TomT
Well-known member
Yeah, but unless you are moving really fast, the amount of air you get is very minimal...
rawhog said:
Climate Control Solution - Gain Control of your Heater!
- Thread starter Ingineer
- Start date
Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:
Ingineer
Well-known member
This technique works fine if you are ok with no active fan. Of course you are in Bay Area, and it's 68 degrees outside right now, so really, you could leave the CC on and you'll never have a problem, because the car's interior temp stays above 60.rawhog said:My car has all of the latest firmware updates. What I found is that if I turn CC off. Then hit mode button to face air. It opens the outside air damper and allows fresh air in without running the fan. So zero on the enegry readout for CC. This is with the setpoint at 60 degrees. With that said. I am watching for the UPS guy to show up with my Phil's upgrade
Try again when it's 40, and your heater will be suckin' the electrons dry!
-Phil
Ingineer
Well-known member
I've been asked why I chose the [A/C] button as the main heater enable/disable button. I wanted to be sure that if someone, likely unaware of the upgrade, operating the climate control would still produce intuitive results. If you hop in a Leaf with the upgrade, and press [Auto], the climate control will operate as expected with normal heat and cool functions. This is because when you press [Auto], the system automatically engages [A/C], so the heat function is restored.
For the "people in the know", they can simply turn off [A/C] and shut down the heat with one button. We didn't need to add a extra button which would be hard to make it look good, and vastly complicate the install procedure, plus it would be hard to "return to stock", whereas the existing upgrade can be returned to stock in under a minute if the need arises.
If you want to still run Heat but insure you don't use A/C for some reason, you can simply turn off the A/C and turn on the Rear Def.
-Phil
For the "people in the know", they can simply turn off [A/C] and shut down the heat with one button. We didn't need to add a extra button which would be hard to make it look good, and vastly complicate the install procedure, plus it would be hard to "return to stock", whereas the existing upgrade can be returned to stock in under a minute if the need arises.
If you want to still run Heat but insure you don't use A/C for some reason, you can simply turn off the A/C and turn on the Rear Def.
-Phil
TickTock
Well-known member
Another very satisfied customer. Thanks to the large dynamic range of outside temperatures on my commute I was having to re-adjust the temperature mutliple times every day on my commute and getting more and more annoyed every day. Now, thanks to Ingineer's fine product, it's a simple button push.
I don't know why they (Nissan) don't let you define a comfort "window" like my thermostat on my house (only turns on AC or heater when temp goes outside a programmable range). Then you wouldn't have to touch it once set. I am adding this to my checklist should I consider buying a 2014 or later model.
I don't know why they (Nissan) don't let you define a comfort "window" like my thermostat on my house (only turns on AC or heater when temp goes outside a programmable range). Then you wouldn't have to touch it once set. I am adding this to my checklist should I consider buying a 2014 or later model.
I put mine in this last week and it's been great in the sunny and warm (not hot) weather. It even works better than the fan in an ICE vehicle because there is no hot engine to make the intake air luke warm when the temperature control is turned all the way down/off, so I'm not only going to use the heater less, I'm going to use the A/C less as well.
A note on operation: If you cycle through the fan modes the A/C will toggle on by itself when the floor + defrost mode is selected so you'll end up running the heater and/or A/C if you're not paying attention. When this happens you need to manually turn the A/C back off. This is for those who have gotten used to cycling through the modes with the system off to get "ram air".
I was demonstrating the mod to my wife last night and showed how I can turn the temperature setting up to 90F and not use any heat, and cycled through the modes, then noticed a few minutes later the car getting really hot and saw the A/C came on by itself (took a while to play around to figure out how it came on).
A note on operation: If you cycle through the fan modes the A/C will toggle on by itself when the floor + defrost mode is selected so you'll end up running the heater and/or A/C if you're not paying attention. When this happens you need to manually turn the A/C back off. This is for those who have gotten used to cycling through the modes with the system off to get "ram air".
I was demonstrating the mod to my wife last night and showed how I can turn the temperature setting up to 90F and not use any heat, and cycled through the modes, then noticed a few minutes later the car getting really hot and saw the A/C came on by itself (took a while to play around to figure out how it came on).
muus
Well-known member
Ingineer said:
How about the opposite, can you run the A/C while keeping the heat disabled?
doug401
Well-known member
Just installed mine last week. I think this is a "must have" for owners on the west side of the cascades, where 50 something degrees is the annual average temp. Easy install and like the previous post said, works good for those blistering 70 degree days too.
Ingineer
Well-known member
Setting the temperature low enough will keep the heat from coming on. If you suddenly raise the temperature more than a few clicks, sometimes you will exceed the hysteresis and the heater will come on, but this is easy to avoid.muus said:
-Phil
Ingineer said:
Since I had the "recall" software update in April, I have noticed some changes to the A/C operation. Occasionally, I now see the CC energy use high enough to be running both A/C and heater at the same time even with cabin temperature (and set point) stabilized. Also, the compressor now drops out during hard acceleration from a stop and the compressor power (and cooling) is reduced when the car is sitting still. I will confirm my observations as soon as I get a Leafscan (waiting patiently). Is there any chance that an update to your CC module will allow A/C while blocking heat? What about allowing full compressor power while sitting still and/or accelerating?
Gerry
SalisburySam
Well-known member
As a noob, I just saw this thread and the device appears to completely solve a big problem. Has anyone experienced any problems with their dealership after replacing the A/C panel and the fact that the system works differently than factory? I'm guessing the LEAF mechanic will find troubleshooting different than expected. Also, any warranty impacts?
TonyWilliams
Well-known member
BlacklickBob said:
I recommend for ANY modification to a car under warranty that if you feel that your mod may somehow affect the warranty or troubleshooting, just remove that part before taking it in.
Ingineer
Well-known member
The enhancement can easily be completely disabled (in under a minute) in the event there was a scenario where you may need to have diagnosis/warranty work performed on your car. It could then be re-enabled later after the work was done. If you still didn't feel comfortable with keeping it, I'll be happy to swap you back anytime.BlacklickBob said:
The only way that anyone would notice is if they specifically tried to operate the heat without having the system in auto (unlikely), as when in auto the system operates exactly the same. If you have your car in for work unrelated to the HVAC system its a non-issue.
When I discovered this, I let Nissan know about it. Mark Perry himself told me that he too found it "annoying", yet even after they had all the Leafs in for a software update, they didn't choose to fix it. Thus I created a way to do it myself, and offer it to everyone else that wants it.
-Phil
Nubo
Well-known member
BlacklickBob said:
It takes just a few minutes to switch the unit back to normal operation.
SalisburySam
Well-known member
Er, please forgive my misunderstanding, but how does one switch back to normal operation since the original control head would have been shipped back?
palmermd
Well-known member
BlacklickBob said:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=187935#p187935" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
SalisburySam
Well-known member
Got it, thanks! Sorry I missed that earlier in the thread.
I've tinkered w/ cars, modded many motorcycles sometimes extensively, but never have I seen computer "hacking" into a car like jailbreaking an iPhone! Stuff like what I'm seeing on here goes well beyond a fuel chip to turn dino-juice into more noise.
Totally cool!
Totally cool!
mikeEmike
Well-known member
I'm in the processing of getting my climate control unit upgraded. There weren't any advanced replacements available at the time I inquired about the upgrade, and I wanted to get this done before winter arrives, so I removed the unit from my car and sent it in to be upgraded.Ingineer said:
I was aware that the radiator fan would come on when the car was on with the unit removed and all other wiring harnesses reattached, but there were a couple of other side effects that I wasn't aware of until I tested the car out.
1. Yellow warning light comes on - this was the most concerning for me. I thought that I had not correctly reattached the wiring harness for the passenger side airbag.
2. GOM displays dashes - this was no concern to me, and in fact, I wish it would stay that way.
3. Temperature on upper display displays dashes - it'll be nice to have this back, but I can live without it.
4. Radiator fan comes on when car is charging - just like when the car is on with the climate control unit removed.
Everything appeared to go back to normal when I plugged the climate control unit back in (with the car off) and turned the car back on.
These are the only side effects I've noticed so far, and IMO, they're all minor. I can still drive the car around, sans climate control, of course. There might be some other minor side effects that I've missed. If there's anything significant, I'll update this post.
Hopefully this helps out anyone else waiting for this fix, and decides to go this route.
Ingineer
Well-known member
I'll keep an eye out for it.mikeEmike said:
Yes, the yellow light is normal, it will go away once the HVAC module is re-installed and the power is cycled a few times. The temperature is calculated by the HVAC module, so without it, you'll get no temperature display. This is also why the fan runs. I haven't seen the dashes on the GOM, but then again, I don't look at it much! =)mikeEmike said:
FYI: As of today, we have 2 units back in stock if anyone wants the advanced replacement. Just drop us an email.
-Phil
