Just a quick note for those of you who have been trying to build the SC1 Servocores with the 0.01uF capacitors as listed in the parts list. That's an error! 0.1uF is just fine. Documentation has been revised accordingly. Sorry for the error!
Here's a little makeover of an inexpensive aftermarket car seat heating pad that stopped working.
Designed to activate and warm up when sat upon, the electronics face a fair amount of abuse: since the seat is a soft frame, the wires inside constantly move and flex with the body. They are also subject to harsh temperature changes with frequent (very) cold weather heating and cooling cycles, adding to a situation ripe for a malfunction, which happened to one of our staff when he couldn't warm up his tush one cold Canadian morning...
Dragging it into the lab, we peeled back the covers to discover the usual and not-so-usual suspects.
The old wires had a PVC jacket that had dried out and cracked.
The wires would then flex at these cracks and break:
We replaced those wires with our GroovyNoodle silicone wire, which is able to resist flexing and temperature fluctuations very well.
Here's a picture of the sketchy activation switch we found inside the bottom part of the seat. It's designed to close when under "bum load", and directly pass power to the heating coils. We're not experts at auto-grade accessory manufacturing, but we were surprised that it wasn't a logic "bum-detected" switch that triggered a suitable relay or FET elsewhere. And the lack of a thermal reset fuse surprised us.
All broken wires replaced! Almost all the PVC jacket wire had cracked and disintegrated, so we replaced it with our better-quality GroovyNoodle silicone wire. This wire is extremely flexible, high strand count, and a temperature-ignoring silicon jacket. Perfect for inside this car seat heater.
All necessary repairs and upgrades were done just in time for the next stretch of (very much) cold Canadian winter.
Just a quick note for those of you who have been trying to build the SC1 Servocores with the 0.01uF capacitors as listed in the parts list. That's an error! 0.1uF is just fine. Documentation has been revised accordingly. Sorry for the error!
Today I have something truly fantasmic to show you. If you have something in your mouth, you should swallow now. If you're standing, sit down. If you're in your car, buckle up. If your mouth is full while you're standing up in your car and browsing the internet to read this... I just hope the […]
Please be advised that Solarbotics will be closed this Friday, March the 25th. We will resume operations Monday, March 28th so any Express Orders that come in after 2:00pm this Thursday will not go out until Monday, March 28. Take it easy on the chocolate!
We are back, ready to take your orders. Not only are we back but we are ready for a new year with many things to serve you better. We have brought back the SCPD solar cells. Future enhancements and improvements in the online web ordering. Expect future enhancements such as more videos, more data on […]
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Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.