Question Defrost on Mirrors

[Zmann ARGH]

i was reading that you need an IR gun to see if the mirrors are heating ,, due to the low temp variable

 

[JRJ04]

j:

if you switched the only ground on the mirror, then NOTHING would work until you completed the ground path- no mirror adjustment, no turn signals, no nothing. OK? get it out of your mind for now.

FORGET about grounding for now, OK?

According to that writeup, using the colors that the author used for the heat function of the mirror, and what you described above, you should have had something like this-

DS--Light Blue Wire ----\

|-------- SWITCH---- KO+ power source----​

PS--Green Wire--------/

should have worked just fine. that is what you described correctly in part 1 or your original post.

"So, I then said ok, maybe I need to ground them. At that point, I tied the power line and the line from the mirrors together so that they would be on one terminal of the switch. I then ran a ground to the other terminal. Turned the key on, flipped the switch...and within seconds it looked like a Snoop Dog concert in my truck...filled with smoke."

what you did was connect the mirrors to the 12V supply wire, effectively making them constant on making the connection through the terminal of the switch.

then by putting a wire between ground and the switch, you created a direct path to ground- a short circuit. no different than a chaffed wire. hopefully you did nothing more than smoke that switch, the wire you installed from that switch to ground.

check for blown fuses. check for melted insulation on the wires you connected to.

good luck.

well, with all the being said, i think ill go back to how i had it hooked originally...mirrors on one side of the switch and KO on the other side because you guys are saying thats right. I guess I could test it with a test bulb...just now thought of that...I just thought I'd be able to feel more of a temp diff but maybe not?

As far a wires etc. I caught it quick enought that im pretty sure i just melted the wire i had jsut added. I checked where I tapped into my KO source and all was well and working..

 

[JRJ04]

Update

Ok guys, im still a bit confused.

I decided to follow the instructions EXACTLY not tie the 2 mirrors together. Just focused on the driver's side by itself. I hooked it up, and still got nada in what i can feel on the mirror. Ok so maybe its not a feel thing. However, I took my checkset and put each terminal on the respective ends (one on the hot end coming from my power source, and the other on the wire going to the mirror) and am only getting 0.2 volts. Doesnt that seem low? I know my power supply is good because i can put my meter on it and ground it, and get 12 volts.

What could be going on here? Do they just a really low voltage?

 

[dpantazis]

where are you pulling the voltage across?

you need to measure voltage from the wire you are checking and ground, in parallel, not in series (are you sure you have your volt meter set right?)

test the mirror for continuity and then for resistance. i will check mine tomorrow and post up the numbers.

 

[JRJ04]

where are you pulling the voltage across?

you need to measure voltage from the wire you are checking and ground, in parallel, not in series (are you sure you have your volt meter set right?)

test the mirror for continuity and then for resistance. i will check mine tomorrow and post up the numbers.

alright, sorry im not too electrical savvy.

School me if you will...

I can go from the power source to ground (with my meter set on DC) and get 12.48 volts. Then, I was trying to go from my power source, to my mirror wire, and thats where i was getting the low voltage (still with the meter set on DC)

Testing for continuity and resistence...i know resistence is done with it set on ohms (the resistence mode), but what/how do i check continuity?