[ucfbaseball24]

Trying to help out a guy that asked me about the power folding mirror setup.

When I had them, I was playing around with a circuit that would auto unfold when the key was placed in the ignition (or the car was turned on) and then fold in when the key was removed from the ignition (or the car was turned off).

I drew up a circuit for it but I never got around to installing it and then I ended up selling the mirrors and this went by the wayside. Now a guy asked me about it and I'm just trying to get some feedback on my diagram to see if anyone thinks this will work or not. It's been awhile since I took a physics or electrical engineering class so I'm not exactly sure if this will work or not.

From what I remember, T=RC [Time = Resistance (in ohms) * Capatence (in farads)]

Also from what I remember, when a capacitor reaches a full charge, it blocks DC. So once the capacitor becomes fully charged, the signal will become ungrounded and the mirror will stop folding. Since the mirror takes about 3 seconds to fold and unfold I would choose a 4700 micro farad cap (.0047 farads) and a 650 ohm resistor both of which are available at radioshack.

Just wondering if 1) my understand of the capacitor is right 2) the diagram looks correct and 3) when power is removed and the capacitor starts to discharge, will that cause the mirror to start to fold again?

 

[ucfbaseball24]

I'm also thinking that the constant power flow through the system when the car is off is probably not a very safe thing but idk. Throw a fuse in that circuit and it would probably be good.

 

[Redgtsfury]

Ironically, I bought a pair of folding mirrors a few months back and I was looking for something like this. As I don't mind opening/& closing the mirrors manually, I would much rather them do it automatically...I need to research your drawing and see if it works.

 

[ucfbaseball24]

Haha. I just sold you the interior parts. If the capacitor works the way I think it does, that circuit will work. I always thought that the capacitor just stores the charge and then when charge is pulled, the stored power flows. But when I was researching it, I came up with this and had a few people tell me it should work but I have no way of testing it since I no longer have the power folding mirrors.

 

[Redgtsfury]

Hey buddy, what's happening? The interior looks awesome by the way. I am debating weather or not to do this mod as I have other plans in store. I just picked up a euro rear foglight switch for the rear euro for light add-on...

 

[ucfbaseball24]

If you decide not to, let me know and I'll snag them from you since they match my car. If you need any help with the wiring for anything, I've done it all so I can lend a hand to anything you need.