2019 Cooled seats

I actually have never seen a cooling seat that blows AC air vs using seat-mounted fans to sucking it out. This seems like it would pretty inefficient and hard to do - you'd have to use all kinds of flex duct and extra blowers and servo operated doors. I think this is why the manufacturers call it "ventilated" vs "air conditioned". Sounds like some use a peltier cooling plate that the fans pull air across.

I had rented a GMC that had seats like that. Basically like sitting on a block of wet ice. Not very pleasant.
 
I heard Mazda's seat ventilation cooling system sucks...in a good way!!

I jokingly asked where does the spent air go in the event that you fart. Some people say it gets routed to rear passenger vents. Others advise it gets diverted into the turbo system. Who knows? As long as it works.
 
I heard Mazda's seat ventilation cooling system sucks...in a good way!!

I jokingly asked where does the spent air go in the event that you fart. Some people say it gets routed to rear passenger vents. Others advise it gets diverted into the turbo system. Who knows? As long as it works.

If it goes to the turbo I*ll add another 15hp at least.
 
Here is some new info on the seat ventilation.
Thanks for the info. I wish the doc shows some actual drawing of fans and plumbing on the seat, so that we can understand how do Mazda's ventilated seats really work.
 
Thanks for the info. I wish the doc shows some actual drawing of fans and plumbing on the seat, so that we can understand how do Mazda's ventilated seats really work.

There is a nearly flat duct that draws air from one of those fans inside a snail shell housing (looks a bit like a car horn). One in the back and one in the base. It doesn*t show it in a tech doc but it does in the workshop manual for stripping the seat.
 
There is a nearly flat duct that draws air from one of those fans inside a snail shell housing (looks a bit like a car horn). One in the back and one in the base. It doesn*t show it in a tech doc but it does in the workshop manual for stripping the seat.

You think I can buy the parts and install it myself?
 
There is a nearly flat duct that draws air from one of those fans inside a snail shell housing (looks a bit like a car horn). One in the back and one in the base. It doesn*t show it in a tech doc but it does in the workshop manual for stripping the seat.
Thanks for explanation!
 
You think I can buy the parts and install it myself?
You sure can. But its going to be an expensive proposition as I believe you need to buy entire front seats in addition to switches and controller module.
 
You think I can buy the parts and install it myself?
Ooo dear, some of these parts are heart stoppingly expensive. Bear with me and Ill have a little trawl through the parts portal. I know last time I looked theyd just started to add seat parts whereas previously they only listed complete seats.
 
You sure can. But it*s going to be an expensive proposition as I believe you need to buy entire front seats in addition to switches and controller module.

Ooo dear, some of these parts are heart stoppingly expensive. Bear with me and I*ll have a little trawl through the parts portal. I know last time I looked they*d just started to add seat parts whereas previously they only listed complete seats.

yrwei52/Anchorman: Perhaps something I can check for in junkyards. Otherwise....one incentive to look forward to when the time comes to get a new CX-5. We've had our CX-5 for nearly 7 years now (purchased late spring 2012).



Man, will have to look into this. 2-pack for $50. One for me and one for the child seat in the back if it fits.
 
I've just had a drivers seat base replaced in mine under warranty as it was making clicking and springlike "boing" noises whilst driving around corners. Something to do with loose rivets apparently which was a fault that neither the dealer or Mazda had come across before. Bear in mind that it is a non electric manual lifter seat and the dealer complained it was going to cost them 400 ($514.63) at the present exchange rate(confused). (Obviously they would claim it back from Mazda when fitted). There was none available in the UK or Europe so it had to be shipped from Japan. I dread to think what the cost would be for an all singing and dancing set up.
 
I think that you have your physics backwards. The truck tire cooling is correct but when an amount of air is sucked through a small hole the air is compressed as it passes through the hole. Compressing the air heats it, it does not cool it.

Remember the idea gas law. PV=nRT.

On the other hand. The air is cooled as it expands again on the other side of the hole. So maybe the net gain/loss is null?

I think most of the cooling in the truck tire example is the air expanding inside the tire as you let out the pressure.
To make the explanation simple, lets say air inside the tire not moving.
In the ideal gas law, if V doesn't change but P goes down, T will go down as well.

Think of a can of compressed air. When you spray the compressed air, the can cools down.

As for cooling car seats, you might get a very small change in pressure inside the seat, but I cannot comment on how much. There are holes in the seats as well as the material being breathable, so I don't know how much pressure change you will see.

With ventilated seats(not A/C seats), I think by pulling air from the top, you only need to cool the top layers to start to feel a cooling effect.
If you are pushing air from the bottom, you're pushing hot air through the seat, so the cooling you get is from air flow and not actually cooling the material and takes longer. (uhm)

Maybe I'm off on that, but that's my theory and I'm sticking to it....for now(like my undies from a hot car seat).
 
The ventilated seats in my GX do pull from bottom and through seat. I increase cooling by using a bi-level vent/floor setting which picks up off the registers for the second row floor vents. It is 3 level like Mazda but on a rotary dial that does both heat and cooling. It makes you think you have more settings than you really do with the rotary dial on that vehicle..

I thought I remember some of the Infiniti M35/M45s (2006-2010 range) with ventilated seats had a replaceable air filter in each seat. I imagine others do that but haven't seen Lexus models with that but haven't really looked much either.
 
Ideal gas law, sure...but also Bernoulli's Principle is at play. Like a rocket nozzle or airplane wing, and the fluid increases speed through the small hole it actually decreases in pressure (I remember this with "high v, low p).

Then the IGL comes into play and it cools off in the little holes.

Y'all are assuming the air compresses as it goes through the hole. My experience with dynamic fluid is that this is not necessarily the case.

All of this is, I'm sure, completed negligible in the realm of perforated seats...but just sayin'
 
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I think most of the cooling in the truck tire example is the air expanding inside the tire as you let out the pressure.
To make the explanation simple, lets say air inside the tire not moving.
In the ideal gas law, if V doesn't change but P goes down, T will go down as well.

Think of a can of compressed air. When you spray the compressed air, the can cools down.


As for cooling car seats, you might get a very small change in pressure inside the seat, but I cannot comment on how much. There are holes in the seats as well as the material being breathable, so I don't know how much pressure change you will see.

With ventilated seats(not A/C seats), I think by pulling air from the top, you only need to cool the top layers to start to feel a cooling effect.
If you are pushing air from the bottom, you're pushing hot air through the seat, so the cooling you get is from air flow and not actually cooling the material and takes longer. (uhm)

Maybe I'm off on that, but that's my theory and I'm sticking to it....for now(like my undies from a hot car seat).

I'm aware of the principals involved and that's why I said that the cooling of the truck tire was correct.
 
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