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Half a seat warmer?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Kurt Weiske, Mar 13, 2023.

  1. Kurt Weiske

    Kurt Weiske Active Member

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    I have a 2014 PiP. It's been a cold winter and I've started using my seat warmers for the first time in a while.

    I used them sparingly in the past, and don't recall whether this has always been the way:

    It feels like the seat warmer only warms the right side of the seat, leaving one cheek out in the cold, so to speak. This happens with both the passenger and driver seats. Can another Gen3 owner confirm this?
     
  2. 3PriusMike

    3PriusMike Prius owner since 2000, Tesla M3 2018

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    Yours must be broken as this is not how mine works.
    Seems unlikely that there are two fuses for each and one is blown

    Mike
     
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Over time your cheeks indent the wiring and the heating elements kind of like your electric blanket at the house or your electric throw You don't want to really be sitting on it You want it to be on top of you quite the opposite with the car seat and why some of these heaters kind of sort of are a fad best All of these things break down over time even my motorcycle gloves and my heated jacket and or pants the part that you sit on like your butt cheeks and/or your elbows in your coat usually aren't covered by the manufacturer because it's obvious that that's where those things are going to break and go dead. Newer companies have learned to route the heating wire elements from these wear points. In clothing anyway I'm not sure what they've done about seat heaters I'm not sure if they've come up with one full element or something that's more durable. I had these in recaro seats in the '80s and at best they were something to just show off an extra button including the lumbar support another button to show a pump to run and the bladder to break most of these things did not last very long on any of the cars that use these seats and those items my '85 Supra included.
     
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    If you know anybody who's got a thermal imager, it would be super fast to look at the seat with the warmer turned on and see what the pattern really looks like.