Hi all, i'm here in cape town south africa. my daily drive is a ford bantam 160i pickup truck, this is basically a 1989 mazda 323 chassis, its a 1/2ton pickup truck. has 2 doors. and a load bin obviously. basically, i've got a alarm with remote door lock/unlock, this is a selective door unlock. press once, the drivers door unlocks, press twice, the passenger unlocks. so i'm removing the locks,handles, the physical door lock & catch stays. the remote lock/unlock solenoids stay, they simply attach direct to the lock, when i press once, the lock releases and the door opens, when i press twice the passenger door opens.
NOW, for my safety, backup plan. i'm getting a bonnet release cable and handle. basically same as bicycle brake cable. this cable i'm attaching to the passenger door lock(where the solenoid is attached) running it thru the door, thru the firewall and at a place in the engine bay that i can access from underneath the car. i'm in the I.T trade, so i'm using a UPS battery (about 6" x 2" x 4") in size, this is a 12v 7.2ah battery, lifespan approx 3yrs, this battery will be connected to the alarm and the alarm solenoids, i will have to use some sort of relay or something, obviously if the car battery runs flat the car will drain that battery dead should i try to start it. so i cant simply run that 2nd battery in parralel to the main battery,. but anyway, they idea is that this is a battery that will be a backup BATTERY for my satellite tracking,alarm,alarm/door solenoides.
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Anton de Kock
Cape Town, South Africa
anton@compunique.co.za
Hi there, nope, no question. just sharing my idea.
btw, i've done the passenger door so far. and it seems to work 100%. the only tricky part was the alignment of the solenoid with the lock, it has to be mounted exactly right, else the door lock doesnt "lock" the catch.
i will use this for a few days see how it goes, still need to get "bicycle" cable for manual release. and then when i'm 100% sure i will do the driver door. bit risky at this stage.. if something goes wrong, i will have to smash a window to get in.
i would love opinions on this perhaps tips from those that have done this.
regards
anton
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Anton de Kock
Cape Town, South Africa
anton@compunique.co.za