Looking for help with an electrical project

[AndyMan]

This may sound idiotic, but every day. At least twice, I get in my truck, and manipulate my fingers so that I can roll down all 4 windows at one time. Same thing when I get to my destination. I would REALLY like to put in a rocker switch (or something) that would initiate a roll down/up on all 4 windows.



I KNOW there are some electrically minded TDR members. Maybe we could trade out some work or something?



If anyone has any ideas, I would GREATLY appreciate it.



Also, my front passenger window seems to roll down about 2/3 the speed of the other three. Is that a problem, or just the way it is... . I know I know. . I can't expect perfection... If the engine and transmission hold up like they should, I have no real complaints.



Thanks!

Andy

 

[SRadke]

I've given up on the back two. I can't even tell the diffrence whether they are down or not. I am curious however if you can make this work. Seems quite possible to me.

 

[nickleinonen]

in my 1500 quad cab, i find the passenger side window is way slower than the drivers side. i don't worry about the rear windows cause if i have them open, i get a buffiting effect in the cab that drives me nuts. what i'd like to see someone do is apply the auto one touch down stitch to the passenger side control like the drivers side control has. that would be sweet... is that do-able?

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Nick, anytime I roll down a back window I crack a front one a couple inches and it doesn't buffet. The owner's manual says to do this.



Vaughn

 

[Prairie Dog]

The electric window circuit is normally powered by one feed wire thats not really up to running all 4 windows at once w/o some degree of voltage drop which is hard on your motors. This is the "normal" situation but it's always possible our trucks are different. In some cars you can see the windows slow down when another one is operated at the same time. I make it a rule to run only one at a time.

 

[Badunit]

Looking at the wiring diagrams, they are all fed from the one source through a 25A breaker.



When the switches are in the neutral position, both wires to each motor are connected to power. The way I see it, your setup would have to be a quad double-pole break-before-make switch which would switch one wire from each motor to ground after breaking the connection to the door switches.



It might be easier to make something out of wood or plastic that you could use to operate all four switches by hand.

 

[DavidC]

This should be pretty simple using either 8 single pole relays, 4 two pole or 2 four pole relays(preferable). The difficulty lies in where to mount these. The easiest of course would be in the drivers door. You would be required to install a seperate switch for the all window operation. The new switch would have a 12V source either existing or new. The switched side would go to the relay(s) coil to energize, You also need a ground for the other side of the coil(s). You would then Parallel from your existing switches (motor sides) to the normally open contacts on the appropriate relay (ie. all up wires from 4 switches run seperately to the common contacts on a 4 pole relay. All 4 close wires to the normally open contacts of a 4 pole relay. The switch would need to be a single pole 3 position (center off). The up side of the switch will energize the up relay and the down will energize the down relay. You would then need to jumper all commons on each relay together and one lead back to a 12V source. Is this clear as mud?



Dave

 

[mr plow]

i always thought...

it was just the actual switch itself which toggled the auto down feature. try the switch with the power off, it has a stop through the range of motion, and past that is the auto down. one would think that you could just replace the other switches with one like the drivers window switch, that is unless the four windows are contained in one switch.



oren.

 

[AndyMan]

Excellent information guys! I really appreciate the information. I will try the relay idea. I need to elist the assistance of a buddy or two, but armed with this info, I'm confident we can pull it off.



regarding the drivers "auto" switch. I have a feeling that function is contained in the switch. I doubt that threre are any electronics to make that work. I had given thought to just swapping my existing switches for three more of them, but that would only get me auto down. Not auto up.



Anyway. Thanks again for the help!

Take care,

/andy

 

[DavidC]

AndyMan

Make sure they are switching the 12V positive thru the existing switches and not doing something stupid like switching the grounds. If the grounds are being switched the wire to the common terminals on the relay should go to ground instead of 12V source. All other connections remain the same.



Dave

 

[AndyMan]

Good info DaveC. Thanks! I need all the direction and double checking I can get. I'm technically minded, but electronically inept.



Tempe is my favorite place on earth BTW... besides Nashville, TN of course.



Take it easy,

/andy