counter balance the chair.

99% sure cooling is done in the seat

 

[crzyces]

10 minutes ago, dizmo said:

For the cooling, does it take place in the seat or does it use the AC system?
You might not be able to use the feature.

Interesting idea. I think it'd be awfully heavy for a computer chair though, not to mention the weight needed to counter balance the chair.

If it uses AC for cooling, he can just get a couple of Peltier coolers (lol, 3 days of babbling about these things. That $5.09 usd sale at Walmart has me stopping every time I drive by. Those things really kick ass. I'm thinking about putting a copper mount on the back of my mobo where the cpu is and putting another there. I'll just splice it to the one on the external intake fan. My PC is literally air conditioned now.

[Not_Sean]

For a racing sim setup I'm all for this, for a Normal chair it's insane! those chair weigh so much, and wiring all that up just seems like a wiring and getting tangled nightmare. 

 

But yeah enjoy man  least its unique. 

[SlipperyPete]

2 hours ago, crzyces said:

If it uses AC for cooling, he can just get a couple of Peltier coolers (lol, 3 days of babbling about these things. That $5.09 usd sale at Walmart has me stopping every time I drive by. Those things really kick ass. I'm thinking about putting a copper mount on the back of my mobo where the cpu is and putting another there. I'll just splice it to the one on the external intake fan. My PC is literally air conditioned now.

wait what. thats awesome. how large are the plates? and could you do this with a gpu? how does the cooling system dissipate heat?

[crzyces]

39 minutes ago, SlipperyPete said:

wait what. thats awesome. how large are the plates? and could you do this with a gpu? how does the cooling system dissipate heat?

That was how I stumbled on them. I was looking for alternatives to water cooling, as in the summer, if it's 90 in the room, well the water/liquid eventually gets that warm too. Anyway, they are perfect for gpu's or cpu's. I saw some very bad attempts at using them in heatsinks, but the science was all wrong, since electro-thermal cooling releases heat from one side and the other side is freezing. That's a big reason normal AC's need an exterior vent.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/12V-60W-TEC1-12706-Heatsink-Thermoelectric-Cooler-Peltier-Cooling-Plate-Module/565254255?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=7728&adid=22222222227071838347&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=182798752292&wl4=pla-340106729927&wl5=9002203&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=115059135&wl11=online&wl12=565254255&wl13=&veh=sem

 

All the heatsinks had them in the middle, like an upside down sandwich (which would work with two fans on each side I guess, but not well), it was weird. So on a cpu, cold side down, hot side up, another heatsink, then fan. I'm sure it would work on a gpu, it would just be a matter of fitting a plate/heatsink, and a fan. You would want the fan facing down with nothing below it though do to chance of condensation, unless you could finagle a trough type of thing to ensure there was not enough accumulated moisture to drip. Like I said, it gets cold.

[hotsauce2007]

15 hours ago, dizmo said:

For the cooling, does it take place in the seat or does it use the AC system?
You might not be able to use the feature.

Interesting idea. I think it'd be awfully heavy for a computer chair though, not to mention the weight needed to counter balance the chair.

Not really, is just a fan and I need to build one switch like fan controller for computer and adapt in the seat, which is pretty easy but I want to know how to power the heater element in the seat, anyone know how to calculate the switch ?

 

15 hours ago, 8-Bit Ninja said:

99% sure cooling is done in the seat

 

 

Yes, it is.

Pretty easy to turn it on.

=]

 

15 hours ago, crzyces said:

If it uses AC for cooling, he can just get a couple of Peltier coolers (lol, 3 days of babbling about these things. That $5.09 usd sale at Walmart has me stopping every time I drive by. Those things really kick ass. I'm thinking about putting a copper mount on the back of my mobo where the cpu is and putting another there. I'll just splice it to the one on the external intake fan. My PC is literally air conditioned now.

 

I will use only the fan for refrigerate the seat in the summer, there is no need to use the AC in the seat since we have central HVAC at home

=]

 

14 hours ago, Not_Sean said:

For a racing sim setup I'm all for this, for a Normal chair it's insane! those chair weigh so much, and wiring all that up just seems like a wiring and getting tangled nightmare. 

 

But yeah enjoy man  least its unique. 

Not really , the total weight is about 35 pounds and we just need to wire phase and neutral to work.

I will try to fix the youtube videos link over here

 

I just need a little help to figure out how to control the heater in the seat, I need to build one switch like this:

 

https://www.google.com.br/search?q=heat+seat+switch&safe=active&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9pMfyvOXTAhUDj5AKHXlxB6AQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=648

[crzyces]

24 minutes ago, hotsauce2007 said:

Not really, is just a fan and I need to build one switch like fan controller for computer and adapt in the seat, which is pretty easy but I want to know how to power the heater element in the seat, anyone know how to calculate the switch ?

 

 

Yes, it is.

Pretty easy to turn it on.

=]

 

 

I will use only the fan for refrigerate the seat in the summer, there is no need to use the AC in the seat since we have central HVAC at home

=]

 

Not really , the total weight is about 35 pounds and we just need to wire phase and neutral to work.

I will try to fix the youtube videos link over here

 

I just need a little help to figure out how to control the heater in the seat, I need to build one switch like this:

 

https://www.google.com.br/search?q=heat+seat+switch&safe=active&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9pMfyvOXTAhUDj5AKHXlxB6AQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=648

35lbs isn't to bad. I use a lazy boy recliner at my PC desk. Weighs about the same. It's not like your going to be gaming with it strapped to your back ;^) . You might want to think about throwing some rollers on the bottom though.

[DildorTheDecent]

That's awesome. I've always thought about using a proper Recaro racing seat as a chair. Probably a lot easier than this.

 

And if you ever get a A8 at least you've a seat ready to go in it  

[hotsauce2007]

29 minutes ago, crzyces said:

35lbs isn't to bad. I use a lazy boy recliner at my PC desk. Weighs about the same. It's not like your going to be gaming with it strapped to your back ;^) . You might want to think about throwing some rollers on the bottom though.

yah, is pretty light.

 

right now I need a little help with the switch for the heater and fan part, here is some buttons:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/98-01-AUDI-A8-FRONT-HEATED-SEAT-SWITCH-OEM-4D0-963-563-D/192020870603?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D40130%26meid%3D71faeca92668423e838957c911723301%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D201919589919

 

I just need to figure out how to calculate the amp to control the heat and the fan, for the van probably I think I just need to wire the phase and neutral in one switch with dimmer and it´s done. for the heat element i have no Idea how to calculate the switch or if I have to calculate it, maybe is just plug one button and wire one 12v line with xAmp value and it´s done, anyone knows or have any idea? I´m not a expert in electronic wiring.  =[

 

[hotsauce2007]

On 2017-5-10 at 11:18 AM, DildorTheDecent said:

That's awesome. I've always thought about using a proper Recaro racing seat as a chair. Probably a lot easier than this.

 

And if you ever get a A8 at least you've a seat ready to go in it  

If you just need one chair with car seat, that is what you want 

 

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/4f/b2/99/4fb2992d0d0875d8c5dd04052844828a.jpg

[hotsauce2007]

 

 

fixed links and how to wire the heater...

[hotsauce2007]

 

 

Massage system.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NOgdZZqWD8

[Yahtadi]

Here i thought you were gonna put a goddamn system in that chair. Lol. I should have started reading all before take a look at pictures

[hotsauce2007]

6 hours ago, Yahtadi said:

Here i thought you were gonna put a goddamn system in that chair. Lol. I should have started reading all before take a look at pictures

 

not really, the seat comes with all integrated.

 

 

[hotsauce2007]

 

The first part is done folks. Lets start with the wiring phase.

[hotsauce2007]

 

 

With restarms:

 

[SlipperyPete]

14 minutes ago, hotsauce2007 said:

 

 

With restarms:

looks really good

[hotsauce2007]

 

 

We found how to turn on the ventilation and probably the heating, I will post some news soon...

[SlipperyPete]

6 hours ago, hotsauce2007 said:

 

 

We found how to turn on the ventilation and probably the heating, I will post some news soon...

im eagerly anticipating more news

[byalexandr]

On 5/9/2017 at 5:41 PM, 8-Bit Ninja said:

99% sure cooling is done in the seat

 

It all depends on whether or not the seat used the HVAC system to actually cool the seat. Using a fan is one thing but to actually lower the temperature it needs to be either connected to the HVAC system in the car or have its own.

[FSUPRIME]

Hello,

 

I have an audi 2012 A8 seat arriving this coming tuesday, I just want to confirm with you that all you needed to get the controls on the seat itself on left hand side to work was to connect the phase and neutral from the red plug into a 12v 30amp power source correct?

 

 

[hotsauce2007]

On 1/17/2019 at 1:42 AM, FSUPRIME said:

Hello,

 

I have an audi 2012 A8 seat arriving this coming tuesday, I just want to confirm with you that all you needed to get the controls on the seat itself on left hand side to work was to connect the phase and neutral from the red plug into a 12v 30amp power source correct?

 

 

 

Hi

 

Yah, all you need is a 12v power supply and wire the correct wires to get all the seat powered up

=]

got it?

[RasmusDC]

the problem with a car seat is the ergonomics is for driving, so feet on pedals, and hands on a steering wheel, that is also why all "racing seat" for office use, is a ergonomic nightmare. 

 

i would as earlier support this fully for a "car sim" i have one, and i must admit, it would be nice with a bit more comfy seat, than the OMP that i am running, it don´t need all the seat supports since i don´t pull real life G´s... so running 4 hours IRacing sessions, can become quite hot.

 

But nice work.