d16rice

I have 14gwg and 18gwg wires, which should I run for door locks?
14gwg would provide better electrical connection.
18gwg would be A LOT easier to route through O.E. holes/fittings.

Also, when installing an aftermarket actuator, does is matter if it’s facing front or back?
Mine is facing the rear of the car, but most other’s I’ve seen done are facing the front.

Bond

I used 16 gwg and it worked fine for threading through door seals. Mine faces the rear and work perfectly. 16 gwg was the same guage as the wire from the actuator so I just continued with that guage wire. It is really simple and I enjoy the keyless entry alot. It will break your interior locking switch eventually. But you will never need it any how. You will only be locking it when the door is closed and from the outside. I also have ignition locking doors (love my compustar alarm ), so it lock when I start the car. I feel better knowing that a retared will not ever be able to carjack me .

d16rice

I think you’re right, they are 16 on the actuators, but I don’t have any of those on hand right now.
Would 18gwg be cutting corners or would it work fine?

I guess I can always go and buy more wire, lol.

P.S.
I got a Clifford pager alarm, so I’ll be hooking it up to that.
Got some nice BOSH relays too .

Bond

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by d16rice &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think you’re right, they are 16 on the actuators, but I don’t have any of those on hand right now.
Would 18gwg be cutting corners or would it work fine?

I guess I can always go and buy more wire, lol.

P.S.
I got a Clifford pager alarm, so I’ll be hooking it up to that.
Got some nice BOSH relays too .

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Good choice on the relays! Used them too. 18gwg will work but you know I would have to suggest 16gwg over 18gwg . I really don't think it will lower the current that much so you shouldn't really see a difference in speed and power of the actuator. Good Luck .

d16rice

Just bought some 16gwg wires.
Should I put an adjustable resistor in there? I figure this way I can lower the voltage in the summer and raise it in the winter (so not to brake the handles).

Bond

You know that just might work. Good idea . I will give this a try and I bet this will slow down the switches breaking. I would have to put my money on the switches breaking sooner or later but this could buy you a couple of years. Let me know how it goes. Oh, good choice on the wires .

Ragecloak

jeez, 14? That's thick as hell...course i may be wrong, cause i used to be an electrician, and we call it 14awg...not sure what gwg is, but 14 is like the standard wiring for like lights and switches and **** in houses. Pretty thick

Bond

14gwg means 14 strands of copper wire all wrapped up into one wire. The single wire in 14agw is going to be a lot larger in diameter then simple car wiring. The thickness per strand is A LOT bigger. Something can be 14 gauge, but the thickness of the wire can be different from one type to the next. 14gwg would have worked, but I personally would be worried about to much current flow that would blow fuses along the way. The wire thickness is no different to the naked eye between 18-14gwg.


Don't forget in a house that wire is larger to be able to pass 120v to 240v. Here it is just 12v max.

d16rice

Current travels not through the wire but on the surface of the wire.
Now I might be wrong, but the gauge refers not so much to the thickness (although that’s what most of us initially notice) but rather the surface area.
This would explain why 14awg (solid wire) is thicker than 14gwg (stranded wire).

It’s a little cold outside, so I’ll wait until Sunday to install the relays and the adjustable resistor.

Bond

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by d16rice &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Current travels not through the wire but on the surface of the wire.
Now I might be wrong, but the gauge refers not so much to the thickness (although that’s what most of us initially notice) but rather the surface area.
This would explain why 14awg (solid wire) is thicker than 14gwg (stranded wire).

It’s a little cold outside, so I’ll wait until Sunday to install the relays and the adjustable resistor.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah your right. That is why Ragecloak thought that 14 guage wire was way to thick. He wasn't thinking that the surface area for the wire he uses is ment for 120v or 240v not 12v. Let me know how the adjustable resistor works out. I will prolly pick one up too.

d16rice

Haven’t had the chance to play around with the resistor.
I spent the whole day trying to get the crank pulley off with no luck .
I’ll try putting in the resistor later this week.

d16rice

Is this how every one set up their relays?

http://www.miata.net/garage/pwrlock.htm

I'm still trying to figure out what resistor (rheostat) to use.
Does any one know how many amps these actuators are using?

d16rice

Here’s another bit of useful information when deciding on what resistor to use.
I’m just posting it here so I wouldn’t have to look for it later on.

Voltage – E - VOLT (electrons exerting a potential force)
Current – I - AMP (a flow of electrons)
Resistance – R - OHM (a real physical property)
Power – P - WATT (electrons flowing through a resistance)
http://www.williamson-labs.com/resistors.htm
http://www.the12volt.com/resistors/resistors.asp


Modified by d16rice at 7:49 AM 4/6/2005

Bond

Yeah, that's how I have mine wired up to the relays. Good diagram and that chart is very usefull to people doing this the first time. So is it all wired up yet? I wanna know how that adjustable resistor is working out for you.

d16rice

It’ll be a few days before I can try it out.
First, I have to assemble my engine.
Then, go to a shop and get my new pager alarm put in.
Only then can I hook up the locks.

I’ll post it as soon as I finish it.

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V

Just fried one potentiometer.
Worked nice for a few seconds, then she smell appeared, then the smoke, and then some fireworks, ha ha ha... back to the drawing board I guess.


Modified by d16rice at 9:44 AM 7/13/2005