Power window operation

I would like to mention my observation on how the power windows operate electrically. The system consists of one where all 4 window motors (4 door car) have power on both leads whenever the ignition is on. Pressing a window switch simply removes power from and grounds one lead or the other to make the window go up or down. The switch leads should be as follows:

Driver's door master switch:

  1. Power from ignition

  1. Ground

  2. Driver's side front window motor down when grounded

  1. Driver's side front window motor up when grounded

  2. Driver's side rear window down when grounded

  1. Driver's side rear window up when grounded

  2. Passenger's side front window down when grounded

  1. Passenger's side front window up when grounded

  2. Passenger's side rear window down when grounded

  1. Passenger's side rear window up when grounded

All other door's slave switches

  1. Ground

  1. From Driver's door down when grounded

  2. From Driver's door up when grounded

  1. Door window motor down when grounded

  2. Door window motor up when grounded

When you press the window lock button on the master switch it simply grounds all six wires going to the three other doors so that there is no power for the passengers to operate the window. When the driver presses a button for one of the other windows with them locked it simply temporarily applies power to the necessary wire.

Reply to
Daniel Armstrong
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Looking at my LH car schematics, the two motor leads are always grounded when no switch is pressed. A given motor operates when *power* (nominal

+12V) is applied to one of the leads.

Your last paragraph below is consistent with my LH car and contradicts where you say above that power is applied to both leads of the motor.

Again, on my LH car, both leads are grounded. The motor operates up or down when one or the other lead gets connected to +12V.

Again - change "grounded" to "power (+12V) applied"

No - it breaks the connection to the power source wire in the driver switch console.

Finally - that is correct. But that contradicts what you said in your very first paragraph about a wire being switched to ground to operate a motor. In a given system (except when the lock is on), either power is applied all the time to both wires (as you started out saying), and the motor operates when one wire or the other is grounded, *or*, as is the case in my LH car, and probably most other Chryslers, both wires are grounded, and the motor operates when power is applied to one or the other wire. The first part of your post describes the first way. Your last paragraph is based on the second way. A given system has to be one way or the other all the way thru.

If you'd like to see a real schematic to check it out, see this (a picture is worth a kilo-word):

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Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

I said in the final paragraph that that only applied when locked AKA when the window lock button is pressed. Anyway that is basically how it works. In a normally hot system like I posted when the driver presses the window lock button all leads to the other doors are switched from hot to ground. In a normally grounded system like in your LH when the driver presses the window lock button all the leads to the other doors are switched from ground to hot. The only difference between the systems is that in one the fifth lead to the slave switches is always grounded and in the other the fifth lead is always hot. In fact you could convert the LH to the other system by cutting the hot wire off of and grounding the fifth wire on all of the slave switches and then reversing the hot and ground leads on the master switch. The windows would then probably go up when you pressed down and vise versa but it would still work. It would also have the mechanic at the chrysler dealer scratching his head if you ever had them look at it.

Reply to
Daniel Armstrong

You don't know what you are talking about. I even posted a link to the schematic, which you apparetnly don't know how to read. The lock switch in the LH car simply disconnects power source (a single contact) to the passenger door switches. You said it switches from ground to hot. Totally wrong. It interrupts one power lead.

The fact that you can't follow that makes me skeptical of your description of your opposite ("normally hot") system.

That must be your "normally hot" system, since that lead is always hot in the opposite (LH car) system. Yet, you said in your first post that the lock switch grounds that lead. I suspect the lead is normally grounded and the lock switch interrupts that ground connection (just like the opposote system has that lead normally hot, and the lock switch interrupts it - again - see the schematic that I linked). Find a schematic of your system and see how it really works.

You must be talking about the LH car system there. Yes - that lead is always hot (and gets interrupted by the lock switch.

No doubt you're right about reversing power and ground to convert one system to the other, but your detailed descriptions are all kitty-wampus. Oh - and if you did convert one to the other, all the LED indicators in the switch panels would no longer work (unless you went in and manually reversed their polarities).

I wondered when reading your first post why you even posted the (mis)information. Why not use a schematic? Like I said: A picture is worth a kilo-word. Post a link to a schematic of an example of your "normally hot" system. I think you'll find some gross inaccuracies in your verbal descriptions.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Reply to
philthy

I don't know what vehilce you're referring to, but in the LH car, the power window circuits are not mux'ed. See that schematic I linked earlier.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

I am sorry if I offended you and no I don't have a schematic. The operation I posted was from my personal experience working on vehicles with various electrical problems such as dying door switches and broken wires at the flex point on the door jamb boot.

Reply to
Daniel Armstrong

Same ol' Philthy, full of laughs...

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

No problem. The starting point for such discussions should be an accurate schematic. That usually obviates misinformation and many questions.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

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