Just installed a set of heavy-duty 35lb door popper solenoids in a 94 Ford Ranger. I've got a pair of 40 amp relays (one triggering each) fused separately right to the trucks fat main power lead in the ignition harness. Running 12 ga. wire to the solenoids, both grounded at the factory ground location in the kickpanel (not in the door) Using channels 2 and 3 on a K9 Classic alarm to trigger...works great! Installed 2 pushbutton momentary sw's inside to pop the doors manually as well.
question is this...I started (foolishly) with a 10 amp fuse, and it lasted 1 second :) Then, 15, then 20...now up to 30 amp fuses and things are working happily. Initially, a 30 amp blew as well, but it looked to be an older fuse (junkyard special prolly)...a pair of new 30 amp fuses seems to be holding up.
What is everyone's experience with these huge solenoids? They seem to be very powerful, and will most likely not have problems in the cold canadian winter. I'm just worried about that current consumption!!! I'm really debating on running a 10 ga. wire right to the battery, and powering the relays separately that way. what have your experiences been? The wiring the 'noids came with was 16 ga!!!
also...I've run 12 ga. from the relays to the doors...but the relay harness (about 18" long) and the fusehold (about 10" long) are 14 ga. Does anybody think this will offer significant enough voltage drop to be worried about? Using the manual switches, I've repeatedly and quickly popped the solenoids MANY times, wanting to see a fuse blow, and they didn't....ironically, the domelights dim when I pop them :) :)
any thoughts on these huge solenoids and their relative current consumption, wiring tips, etc? If you could email me at hamiltonaudio@shaw.ca as well as post here, that would be great...
thks...b
Well in my practice, run the power lines to pop the doors to the battery... power being on either 87 or 30... Door poppers can be a bitch... i would stick with your 12 AWG wire, it may be overkill but 35lb door poppers do draw a lot of current... better to be safe than sorry...
Current consumption? If the domelights are flickering a lot while popping the doors, you may not want to pop them a lot of times when the car's off :) I had a friend show it off 10 times, and the battery died... then the doors wouldn't open at all :) Cheers!