Spring loaded contacts

[Christian McArdle]

I'm just about to take delivery of my new minibus. This time round I really do intend to fit the central locking (and Thatcham quality alarm) I'm always promising myself. The left/right doors are pretty simple. I got that far on my last van. I don't care about the rear door. In fact, I would probably prefer key only opening there for security. However, the sliding door presents more of a problem with wiring the motors and is used by passengers.

My proposed solution would be to have 2 sprung loaded contacts that make when the door is closed, which connect through to the central locking motor. Something with a conical shaped male part to be accommodated in a crater shaped contact when closed. This allows the male part (attached to the door) to be rotated wrt to the van as the door engages with its closing mechanism.

The problem is finding such a beast. It obviously needs to be pretty heavy duty and will get a good bashing when the door closes. I can't see anything obvious on Maplin. Does anyone have any suggestions?

The only other thing I could think of was having 8 AA batteries and an "optoisolation" type solution with an LED and suitable receiver, but that seems like work.

Christian.

[Mike Harrison]

I've seen something like this on a car tailgate - I think it was a Ford - could be worth a look round a breakers...

[Christian McArdle]

Any idea which Ford that might be?

Presumably they were used for the heated windscreen or wipers, rather than just passing a cable hinge end. I can't recall anything like that on my (very) old Ford Escort, but then I was hardly looking out for it!

Christian.

[Neil Jones]

Sounds like you want universal sliding van door contacts like these :-)

Neil

[Grunff]

Lots of Fords use exactly such contacts for their tailgate mounted lights. I know a friend's M reg Escort had them, and I'm sure I've seen them on a range of Fords. Time to trek to your nearest scrappie I think.

[Christian McArdle]

I'd be inclined to buy new, though, if Ford are obliging in the parts department wrt to price and availability.

Christian.

[Christian McArdle]

is a very similar product by wolfelec in the UK...

Christian.

[Grunff]

Yes, that makes sense - I tend to get bits like that from scrap yards because of the huge selection on offer - sometimes I start off thinking I know what I want, but end up finding something even more appropriate.

[Christian McArdle]

Who were very obliging and have agreed to sell me one even though they are mainly a trade supplier with a minimum order quantity of 5. I like it when a company's customer service goes out of its way to be accommodating like that. The price was very good, too, probably less than the scrapyard when you include the hassle of driving, finding and removing the part.

Christian.

[mrcheerful]

the tailgate connections on a fiesta or escort would do fine, the fixed bit is about 8 quid and a little more for the springy bit

[Christian McArdle]

I'll probably have trawl round for useful stuff when I drop my old van off tomorrow, particularly door mirrors. However, I seem to have solved the contact problem courtesy of Neil Jones (who gave me the appropriate magic search words!) and wolfelec.

The new van has the same NATO standard configuration mirrors as my old one. i.e. the old original style square mirror on the left and the nice new style split level mirror on the right with a broken wide angle mirror glass.*

Christian.

• The standard procedure seems to be that the right one gets totally mangled when parked up (or under a narrow bridge). The superior new style mirror is the same price as the old, so its gets upgraded. The wide angle lens is very vulnerable and gets smashed two days later. They charge 2/3 of the entire mirror unit price for the wide angle glass alone, so no-one fixes it and it still passes MOTs, as the main mirror gives a good rear view...

[Christian McArdle]

Thanks for the suggestion. Howver, I've now managed to order a bespoke sliding van door double contact for under six quid (presumably +VAT and delivery).

Christian.

[Tony Williams]

In article , Christian McArdle wrote: [snip]

The tailgate of early Astras and Astravans had a beefy 3-contact assembly to make the connections.

However, for low-current signals you would need something sealed and with gold/gold contacts.

Radiospares/Farnell burglar alarm reed switches are a possibility. Switch on the fixed side of the door/window, button magnet on the moving side. The used to be one version of the switch/magnet pair that just needed about 3/8th holes to be drilled.

[:::Jerry::::]

Mk 3 and 4 Escorts had plunger contacts, and they were the cause of many tailgate electrical faults due to the contact metal oxidising !

[Andrew Gabriel]

Fiestas do.

Yes. Sadly they didn't use one for the earth return, and the metal hinges become remarkably good insulators after a few years.

[Scott M]

Not on the Mk 3/4 ones, but the mk 6 & 7s do. Maybe the Mk 5, but I'm not sure.

[Christian McArdle]

Mine was a Mk 3 1.3CVH, which may be why I don't remember the contacts. Horrible car it was. Sold it as soon as I could persuade an insurance company to let me drive something decent.

Christian.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The Renault camera vans used on The Bill have central locking on both side sliding doors. Perhaps the contacts they use are available as a spare from Renault? They are the sort of sliding doors that close 'flush' so presumably the worse scenario for a contact.