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Old 02-11-2016, 11:29 AM   #1
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Power Windows wired to House Battery

Hey I tired to google this but it seemed like it was going to get no where. Has anyone ever rewired power windows to run off the house batteries so that they always work? I think you could junction in the house power and add a second switch (if you wanted a second switch location) or rewire and use the existing switch. Seems like it should be pretty straight forward. Any pitfalls or concerns?
Thanks for any input.

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Old 02-11-2016, 04:24 PM   #2
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I know there is thread somewhere. I seem to remember Scatter doing it and Jage also. I wired mine up to the Van Battery can't remember which wire but it works with out the key in. The passenger cuts out when the door opens, but I can Always use the drivers side. Really glad I did it. Would search to do it like Jage.

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Old 02-12-2016, 06:28 AM   #3
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I did this on on an E250 originally without PW's or PDL's. When creating a terminal block inside the cabin I ran a 10 gauge wire from the Battery Junction Box (underhood fuse/relay block) for connection of those two systems and others should a need ever arise.

A 50 amp ATM fuse and holder were spiced into the lead for the added block if only to interrupt should a dead short to ground ever occur.

Were it me contemplating this sort of modification I'd still use the starting battery because most times door glass isn't raised or lowered all that often, saving house batteries for their other duties.
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Old 02-12-2016, 09:17 AM   #4
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I did a similar thing when I converted all my dome lamps to run off the house battery in my homebuilt.

Luckily GM uses a switched ground for the door switches, etc., so it was just a matter of replacing the source of the +12v power.

I located the appropriate circuit in the fuse panel, and then used one of those "Add-A-Fuse" blocks, but flipped around backwards:


Normally you use these to add a 2nd fused circuit by taking power from the supply side of the bus in the fuse panel. One fuse passes through to the output leg, keeping the original circuit "hot". The other fuse connects to the wire protruding out, which you could use to power something else.

If you flip it around backwards, you can use the protruding wire as an input, and supply power to the circuit in question. Obviously you need to leave the "passthrough" fuse out of the slot, so you don't connect the regular supply bus to your new input voltage source. Play around with a voltmeter and you'll be able to determine which slot is the passthrough and which is the "add on" circuit that connects to the pigtail.

The nice thing about this is that it's reversible - all you need to do is yank the block out and put the fuse back in the regular location and you'll restore normal operation (nice if you're having a problem with the house battery, or whatever.) And it leaves everything properly fused. Technically, you could do the same thing with an inline fuse and just crimp a spade terminal onto your input wire and jam the spade terminal into the circuit-side of the fuse terminal in your block.

You could just do the same with the fuse location for your power windows circuit. (Unless there's something else included on that group that you DON'T want powered by the house battery.)
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Old 02-12-2016, 09:29 AM   #5
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I do this on all my vehicles except my '98 Jeep which has lights attached to the power windows circuit also and would cause the vehicle battery to run down if "hot wired." I call it "hot wiring" the power windows and I run it from the vehicle battery. I run a new fused wire from the hot side of the battery to the vehicle's fuse box under the dash and connect it to the window side of the fuse there. You can use spade plugs for this or solder wires to a modified "blown" fuse or circuit fuse adapters like "Herbie" showed a picture of in his post above mine. This gives me "hot wired" windows and as a bonus it frees up the "power side" of the fuse to connect to an auxiliary circuit that I install with a new 5-fuse block that I can connect my accessories such as added backup camera, added GPS, extra accent lights, etc. (Most of my vehicles are older and did not come with backup cameras and built in GPS, etc.) The added bonus is that this new circuit is ignition controlled because the power windows were ignition controlled.
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Old 02-24-2016, 01:48 PM   #6
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Hey thanks for the replies, the simple answers are often the best! Here I was thinking about how to wire to the controls or add another switch. "Hot wiring" off the fuse box in some fashion is just simple and sweet.
Cheers!
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Old 02-25-2016, 09:02 AM   #7
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Here's what I did way back in the dark ages....

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...=Power+windows

Be sure to read my second post.

Hope it helps
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Old 02-25-2016, 10:39 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sierrasclimber View Post
Hey thanks for the replies, the simple answers are often the best! Here I was thinking about how to wire to the controls or add another switch. "Hot wiring" off the fuse box in some fashion is just simple and sweet.
Cheers!
Not only is it simple and sweet, it is so easy to switch it back when you sell or trade the vehicle!
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Old 02-25-2016, 11:25 PM   #9
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I'm not sure how to go about with mine? I've got manual windows! Hahaha!
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Old 02-26-2016, 06:19 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by Abitibi View Post
I'm not sure how to go about with mine? I've got manual windows! Hahaha!
I used to have those "power" windows too, but mine were powered by "Armstrong!"
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