Well I'm desperate for no more sweaty backs and hot seats so I'm going to do some heavy researching on placing an airconditioning duct into my driver side seat. Plan is to redirect or vent somehow down the middle of the R53 to an awaiting hole of my seat. Then I'll let it unload into the oh-so-hot leatherette seat back. Anybody got any suggestions on routing spots, air conditioning layout, ect. Please no alternatives.

 

Interesting idea. But I would be concerned about the mixture of very hot material and very cold air creating condensation. Then you have a mold issue on your hands.

 

Ill have to think about that. The plan is to use the tube that is exposed under the passenger side glove box and route a hose behing the downtubes and into the drivers seat. I'm hoping when I turn on the AC it will empty into the seat and cool it down enough to where I don't get sweat all over my back. Hopefully not get mold everywhere

 

The ac air is dry air, I wouldn't think you would have a condensation problem. Air conditioned seats would work better with cloth seats and an open celled foam or some other support material that would allow air to pass through.

You could also use those beaded seat covers like they use in taxi cabs!

Dave

 

 

that sounds cool! (AC seats!) would be great here in FL! ive always wondered if those air vents under the seats actually DO anything... seem fairly pointless if you ask me...

you could also consider, a similar setup like the do in Race Cars / Nascar, where they put Tubes of water in the seats with a small pump, and some sort of heat sync system. you could potentially put a small reservoir of water that is cooled by the AC vents under the seats, and a small water pump which moves said water through the system.

Hopefully, the AC will cool the water, which is pumped through the tube structure in the seats. (something like this, i just googled quickly)

http://greek.elecdoll.com/water-cool...peed-yourself/

Again, im pretty sure they do this in Nascar, but with a big IC under the car...

 

Tubing air from the glovebox to the seat will likely produce very little airflow. The air would have to travel a distance much further than the ducts on the dash, and the tube would be considerably small, therefore the vast majority of the air would take the path of least resistance and come out the dash instead.

Honestly your best bet would be to buy a high CFM computer fan that runs off ~6-12V DC current and put one or two of those under the seat with a small tube in the seat back that would direct the air up to the foam in the leatherette.

If you notice, all factory ventilated seats from other manufacturers use a system similar to this with perforated leather seats. Not sure because I haven't had one apart yet but I would also assume the foam would have perforations too to get the air to flow through the foam and out the perforations on the leather. Without perforations though, the air will have nowhere to 'flow' which will likely reduce any efficiency of this system.

 

oh, i mis-read. that little tube for the GB wont do diddly :P

but, there ARE large vents Under each front seat in the Mini (anyone else have these?)(at least, thats what i think they are). Perhaps you could re-route those? make an attachment that went over their openings and was then routed to the seats.

 

I'll look into that computer fan. I have to wonder though, how would I power that and would it cool te seats enough? Great ideas coming though

 

powering the fan should be easy cheese, its just a 12v source, so lots avail in the car! downside would be the NOISE. computer fans are fairly Loud...

another idea, could be to use Peltiers. You could do this a number of ways of course, again, go with the water tube idea, and use peltiers to cool a small water reservoir, which is pumped around the seats. you could perhaps use Just peltiers, attached to large heat-sinks (for the cold side) that would radiate cool air into your seats...

you could always go Extreme, and use a CO2 system, kinda like on the ICs, but for seats! or, maybe you could squeeze in a small mini fridge compressor somewhere, put the chilling plate inside the seats...

 

or, you could use a product on the market... something to this effect...

 

So I started my work. I got the seats out and I pulled the plastic back off. The biggest question is WHERE do I get these tubes. Home Depot? RadioShack? And do I cut small breathing holes (1 inch) in the foam?

 

tubes of all sorts can be found at Home Depot / Lowes. Not sure who will have a better selection... usually Lowes has more stuff, from my experience.

 

Here's some links to help. Like I said, small computer fans wired in parallel circuit with fuse and relay controlled by switch would be what all the manufacturers are using.

I would tend to disagree with astroblack_mini, not all computer fans are noisy. In fact you can find many cheap fans that are almost silent, and especially should be after embedded in your seat.

Here's a link about seat ventilation

And another about the bmw's seat ventilation cut-out view of the fan embedded in the foam: http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewe...3D9,00.asp?p=n

finally, here's a link to computer fans that are quiet:
http://www.compusa.com/applications/...Sort=4&Recs=10

I like the idea of the BMW seat cutout where they mounted the fan inside the foam and have multiple (9!) fans in each seat. Although that is overkill multiple fans may be necessary because of a couple reasons:
1) Our seats are not perforated leather, therefore airflow/effect will be minimal.
2) Foam absorbs body heat and retains it very well. The biggest gripe about memory foam mattresses is the fact that people sweat/sleep hot and that is due to the foam's retention of heat.
3) Multiple fans in the foam may not cool the leather, but they will cool the foam which in turn will make the entire seat feel cooler.

Most all computer fans run at less than 30dBa, which according to this source: http://www.makeitlouder.com/Decibel%20Level%20Chart.txt

30dBa is equivalent to nightime in the dessert, quieter than a whisper 4 feet away, but a little louder than absolute complete silence.


I would avoid trying to pipe air anywhere or placing tubes anywhere inside the foam. I would also mount the fans on the foam towards the inside of the seat, not the side that backs up against the leather. This will prevent you from 'feeling' the fans against your back/butt which would be uncomfortable.

Also, if you have never re-upholstered a seat, its a PITA! The leather is very tight on the seat and takes a lot of muscle and finger destruction to remove and reinstall. Take your time to prevent wrinkles or the leather sitting improperly on the foam after reinstalling.

 

hey! any updates?! pics?!

 

I also have the sweaty back problem with the leatherette and it's not only uncomfortable, but I also thinks it induces fatigue.

I got an idea to try and help, but nothing fancy, just going old school with eyelet grommets,
like this:




Grommet eyelet kits are cheap and easy to install...

...may try the experiment if I can find a cheap set of junkyard seat skins --- sadly tho the u-pull scrapyards around here don't seem to ever have many MINI's on the lot.

Do you think it'd have any positive benefit as far as cooling and breathability goes?

?

 

For my back, it's called cloth seat covers.
No leather, no vinyl, or other material that doesn't/can't "breath".

Mike

 

I like the air option on my RAM 3500 with perforated leather seat. Back breathes nice, with the R53 had this option too.