Need help with resistors

[riced]

Hey guys, I'm gonna be installing some recaros in my car within a few weeks. I was wondering if you guys knew or know what resistor to plug into the stock sensors.
I don't think the seatbelt will be a problem, as I will be using the stock seatbelt. However the airbag sensor in both the passenger and driver side will be disconnected.

How do you find out what size or type you need? I'm pretty noob with the electrical stuff.

at the bottom of the first post, he describes it.. would anyone be able to tell me what I need?

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1432998

Thanks!

[97'Scort]

Check some specialty electronics stores for a 1 watt, 3 ohm resistor, just like he says. If not, then call a stereo or custom car shop and see if they'll assemble one for you.

[riced]

Thanks!
but the thing is that it's for the 04 sti in that link, I have an 06 civic.

I doubt that all cars would use the same resistor? Thanks, I'll try calling around, never thought of it.

[97'Scort]

Well, what you need to do then is get yourself a voltmeter with a ohmmeter built in, and measure the resistance across the connection on the seat. That'll tell you what you need. Same process, though.

[riced]

bump!
sorry for bumping again
I need to know what kind of resistors I shoudl be looking for? I believe there are many kinds of them..
I need to plug them into a socket type, I'm wondering how a resistor that looks like ------o------ would be put into the socket.
Thanks!

[Bimmer88]

You can go to B&E Eletronics or Voss Electronics for resistors. But as for what one you need... couldn't being to tell you.

[Grogador]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistor

...pretty much explains it all. Can't remember what the link said you need but a 1/4 watt resistor is about the size of a jumbo 200% grain of rice, with inch long leads (wires) sticking out the ends. Bigger power ratings are... bigger. Try a Google images search for "resistor" as well.

It would probably suffice to bend the leads in a U-shape and jam it into the socket... Or you could do it proper and solder some wires with connectors on, shrink tube it and stuff...

[riced]

Originally posted by Grogador
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistor

...pretty much explains it all. Can't remember what the link said you need but a 1/4 watt resistor is about the size of a jumbo 200% grain of rice, with inch long leads (wires) sticking out the ends. Bigger power ratings are... bigger. Try a Google images search for "resistor" as well.

It would probably suffice to bend the leads in a U-shape and jam it into the socket... Or you could do it proper and solder some wires with connectors on, shrink tube it and stuff...

perfect. This is what I suspected! Thank you for the link and help.

bimmer88, thanks for those suggestions. I'll go google em and find out their location. Any chance a radioshack or something would carry a 2.2ohm 2 watt resistor?

[Grogador]

Please don't go to ratshack, try calling these places:

Active Components
291-5626
2015 32nd Ave NE

B&E Industrial Electronics
243-7211
444 Manitou Rd SE

MRO Electronic Supply
291-0501
5 - 1247 36 Ave NE

[vtec]

you can always try active electronics on 32nd ave NE.
Right across the street from the old memory express location.
they carry a wide selection.

[riced]

Ah, active electronics sounds like a better place. Closer than the SE for me
it seems like radioshack is hated like canadian tire haha. Thanks for the suggestions.
I really hope this works out

I have another question.. since the connector just needs something like a resistor to tell it that it's "connected".. would it be wise to cut the connector from the seat to act as a dummy plug? or is the connector in the seat giving out some sort of signal?
If I ever needed to use my stock seat again, I could just solder the plugs back together, correct?

This would be if the resistor doesn't work...

[5fivespeed]

They're called: The Source by Circuit City now, (I work there).
What we have there, is a variety pack of Resistors, ranging from a range of resistance values.

http://www.thesource.ca/estore/SearchResults.aspx?language=en-CA&keywords=resistors&pagenum=0

[Grogador]

So I was kinda bored waiting for dinner last night and did some research. In your seat, there's a "pressure mat" that detects your weight and your seating position. The airbag computer uses this information to determine how hard the airbag will come out, if at all. So if you weigh like 80lbs, or if you're sitting right on the edge of the seat hugging the wheel, the computer will see this and not set off the airbag upon impact.

So just the plug won't suffice, you need to fool the computer into seeing this sensor. Really, we have no idea what 3.3ohms or 5ohms or 10ohms means to the computer; the guy might have not even been sitting in the seat when he measured 3.3ohms and the airbag is off. The sensor is also NOT a pure resistance measurement, it involves an oscillating signal with some pretty neat hardware measuring the harmonics returned by the sensor to determine your seating position.

Sooo... is the light a "sensor failure" or "airbag is disabled" indicator? How hard will the airbag come out if something should happen, if at all? I'm guessing you'll be seated properly and strapped in anyway...

The link you posted details a pretty ghetto method of "jamming and electrical taping" the resistors into the plug. Personally I wouldn't trust that to stay put during a mishap that may require airbag deployment. If there's enough cable, you could chop the OEM plug off the seat and solder the resistor to the wires for a secure connection. Personally I'd avoid mutilating the OEM parts; the sensor is not cheap and the next owner might not appreciate re-spliced safety equipment, you might even get in shit for tampering with it. Maybe try to order a plug from the dealer, or take some pics of it and ask one of those electronics shops, if they don't have it they should be able to order it from a place like www.digikey.ca

:nut:

[riced]

Thanks, Grogador.
I happened to stumble across that info as well while I was researching this stuff. The pressure mat is indeed in the seat, however I don't want to take apart the seat just to see if I can tamper with it in the new one.

However, the light on the dash is not the pressure mat sensor. It is the airbag sensor.. There are two different lights.

The light is the one with the guy sitting sideways and an airbag in his face with his arms up I believe, and it is red.

As for the resistors, I picked them up today from Active Electronics. 3.3ohms and a 2.2ohms. I looked at the socket that it should go into like everyone else says, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to put them in. Any help?

[riced]

here is exactly what my sensor looks like and what the resistor should look like.. however, it's not as easy as it looks.

http://wrx.grapon.com/techdocs/howto/How%20to%20install%20aftermarket%20seats%20in%20a%202006_files/AIRBAG.jpg

The picture shows the two ends of the resistor going into the socket.. not where.
When you look into the socket though, on one of them there are three metal connections, if you will that seem to need another mating connection.
If the resistor only has two ends and the sensor needs three connections, how do you do that?

[Grogador]

guess? try? see if the lights turn off?

My understanding is that the overall airbag light comes on because of a "faulty/disconnected sensor" not because you only weigh 72lbs ;)

[riced]

I tried sticking the resistor in numerous ways, but no go.
It wouldn't even want to stay in properly with one of the sockets.. it felt like the resistor was going to break, much like a paper clip haha.

Yes, you're correct. Weight on the seat is not what's turning this light on. It's because there is no connection that the computer thinks something is wrong.

[Grogador]

Try twisting them together ---+++------+++--- for a total of 5.5ohms... what are the color bands on your resistors?

[riced]

Red red gold for the 2.2ohms
Orange orange gold for the 3.3ohms

not sure what you mean by twisting them together..

so it would be like..

---O--x--O---

The x is where they're twisted together.

[Grogador]

ya, in series

[riced]

Ok, I'll go give it a try. Thanks
I'll probably come back with a fail.

[Grogador]

oh yeah, try plugging it back into the seat... some of these "alerts" need to be reset/cleared by a dealer once triggered :guns:

[riced]

ok so major fail hahaha
I tried twisting it and I turned the car on and all I smelled was smoke. One of the resistors was fried. I touched it and burned a nice line on my finger that is throbbing.
I don't think I'm gonna attempt that again haha

I tried plugging it back after I installed the seats and that was a no go as well.

I wonder how the resistors are supposed to work..

[HiSpec]

what I am worrying about for you is, should you plug in the resistor and somehow screw up the sensor and the airbag blow up on your face... although there is a slim chance of that happening... there is always a chance...