how to rig up custom window switches?
 

hey guys...my window switches went out for good finally, and like i know most people have thought about...i was curious if and how i could go about wiring up some custom switches.
i figured i could get some center off toggle switches from radio shack and somehow wire those up to roll my windows up and down.
i swore i saw some writeup like over a year ago but i havent found too much of anything that's helped me... so plleeaaaasee, if anyone could direct me in the right way, or explain to me which wires connect where on the drivers dual switches, and the passengers single i'd greatly appreciate it.
thanks!

If you want to make a fortune, here is one you could incorporate into the new switches that you refer to: THE CLAPPER. Call it the "TAPPER", have it in same location as the switch is now, so to roll up or down, TAP ONCE DOWN, TAP TWICE UP.

Being the genious that I am, I will only take at 15% royalty on YOUR new invention.

PEACE THE DOG

Already exists. My mom's '97 Chevy Lumina will roll the driver's side front window down all the way if you press it down past a soft stop.

I've been toying with this idea as well. I'd like to make something that looks decent, but cheaper than the stock switches.

Check out the "2 Switch Kit Illuminated Push/Pull (33040161)" on this page:
http://www.commandoalarms.com/itmidx4.htm

If the dimensions are small enough, they ought to fit in where the stock ones were. Just need to fab some kind of adapter plate and find a clean way to attach it. Maybe the stock switch housing could be salvaged to make the adapter...

If I decide to try this rather than just find some not-too-bad used stock switches, I'll post my results.

edit: Or these switches...
http://www.a1electric.com/Merchant2/...de=4990-10-420
More pricey, but they look more likely to fit.

That wasn't his suggestion. Nice try though. :fawk:

His suggestion is a different user interface for the same idea. Also, the soft stop version is more elegant.

Well bascally one wire makes it go up and one wire makes it go down. You can hook the connector from the door panel lights into it to make it go down to double check that the motors work properly. You can get basically any generic switch to make it work as long as you wire it correctly.

To make the window go back up simply take a jumper wire from the door light connector and reverse the + and -.

Elegant? It's a fucking button you push to make the window move. Unless your button is gold plated, how the fuck is it "more elegant".

:dunno:

He's talking about the soft-stop switch where you push it past a certain point and the window goes all the way down on it's own. One quick push to make the window go all the way down. They wussed out and it didn't make it go all the way up the same way. Afraid kids would get their heads caught in it or something :P RX7 windows are two wires. Ground on top, hot on bottom to go one way, reverse to go the other way. I installed power windows in mine but I'm working on a switch that uses the stock roller arm, so I use the booster pack and some alligator clips to roll the windows up and down :D

I know what the hell he's talking about :fawk: . I just don't see how it's "elegant".

There is a box you can buy that will automatically roll the windows all the way up or down with a single push. It will stop and revert to normal with a second push.

I installed one on my '84. The box actually fit inside the center console where the switch was anyway.

I can't find the link right now but I think I have it at home.

ed

I still dig the car alarms that you can add a temperature module to it, then they'll automatically roll down the windows a little bit when the temperature gets above a certain point. If someone comes close enough to the car to set off the proximity switch, it rolls them back up. :D

Check out the "body electrical" section in the FSM.
The passenger side gets its ground through the driver's side switch.

If you adapt a generic up/down switch to both positions on the driver's side, the passenger switch will have no ground.
Then if you add a ground lead to the passenger door switch, and you and your passenger happen to hit both door switches at the same time, you blow the fuse.

You'd have to use a switch that switches two different circuits at one time, so that in the middle, both leads to the regulator would be grounded, when you press up, ground would be on one lead and hot on the other, then down would be the opposite of the top. Seems like a regular DPDT would do it, but you'd probably have more luck with one of those "HELP!" window switches from Autozone.

OMFG...dude those soft-stop switches are really nice and all but Elagent?
:bsflag: How the F*CK is that elagent.....and what the hell are you all arguing about?...honestly now.

Oh crap, I didn't realize we were arguing! Let me try again.

"You ignorant bastard! Everyone knows that " <insert prior message here> "you f*cktard!

:D

alright so after some finagglin with a radio shack center off toggle switch and the window motor i found a way to make the switch work.

i cut the power wire that goes to the stock window switch plug, and spliced in two other wires which i hooked up to the opposite corners of the contacts on the toggle switch.

i'll just say this is a diagram for the 6 contacts on the bottom of the switch.

- - -
- - -

wires hooked up to switch from spliced stock window switch power(p) wire:

p - -
- - p

then i hooked up ground(g) wires on the other opposite corners:

p - g
g - p

and then ran the last two middle wires to the male prongs on the window motor(wm) two prong plug:

p wm g
g wm p

so itd be something like that. when i move the toggle switch to one side it goes up, the other side it goes down, and middle it doesnt move.

so it worked but...
is this a good idea?
bad idea?
fire hazard waiting to happen?
i only played around with the drivers side cause its getting too late and i'm tired as shat..
but yeah, any thoughts would be cool..
thanks doods

Like I said.

That will work the driver's side.
No hazard.
The trick is getting the passenger side to work from both switches.
One possibility is to add one of those auto resetting circuit breakers to the added passenger switch ground. Size the breaker smaller then the fuse.

Re: Elegance of soft-stop window switches.

I'm a mathematician/physicist/computer scientist. Therefore, I look for elegant solutions. Tapping a switch twice in rapid succession has debounce and logic problems associated with the solution. A soft-stop switch has no debounce issues and much less circuitry and logic associated with it, as well as a more intuitive interface.

Which is more useful for the user:
1. Push down, window goes down, push really far down (like when you want it down all the way), window goes really far down.
2. Push down, window goes down, push down again within a short time (like when you're adjusting the window so it's cracked open just right), window goes really far down.

Obviously, the soft-stop is more elegant: marked by scientific precision, neatness, and simplicity

Actually, using those switches, it looks like if he wired a switch on the drivers side the same way with WM for the Passenger window motor, and did the same thing on the passenger side, splicing the wires together at the Passenger window motor then it would work from either switch. In the center position the circuit is open for the switch that's not being pressed, and power is provided to the motor by the one that is.

Years ago when I put power windows on my car, I didn't bother with the stock switches at all.

I got two DPDT momentary toggle switches from the electronics store and mounted htem in the space below the radio. One switch per window. The two movable conacts (generally middle on the switch) connect to the window motor. Then the two sets of fixed contacts (generally the outer terminals on the switch) connect together in an X pattern. Then power is applied to one set of outer contacts. That way if you move the switch up, the motor is connected to the battery in one polarity, and if you move it down it is connected opposite.

Elegant: Characterized by or exhibiting refined, tasteful beauty of manner, form, or style.

Thus, it's matter of opinion. :)

"2 : something that is elegant" ?

I hate those definitions... so useless. Anywho, back onto topic. Agreed? :)

....

Well, you edited to say 1d instead of 2. There's a reason it's 1d, not 1a. :wink:

Read Elegant. One of the examples is: "an elegant solution", which clearly follows my use of the definition in this context. You need to learn context and the differences between denotation and connotation.

On topic, people...

On-topic: I think I'm going to replace my AAS section with power window switches (so both passenger and driver have easy access and to minimize wiring issues) when my passenger motor finally goes and I have to mess with the wiring. When I do, I plan on opting for double-soft-stop switches like in the Lumina.

I added power windows to my base SE. Bought the motors and a switch kit from www.spalusa.com went to a generic stereo/alarm shop and got an auto window up/down moduale and wired everything up. Mounted behing the shifter so like you said, everyone has easy access. Biggest fear is that the gauge wire is too small and the switches aren't rated high enough.... pic of the mounting... by the way, soft touch both up and down :101384_l:

That looks pretty sweet. I'd consider that if I didn't already have custom doorpanels for the manual regulator. I'm figuring I'll have to use two DPSTs per side and an arm on the inside of the doorpanel attached to the window regulator arm to actuate them, so I can push the regulator down to make the window go down and pull it up to make the window go up. I'm open to suggestions for something more elegant though. :D

I realize you used it correctly. I just meant you used the lame definition. Damn math geeks with their analytical minds... :fawk:

Newho, back on subject before we get scolded by Aaron...

Why not just rebuild (if possible) or replace the stock ones? They already fit fine and are plug/play. Just my suggestion.

81457,

Even after resurrecting them a few times by gluing the fatigued plastic back together, the window switches finally got to a point of no return for me too. What I ended up doing was using a couple of CF plates and mounting some radio shack switches onto them. The biggest problem I had was with the wiring up of the overall system, because even when the original switches were in the off position, there was still a closed loop. So I actually had to use relays to recreate the same circuit, since the radio shack toggle switches worked such that there is an open circiut in the off position.

I've got an S5TII though, so I'm not sure if this is the same for your S4...

If your setup works atm, that's good. The only problem that I see with it is that the window motors draw relatively high current, so if you have it flowing straight through the switches (and they only have a low current rating), the switch contacts might not last so long...

If you want, I can post some pics of my setup.

Cheers,
- TT

call me cheap but i dont really want to try to find new switches right now...maybe as a eff it i give up/last resort thing.
but more than anything i just like taking things apart and finding different ways to go about it and really just being difficult, haha. but if things just get too much for me i know when to give up so its cool...

yeah man if you wouldnt mind posting up some photos that'd be cool. i always hate when i find a thread and all these things are being talked about but its hard to get the visual, haha.

and also thanks for the tips so far doods

Since mine are hooked up with alligator clips for right now, when I get a chance I'll hook up an ammeter and see what kind of current it draws to be sure. I'm thinking it's probably not more than a couple of amps. Talking about being sure to use a big enough switch for the amps reminds me of when I bought my car and there was some kind of ugly as hell industrial 2 inch black push button switch that looked like it was straight off one of those 10 foot by 20 foot trash compactors wired as the starter solenoid. :D I have a feeling if my entire car was set on fire, that switch would have survived it, maybe with a little melting of the plastic.

I've got an idea to get around the two switches on one circuit problem that arises from using universal switches. You know how the stock system has a switch to disable the passenger window? Why not just put a third switch on the drivers side which will select one swith as being active, disabling the other, or use a 3 position switch could be used to lock both switches out. That way the driver retains veto power over the passenger window. It'd probably take a little bit of re-wiring, but It's probably easier than re-wiring the windows to the center console. I think it's a good idea, what do you think?

I too have gotten to the point where I can't re-glue the plastic switch any more, rendering the drivers side passenger window switch useless, which makes this thread very interesting to me.

WOW speed reading KILLS. You need to read what the dog was talking about. He said 1 tap down two taps UP, that is up not all the way down.

On topic I like the idea of the stock switches, plenty o places to call to get them cheap.

Again, you're putting WAAAAAY too much thought into it. Wire both passenger side switches exactly like you would for one, and then put them in parallel. If you don't feed one switch into the other (which would be wiring them in series), then whenever EITHER switch is pushed, you complete the circuit and make the motor go up/down.

Just in case that was confusing - put a switch on the driver's side for the passenger window, put a switch on the passenger side for the passenger window. Wire both just as directed above. Passenger window motor is now in two different circuits. Pressing EITHER switch will close the circuit, supply voltage to the motor, and cause the window to operate. You don't have to press both at once. :P

Ok, I've attached some pics of my setup.

It seemed like a pretty time consuming project... but now that I think about it, I spent most of it cutting the CF (note to anyone who might want to use CF, it is damn hard to cut!!! Be prepared to buy some tungsten carbide cutting bits...).

Any material can be used for the top plate (Fibreglass, other plastics, aluminium). The switches and relays were from an australian radio shack equivalent. A few lengths of wire, some long bolts, and the rest of the materials I scaveneged from the existing system. It worked out that to emulate the standard circuit, two relays had to be used per switch. Hence the passenger's side was pretty easy, but there was a fair bit of stuffing around on the drivers side. On the driver's side on my S5 there is also a small circuit board, so the biggest issue was stuffing the system back in...

The reason why I made my own setup is that Mazda were going to charge me AUS$700 for both switch clusters.

If anyone is interested in more detail, I guess I could do a bit of a writeup.

- TT

Complexity is the term used for people who can't understand simplicity. Make it easy so we don't have to clap to understand what I'm talking about. How about we just use the same principle as how power mirrors work. Left side, push lever left. Right side, push lever right.

Now incorporate the same motion as the 4 way "toggle" switch in adjusting the angle of the mirror. Everyone clear so far? Put a joy stick in place of your up down switches, and aren't we accomplishing the same thing?

Now, a simple " tap" is only limited by the tiny minds that think so small. 1-2-3-5-10 etc.

THANKS FOR ALL THE "INPUT", NOW, go beyond whats possible and make it happen.

PEACE THE DOG

Wouldn't it be 1-2-3-5-8? :D

If you use switches rated for 15A then you don't need relays, it'll make it a lot easier, and probably cheaper too. You could also use fancier relays to only need one per window.

I've figured out 2 ways of doing it so that it's failsafe, one doesn't require any extra wiring, and works exactly like the stock system, except instead of using one switch per window, it uses two DPDT's (on-mom) per window, one for up, one for down. I've been unable to find a single switch (3P3T) to do the job, but two push buttons would do the trick. Then another push button (off-on) could do the passenger window switch disabling.

You can also do it using 3 DP3T's (mom-off-mom) and a DPDT (on-on). It'll require one extra wire to be run to the passenger side. Basically it'll be the usual three switches for the windows, and one to select which switch controls the passenger window. I've made a wiring diagram for this on AutoCAD, but it's at work. If anyone's interested I'll post wiring diagrams for each monday night.

I'll be doing the second version to my car in a couple weeks. I think it'll look better, and I couldn't find switches for the first one that I thought would look ok, but I found some nice 20A rated DP3T's, so I'll do that. I'll be mounting them to a sheet of hard black plastic. I'll try to post pictures and a writeup including wiring diagrams when I'm done.

yeah i'm curious to see how you went about it...my idea worked just fine but may not be as good as yours.

so yeah, i have two switches now where my logicon once was. i cut out a thin piece of aluminum that i found in my garage and mounted it in that spot, and tightened the two switches in so its really driver/passenger friendly. the aluminum was pretty ugly and scratched up(probably been in my garage for 16 years) so i put an option sticker on it and it looks alright. if anyone is wondering how it looks i'll take a photo and post it up.

my big thing and the reason why it took me a lot longer than it should have was i only wanted two switches, and i wanted it somewhere where when i have a passenger they dont have to bother me to roll the window up or down.
in all it worked out pretty well, i'll just be pissed when and if it breaks, haha.

Two switches in the middle is a good option, and is the way it's done in at least one car I know of (Miata) but it'll take a bunch of re-wiring and you'd end up with a hole in the door. Both things that I want to avoid.

It's possible to replicate the stock switching with two on-momentary SPDT's per stock switch (6 total) and one on-off switch (pass side off). If you look at the wiring diagram it should be easy enough to see, just split the functions of each switch into an individual up and down switch.

The other solution I've come up with (and will probably be using) is not quite as good functionally, and will require one wire to be run, but the available switches will look better IMHO.

i think the novelty would wear off when you come out of the mall and find your battery dead

Here are the wiring diagrams I made. There's 4 of them, 2 different types of switch (SPDT and DPDT), with and without relays, to be used depending on the power rating of the switch you select. I cannot guarantee that they're 100% perfect, there may be some errors in there, so if you want to use them to wire up some switches, check it all first, I hold no responsability for any damages that may occur due to an error in the diagrams.

They are a bit hard to read, but everything's ties into everything else. I'll see what I can do about making it easier to read tomorrow.

I decided to go with DPDT rocker switches that can handle the current. I didn't want relays and they're about the only thing I found that would be acceptable for the current loads, looks and temperature range.

Here's what I will be using: http://www.action-electronics.com/gcswrot.htm#Marine

I like the disclaimer. It just makes you wonder if there's REALLY a precedent of someone getting sued over advice they gave on a discussion forum. Does that mean I can sue other forum people for pecker injuries sustained through trying to go F*** myself? :D

Geez, how long are you in a mall? :P My suspicion is that it only rolls the windows partway down, and only rolls them up when it enters "Panic". If your car is doing this like 15 times during the time you're in a mall, then you need to adjust your sensor sensitivity :P