Climate Control Solution - Gain Control of your Heater!

[Ingineer]

Awesome work Phil - I think you'll find many people interested in this. My only comment is that sometimes I do want warm air out the top vents so I can warm my hands - the only way to do this is to go out of auto-mode which in which case would remove heat - maybe a manual switch or push-button option would be useful?

I assume this will also minimize the extra power consumption rise people have noticed when running the A/C - it seems in certain situations the car will run both A/C and heat when the car is close to desired temperature, but reducing temperature a degree or two lower will actually reduce HVAC power consumption instead of increase it.

Now how about a way to disable the A/C for the summer so it's easier to get fan-only?

See above post, you could enable rear defrost, then use the mode button to switch vents. Turning off the A/C is already supported by the big button labelled "A/C". =)

-Phil

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

I am likely interested! Also, Ideally we could use defrost/defogger for the front windshield without heat as well... I don't get why we can't vent the air wherever/however we want and control the temperature of that air independantly like every other car I've ever owned. nanyistic forced control like this must have been implemented by Nissan with something in mind but I cant figure out what for.

Perhaps if we all complained to Nissan/ the EV project they would tweak the software so we had a no heat option... Like adding a "max cold" option below 60 on the display.

Anyway, Phil you deserve some serious credit for this one, among other things!

 

[lukati]

Nice work! I will be getting a MY2012 with winter package. Any chance these issues are resolved now? How is the additional steering wheel/seat heating integrated into the overall car heating system? My hunch is, not at all, and it's just an additional system with its independent on/off switch.

 

[Brightonuk]

I have not read every post in the "Upcoming Nissan Visit" thread, but I assume that this issue has been addressed as a topic to discuss, and by the huge responce to this thread it needs to be near the top of issues we would like to see fixed.

I can tell you that there is a Sr. Manager, LEAF CRM and Telematics that does monitor this forum so Nissan is not totaly deaf to the word on the street.

 

[johnr]

Can anyone else confirm that in a situation where the cabin temp is 65, exterior is 55, with the fan set to +1 (no AC) with temp of 60, the heater will NOT turn on until the interior temp reaches below 60 degrees?

Yes, the climate control is based on the interior temperature not the outside temperature. So if you set climate control to 70 degrees it will try to maintain that temperature inside. If it is 60 degrees outside but inside it is 80 because the car is sitting in the sun, the heater will not come on.

...what I'd prefer is to be in synch with the A/C switch. That would make the system function in economy mode or power assisted mode...

I agree. It would be the most logical if the A/C switch became a HVAC switch. I have always wished Nissan had implemented it in this way from the start. Turn it on and the system will use A/C or heater as needed. Turn it off and the system will use only the fan. Simple and logical.

 

[58phil]

I'm interested in this mod.

 

[jimtubbs]

Phil Count me in also. Jim Tubbs

 

[Boomer23]

I'm interested, hungry to know more.

 

[Leggedo]

Phil,
Count me in on this as well, looks like a major improvement to a strange operational area with the car.
Leggedo

 

[Ingineer]

Please let's keep this thread on-topic. I have asked a mod to split the heated seat/steering wheel discussion to a new thread.

-Phil

 

[LEAFfan]

It sounds great, but do you have some idea as to the cost? Thanks!

 

[Ingineer]

It sounds great, but do you have some idea as to the cost? Thanks!

Still trying to research the costs and logistics. Looks like the best way to do this is to buy a number of new Climate Control ECU's, and do a swap for everyone. It'll be definitely less than $150ish, but until the particulars are determined, I can't give you exact.

-Phil

 

[TonyWilliams]

It sounds great, but do you have some idea as to the cost? Thanks!

Still trying to research the costs and logistics. Looks like the best way to do this is to buy a number of new Climate Control ECU's, and do a swap for everyone. It'll be definitely less than $150ish, but until the particulars are determined, I can't give you exact.

-Phil

DON'T BUY THEM ALL AT ONCE !!!! Nissan will be pumping the price up on that part, too!

Good luck, and I'll take one.

Thanks,

Tony

PS: Saw you were playing games with the GOM display.... can we take our range data and have it displayed there? I'm not sure how invasive an install might be, to get the data to the display.

 

[kmp647]

So you are using the Rear defrost signal to enable heat when the system is out of Auto mode?

So that means when you choose front defrost and crank up the fan and temp
the Heater is NOT enabled, you would have to hit the rear def button?

 

[rickbecker]

Ingineer, I am definitely interested in this mod!

 

[Deleted member 3147]

It sounds great, but do you have some idea as to the cost? Thanks!

Still trying to research the costs and logistics. Looks like the best way to do this is to buy a number of new Climate Control ECU's, and do a swap for everyone. It'll be definitely less than $150ish, but until the particulars are determined, I can't give you exact.

-Phil

Dang. I was hoping you were doing some magic on the CAN bus so you could just plug in a little module without replacing anything. :mrgreen: I guess there's a limit to what can be done. :lol:

Anyway, I think I'm interested.

 

[Ingineer]

Dang. I was hoping you were doing some magic on the CAN bus so you could just plug in a little module without replacing anything. :mrgreen: I guess there's a limit to what can be done. :lol:

Anyway, I think I'm interested.

Yeah, the problem is that all the Microcontrollers involved not only are secured so the firmware is locked from viewing, but reverse-engineering firmware back to assembly code and deciphering all the functions even once you somehow extract the firmware (not an easy job), is very man-hour intensive. Even something that seems relatively simple with a 8-bit 64kB microcontroller can easily have 20,000 lines of code! Most of the controllers in the LEAF are way larger than this!

If Nissan wants to step up and give me the source code, I'll be happy to fix all the problems in the car with a simple firmware upgrade. =)

-Phil

 

[TangoKilo]

Count me in! TomT definitely has the right idea:

Nissan needs to hire Phil as a highly paid consultant!

All they'd have to do is send me the source code for all the ECU's in the car, and I'd fix all the issues! The LEAF could be so much nicer with all these little things fixed. It's really evident they were in a hurry.

C'mon Nissan... KAIZEN!

-Phil

11,000 miles and counting on my LEAF... All in mild or hot weather. Now that it's getting cold out I'd like a heater that's worth a damn! Count me in...big time...

 

[ovev]

Check out the findings about the heater from Nufkin on an english forum. I'm waiting for my Leaf to be delivered so I'm not able to check this out myself.

http://www.leaftalk.co.uk/showthread.php/4815-Heater-giving-a-20-mile-range-drop-Anxiety!

 

[TEG]

Here are the current scenarios where the heater can come on if the temperature demands it:

1. Climate control in full Auto
2. Climate control in Timer/Carwings mode
3. Rear defrost on

If the climate control is not in Auto (no LED lit), and the rear defrost is not on, the heater cannot run.

-Phil

That may not be 100% true. I swear I got heat last night when none of those were true.
*but*, I had been suffering with no heat, pressing various buttons trying to get things to come on so I may have stumbled on another scenario that enables the heat. I wish I could give more details. Unfortunately there is no light showing me when the heat is on, so I am feeling the vent to know when it is on. Next time around I will pull up the energy monitoring screen to watch while trying to find other ways to enable the heat.

By the way, does SOC affect heat? For instance, does the car disable cabin heat at very low SOC?