Door Popper.....ARGH!!

[VehiGAZ]

See if you can draw out a diagram of how you hooked up the wires to the solenoid. t any one of a dozen little things...

Good luck!

[Tone]

Try applying 12v to the wire from the popper that is going to the switch to make sure everything at the back is working. Pin switch connection does not have anything to do with the popper working or not.

[MSHardeman]

Thanks for the advice so far.

Tone, I was actually going to try your suggestion out in the next couple of days. I'll run a wire from a 12v source (door lock circuit) to the solenoid to see if it will work that way. If the solenoid works then the next link will be the switch itself. I got it new from Merlin but there's always the possibility of a bad one in the batch.

[MSHardeman]

Here's the diagram as I hooked it up. I'm no electrician, so the diagram is probably a little crude.

[Moncha]

Mark, everything is correct but, according to your drawing you left out the relay between the switch and the solenoid.. The switch is not designed to take that much current directly and you may have burned out the switch..

On my diagram, the second pin states to go to a relay...
Also, check your ground and make sure paint or anything else is not isulating it.

On the other side, do all the lights work on the switch since I cornfused the hell outta ya?

[MSHardeman]

Mocha,

Thanks for the response. As I've said before, I'm no electrician so I probably just glazed over the relay part of your diagram. What size relay should I get, and does it need to be wired to anything else, or does it just sit in-line between the dash switch and the solenoid? I'll also have to scape some paint off behind the solenoid mounting bolt to make sure that the ground is making good contact with the metal of the door.

As for the switch itself, it works like a charm. It lights up and dims with the other switches, and the red light on it even comes on when you press it. Now all I need is a second pin switch to activate the light when the rear door is ajar.

[Moncha]

Sounds cool..

Just a simple 3 prong horn relay (usually 30amp) would work. On the included diagram, instead of a horn just pretend it's the solenoid.

[scarpezio]

If that really is the way you hooked it up, be aware that the cigarette lighter is a switched source, i.e., it is live only when the ignition is ON.

[MSHardeman]

That can't be right....can it? I think I leave my cell phone charger hooked up to the cigarette lighter when the car is off, and it still charges the phone. Guess I'll have to double check that.

[Moncha]

True the cig lighter is a switched circuit...