BUSAFREAK

Hey all. I decided since the RX8 seats come with the heated elements, that I should go ahead and hook them up. It's a very basic set up. The thermostats are within the heating element so I could just hook them up to 2 toggle switches for on and off. There are no high and low setting, just on and off.

The problem that i'm having is deciding on the relay. From the looks of the schematic it looks like I can use a standard SPDT relay. The manuals do not show what type or amperage this oem relay is. The OEM one is like $14. I wouldn't mind getting it, but I wouldn't know what each relay leg represents unless I crack it open and I don't want to do that. If you notice on this pic, the same type of relay is used to run other crap, so this is why I think that I can just use a standard relay, I just wish I knew the amperage. I went to Mazda, and the people there are useless:



Here is the electrical diagram in this pdf file. Go to page 130 RX8 heated seat electrical diagram

Here is a pic of my aftermarket 50 amp relay:



I was also thinking of running a relay for each seat. I'm sure I know the answer, but I keep questioning myself and it's screwing me up. So I figured I would try and get some fresh ideas from you guys.

Thanks!

SparkienSuggah

the seat warmer fuse is a 20A fuse on the RX-8 (from the PDF you provided), so you need to supply about 10 amps a seat. budget for 20amps a seat JIC a short occurs (dont want wiring catching fire), and use 10 amp fuses per seat to keep your *** safe (heated seats CAN burn... be careful how long you leave them on.. perhaps borrow a timed defogger switch like from a ford or soemthing)

furthermore: make sure the heated seats can only come on while the car is running. they are the LAST thing you want consuming power in the dead of winter during the night.