Do-it-yourself steering wheel heating photo report. Self-installation of steering wheel heating in a car

Today, engineers of car manufacturing companies are trying to create the most comfortable conditions for the driver and passengers. Therefore, options such as heated seats, mirrors, windshield and steering wheel appear in the configurations of cars. But unfortunately, all these additional options cost a lot of money when buying a car. Therefore, many consumers prefer cheaper modifications without additional comfort elements. But few people know that all these options can be done by yourself. At the same time, spending a minimum of money and a little personal time.

Later in the article, we will consider the method with step-by-step instructions and photographs. On the topic of how to make an electric steering wheel with your own hands. Also. Maybe later we will present new instructions for creating other options for increased comfort. This method is suitable for cars of any year of manufacture and any configuration. From a small city car to a multi-tonnage truck. That's why. Every car owner can enjoy the feeling of a warm steering wheel on a cold winter morning.

So, let's begin to understand the process of creating a heating for the steering wheel.

Required materials for electric steering wheel heating

To work, you need to buy some materials and get the necessary tools:

As the main heating element, you can use a seat heating kit, a kit called "Emelya Gorynych" can be ideal. This set will serve as a donor, from which you will need a heating element in the form of a blue wire (in other sets, it may be of a different color), and a thermostatic relay. Which will maintain a certain temperature in a given range.

Quality glue;

Knife with a sharp blade, a construction knife with interchangeable blades is ideal;

Any good sealant;

Insulating tape;

Marker or other marking tool;

Double-sided tape (preferably 3M, which is of high quality);

Soldering iron with consumables for soldering;

Leather braided steering wheel, or a piece of high-quality leather for self-upholstery of the steering wheel.

After acquiring everything you need, you can begin to remake the steering wheel.

Making an electric heated steering wheel

1. to begin with, it is necessary to dismantle the steering wheel, since in the installed form it will be very inconvenient to carry out all the work. We will not give instructions for removing the steering wheel, because, on each car model, it may differ, but there is nothing complicated in this procedure.

2. After that, it will be necessary to make markings on the steering wheel for future channels for laying the heating element.

It is worth noting that at this stage you will have to work a little and calculate the number of turns. Which is obtained from the extracted heating element. For this. We measure the perimeter of the circumference of the steering wheel, using a tape measure or a ruler with a thread, and divide the resulting size by the total length of the extracted heating element.

After that, the pitch of the turns on the steering wheel is calculated. To do this, measure the circumference of the steering wheel and divide the resulting size by the number of possible turns (you can reduce the number of turns in order to leave a small margin of wire so that there is no situation when it is not enough).

Then, according to our calculations, we apply markings, with a calculated step and the number of turns.

3. After marking, with a sharp knife or other convenient tool for you, special recesses are cut out according to the marked markings, the recesses must completely accommodate the heating element and it is advisable not to protrude above the plane of the steering wheel.

4. This stage is not mandatory, but it can be done for reinsurance and convenience of further work. And so, now you should fix the wire in the channels with glue, and in especially difficult bends, you can use electrical tape until the glue has completely set.

6. After all the stages of laying and fixing the heating wire, you can start wrapping the steering wheel with leather or pulling on a special leather cover that completely hides the steering wheel underneath.

7. After all the stages of alteration, the steering wheel is installed in its regular place and connected to the vehicle's on-board network.

Connecting the electric heated steering wheel

There are two options for connecting our homemade system. In some cases, you can get by with a little bloodshed and find a few unused wires inside the steering wheel (in case your steering wheel has buttons for controlling the radio or other car systems), and apply the necessary voltage to them.

Otherwise, you will have to make a system with a sliding contact. It is worth noting that only the "positive" contact will have to be submitted. Since the "mass" or "negative" contact can be taken from the steering rack.

A sliding contact is created using a copper ring worn on the steering column and fixed on a fixed part so that it does not come into contact with other metal parts of the car, and the second contact is installed on the steering wheel so that it constantly comes into contact with our ring during rotation. Naturally, a positive voltage is applied to the copper ring, which will be transmitted to our heating system through a sliding contact.

Please note that the required ring can be found in the garage or purchased from an automotive store (if you can), or ordered from a lathe. Also, you should carefully consider the insulation of all elements, so that there is no short circuit, and you do not have to redo everything.

Now we return all the plugs, covers and airbag to their places.

Conclusion

Summing up the work done and the results obtained, we can say with full confidence that do-it-yourself electric steering wheel heating is a doable task for every car owner, if you have some free time and a desire to increase your comfort in the car.

According to the impressions of using this home-made system, we can say that it is very pleasant. Coming to your car on a winter morning, the steering wheel becomes pleasantly warm already in 2 minutes, and when the car warms up further, you do not experience any discomfort. After using this system for some time, you no longer understand how you used the car before, without such a pleasant and convenient function.

Gotovchik Dmitry, 2017

Many car owners in the cold season face a problem when they get into the car and have to take the ice wheel with their hands. Sometimes, even with a well-functioning interior heating system, the hands in the car begin to freeze, because you need to constantly hold on to the steering wheel. In this regard, the homemade product discussed below will be an excellent addition, besides, it is simple, not financially expensive, and absolutely any car can be equipped with such a steering wheel.

You will even want to take a warm steering wheel in winter to warm your hands, and not, as before, hold it with one hand, changing them one by one. Let's take a closer look at how you can make a heated steering wheel with your own hands.

Materials and tools for manufacturing:
- steering wheel (you can buy an inexpensive new one or find an unnecessary used one);
- heating element (wire from the seat heating system or nichrome wire);
- a hacksaw and a sharp, strong knife;
- lavsan tape;
- marker;
- glue (for gluing plastics);
- soldering iron;
- staples or electrical tape for fixing.

Manufacturing process:

Step one. We cut the steering wheel
You need to find an old one or buy an inexpensive new steering wheel that you won’t mind redoing. In the steering wheel, you will need to make grooves with a knife, then a heating element will be inserted into them. If you wind the wire directly over the steering wheel, it will not look aesthetically pleasing, and the steering wheel will have unpleasant bumps. In this regard, it was decided to install the wire inside.

To make the grooves correctly, you need to wrap a wire around the steering wheel in a spiral, and then mark these places. As for the length of the wire, it should be about 7 meters; the wire of this length is used in the seat heating system. If nichrome wire is used, then its diameter should be 0.45 mm and length 7 meters. You also need to add to this length the distance to the center of the steering wheel, that is, its radius, this is necessary to connect the heating element.

The depth of the channel should be such that the wire is buried in it by more than half of its diameter. But it should not be such that the wire goes too deep into it. The easiest way to cut a plastic steering wheel is with a hacksaw blade. A knife is needed in order to draw the initial location of the grooves and subsequently cut off the burrs.
Now you can lay the wire in the grooves and temporarily fix it with small pieces of electrical tape.

Step two. Hide the wire and change the appearance of the steering wheel
Now, in order to fix the wire well and hide it, the steering wheel must be carefully and efficiently wrapped with lavsan electrical tape. No other film is suitable for these purposes, since it is lavsan electrical tape that is able to withstand high temperatures, while it does not melt or stretch.
After that, the steering wheel can be sheathed with a new cover and give it a more aesthetic appearance. If a leather case is used, then it is best to sew it with thick silk threads, they are strong and less likely to tear.

Step three. Connecting the steering wheel to a power source
Now you need to remove the old steering wheel. After removing it, you can find slip rings or a tape twisted by a snail. There you need to find two opposite contacts, with the help of which the heating element will be connected to the power source. In principle, the connection system can be varied, here it already depends on the brand of car. It is important to remember that the steering wheel rotates, and connecting with a regular wire directly will not work here. You need to connect according to the same scheme as the car signal works or come up with a similar one yourself.

Without fail, the wire supplying the steering wheel must have a 10 A fuse, no more. It will also be useful to install a thermal relay, it can be pulled out of the seat heating kit. To turn on the heated steering wheel, you can make a separate key. Or you can connect the heated steering wheel to the seat heating system.

In winter, the heated steering wheel plays a very important role, as it allows the driver to feel comfortable at any temperature. Fortunately, making a warm steering wheel with your own hands is not so difficult and not at all expensive. Below we will introduce you to the instructions for performing this task, and also try to decide whether it is worth doing the installation of a heated steering wheel with your own hands.

What tools and parts will be needed to install a steering wheel heater

In severe frosts, while the stove warms up the interior, the driver can literally freeze his hands, holding them on the steering wheel. It is known that it is not very convenient to steer the “steering wheel” with gloves, and if the gloves are leather, this also aggravates the situation. Therefore, drivers who have found themselves in such a situation more than once simply dream of a heated steering wheel that you can do yourself.

The steering wheel heater is essentially a heat-conducting wire that is attached to the steering wheel. Both ends of it are terminated with terminals connected directly to the vehicle's on-board electrical network, thanks to which the heating is switched on. If we talk about a more advanced and complex design, then a regulator is also included in its circuit, with which you can not only turn on / off the heating of the steering wheel, but also regulate the heat radiated by it.

It is interesting!The first patent for the creation of a heated steering wheel appeared about 100 years ago, although such an idea received its first incarnation only in the 80s of the last century. The reason for the refusal of auto designers to install a steering wheel heater was the complexity of the design of such a device.

It is far from possible to meet such a function on every car, even the most expensive one, although manufacturers managed to install steering wheel heating on many Japanese budget foreign cars at the factory. But to make the heating of the steering wheel with your own hands, you will need to prepare the following materials and tools:

Electric heating designed for the car seat. From it, in turn, it will be necessary to “remove” the thermal heating wire and relay in order to deactivate the heating operation when a certain temperature value is reached. The cost of such a car seat heater can fluctuate greatly, but you do not have to take the most expensive one. You can get away with an option that will look safe enough, but at the same time will not empty your wallet.

Fast drying adhesive for universal use.

Sealant (necessarily transparent, so as not to spoil the appearance of the steering wheel).

Sharp utility knife.

Soldering iron.

Important!A piece of copper wire, which conducts current well, can also serve as a heater. However, if you cannot correctly calculate the amount of voltage consumed by it, this threatens to damage the car's on-board network.

The answer to the question of how to make the steering wheel heating yourself, you will learn from the instructions below.

Do-it-yourself steering wheel heating: step by step instructions

To install a heated steering wheel, you need to be fairly well versed in automotive electrics. We hope that the following instructions will help even inexperienced car owners cope with the task:

1. We deal with the car seat heater, from which it is necessary to remove the heating element with extreme care. In the process of this work, it is very important not to damage it and get it together with the relay.

2. We dismantle the steering wheel itself from the car. This process will differ significantly depending on which model of car we are talking about. But if you resort to the help of the manual in your own car, everyone can cope with this task. The main thing in the dismantling process is not to forget to mark the position of the steering wheel relative to the shaft. Otherwise, you risk shifting the steering wheel relative to its axis, which will make it impossible to control the car.

3. We apply markings on the steering wheel for laying the heated wire. For this task, you first need to use a marker to draw the exact lines of the wire. It can be placed as you like - both in a circle and in turns. Please note that the distance between the turns must be at least 2 cm, otherwise you simply will not have enough wire. After completing this task, cut the outer surface of the steering wheel so that the resulting groove can easily accommodate the steering wheel heating element.

Important!It is recommended that the cable cutouts on the steering wheel be made at an angle. Firstly, this way you will make the task easier for yourself, and secondly, the heating element will be more securely held in the groove cut at an angle.

To keep it securely in the steering wheel, in several places it needs to be put on quick-drying glue. At the same time, try to lay the wire so that it fits as tightly as possible to the steering wheel, because only then will it be able to warm it up with high quality. If necessary, during laying, the wire of the steering heater can be additionally fixed with electrical tape, which, after the glue has dried, can be removed without a trace.

5. All grooves and heating element are covered with transparent sealant. This task must be carried out very carefully, since as a result the sealant layer should not protrude from the edges of the groove and be felt on the steering wheel. Therefore, as soon as the sealant dries, it is important to cut off its excess with a sharp clerical knife.

6. We fit the steering wheel with a cover or a layer of leather, which depends solely on the choice of the car owner. In any case, you should not do without an additional steering wheel pad, as this will wear out the sealant layer, as a result of which you can touch the heating element with your bare fingers, which can even be deadly. And thanks to the presence of a cover, the heat from the heating wire will spread more evenly throughout the steering wheel.

7. We install the steering wheel in place and connect the heating to the on-board network. This task is the most difficult in the whole process of installing a heated steering wheel with your own hands. To do this, you need to find 3 free contacts on your car, which must be provided for by its design. We connect the wires from the heating element to them.

To make it easier to use the heated steering wheel, it can be connected to the button for heating the rear windows of the car. To do this, you just need to find the necessary electrical circuit and connect the contacts from the heated steering wheel to it. To do this, you should use copper plates, which must be connected to the wires with a soldering iron. Don't forget to connect the relay as well.

Important! There is also a fourth contact on the steering wheel, which must be closed to the horn's sound signal. Please also note that when working with the vehicle's on-board electrical network, it is imperative to disconnect the battery so as not to harm yourself or electrical appliances. After fully connecting the steering wheel heating and mounting the steering wheel in its original place, you can start testing the heating. When it is turned on, the steering wheel should fully warm up in about 2-3 minutes.

Do-it-yourself steering wheel heating: arguments for and against

You already know how to make the steering wheel heating yourself, but if you have ever delved into auto forums regarding this issue, then you have probably read negative reviews about such an innovation in a car. But first, let's focus on the arguments "for":

1. Driving when you are warm is much more comfortable. Even with a good stove, warming up in a car with a warm steering wheel will be much easier and faster.

2. The presence of steering wheel heating allows the driver's hands to remain mobile during the entire process of driving a car, so that he can more accurately and quickly control even very difficult situations on the road.

3. Driving with gloves can lead to a dangerous situation where, under the influence of freezing temperatures, the leather surfaces of the gloves and the steering wheel can lose grip, and in a dangerous situation, the steering wheel can literally slip out of the driver's hands.

4. If you choose between a purchased heating function and installing it yourself, then, of course, you should stop at the latter option, since it will cost several times cheaper. As for the arguments "against", they include the difficulty of connecting the steering wheel heating with your own hands to the car's on-board network. If you do not take into account voltage drops or confuse "+" and "-", it is quite possible to achieve very unpleasant consequences for yourself and for your car. Therefore, if you are not entirely friends with an electrician, it is better to entrust the connection to specialists.

Another disadvantage for the driver may be the lack of a relay to adjust the steering wheel heating temperature. In this case, the heating will either have to be completely abandoned, or constantly turned on and off, which is very inconvenient in winter driving conditions. Oddly enough, but it will also take some time to get used to the heated steering wheel, which at first can also become an obstacle to concentrating on the traffic situation.

In general, the question of whether to do the heating of the steering wheel with your own hands or not remains within the competence of each driver. If you are tormented by doubts solely for the reason that you do not want to mess with electricity, then it is better to look for a master who will implement the same scheme that we described above and will charge you not as expensive as in a car repair shop.

Heated steering wheel, as well as heated seats, as well as heated wipers are options that have recently entered our lives, however, despite this, they have already managed to win the recognition of motorists around the world. This is not surprising, because each of the above options increases the level of comfort and makes driving a car more enjoyable and convenient.

Almost every new car has a heated steering wheel. , here, as they say, everything is clear, but what about those whose car is deprived of all these amenities, there are three options: install a steering wheel heater at some service station, and the third, perhaps the most difficult option, is to do the steering wheel heating with your own hands.

Today I will tell you about the last option, for me it is more suitable for two reasons: firstly, it is an occasion to do something and gain invaluable experience, and secondly, it is cheaper than buying a ready-made heated steering wheel. What came of it, you will now see, I present to your attention a detailed photo report on how to make a heated steering wheel with your own hands.

Read also:

So, point by point...

To work you need to have:

1. Steering wheel (personally, I was afraid to spoil the "native" and took a used steering wheel for disassembly, you never know what happens suddenly ...).
2. Seat heating kit "Emelya Gorynych" (it will be necessary to pull out the heating element in the form of a wire from it, and there it will also be necessary to expropriate the thermal relay, which will automatically turn off in case of overheating).
3. Sharp knife (clerical).
4. Glue.
5. Electrical tape or needles (for fixation).
6. Sealant.

If you have everything, you can proceed.

Do-it-yourself steering wheel heating - detailed instructions

1. First of all, you need to remove the steering wheel.

2. Arm yourself with a marker and start drawing the slots of the grooves into which the heated wire will be laid. I managed to pull out about 7 meters of wire. You need to draw lines as shown in the photo, with a slight slope and a step of about 2-3 cm.

3. Now take a knife and carefully cut the grooves into which the heating element (wire) will be installed.

4. The wire needs to be glued, so it will sit tighter, in the places of turns (near the knitting needles) you can fix it with needles or electrical tape. When the glue dries, the tape can be removed.

5. On top of the wire, you need to go through the sealant, so to speak, putty the cut grooves with the embedded wire.

Heating occurs quickly and evenly in 2-3 minutes, the steering wheel is already quite warm.

Driving a car has become much more pleasant, hands are reaching for a warm steering wheel... 🙂 As always, after several days of operation, the same question arises: "How did I drive without it for so many years?" Try it and you will definitely succeed. Thank you for your attention.

This option is found in many trim levels of various modern car models. However, what if your car was released earlier and there is no way to enjoy such a simple but nice feature? It turns out that you can install such a heating element on your own, and it’s always nice to enjoy the work done by yourself.

So, detailed instructions on how to make a heated steering wheel are given below. For this we need:

• the actual steering wheel;
• heating kit, which is used to heat the seats;
• thermo relay;
• glue;
• stationery or any other sharp knife;
• sealant;
• insulating tape.

How to do the work yourself

An electric heated steering wheel is made approximately as follows. First you need to remove the cover, and then dismantle the steering wheel itself from the column. Using a sharp knife, it is necessary to carefully scratch the groove into which the electrical wire will be laid. In order for the steering wheel of the car to be as warm as possible, it is advisable to lay the wires across the wheel in smooth circular motions. Once the grooves are outlined, we have to cut them to the base with the same knife.

It is necessary to ensure that the wire is securely fixed in the steering wheel, and therefore we will additionally put it on glue. The places where the spokes of the steering wheel are located are the most difficult in this regard - it is best to use insulating tape here as well. Once the glue has dried properly, it can be carefully torn off. From above, we will still go through a layer of sealant, with which we will carefully cover the grooves with the wires laid in them. It remains to drag the steering wheel again with leather or hoist the old cover in its original place.

In order to connect such a block to the battery, we need a free contact pad. On a pair of copper rings, we will attach a plus and a minus, respectively. Electrical wires are soldered to them, and then through a thermal relay we connect all this to the battery. To prevent the possibility of a short circuit, pour some epoxy glue on the rings between the contacts. It is also important to foresee, or rather, exclude the possibility of battery discharge if the heating is not automatically turned off at night.

Other alternatives to installing a heated steering wheel

You can buy such a kit, the price of which will be significantly lower than for a ready-made one from car dealerships, for a relatively small investment. However, the wheel heats up in a matter of minutes, and in cold weather, the hands simply reach out to feel the heat emanating from the steering wheel. After that, you will not be able to imagine any other operation of the car.

For those who do not want to mess with such work, there are specialized car services or service stations, where such a service can cost from 8,000 rubles and more. The most difficult part is the installation of hidden wiring and the organization of a well-executed connection of the heating function. To do this, you can use various options: it can be the organization of a push-button output, or power from a car cigarette lighter, or connect the steering wheel to an existing seat heating system in the cabin.

After the heating system is mounted, the steering wheel is reinstalled. It is mounted back on the steering column, and it is still necessary to check the operability of the electrical circuit assembled. Such a system includes several components:

• a pair of heating steering elements;
• fuse;
• switch;
• wiring.

A ready-made heated steering wheel is offered by such automakers as Renault, Nissan, Citroen, Chevrolet, Toyota, and even then not in all trim levels and not for all models. Dealers of these brands can order this service as an additional service. However, if you are not a happy owner of a car with such a function, you will have to contact a professional auto electrician, or do all the work yourself. It remains to carry out a high-quality hauling, and you can demonstrate the results of your work to surprised friends and neighbors in the garage.

Whether such heating is needed in a car, let everyone decide for themselves. Someone does not want to mess around, and he prefers to put gloves on his hands, waiting for the interior to warm up. But for other drivers, the idea may seem interesting, and besides, putting it into practice is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. We will be glad if the information has brought theoretical and practical benefits to you. For those who like to modify their car on their own, articles about