- Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:43 pm
#184079
Both actuator wires are normally grounded. To lock, it sends a power pulse through one wire. To unlock, it sends a power pulse through the other wire. It's a very short duration pulse. Not very much current. It's not constant power. If the insulation rubs through (this is why you use a grommet, preferably the factory grommet), nothing at all will happen until you arm or disarm the alarm, and then the power will just go straight to ground for that brief pulse. You'll know cuz your power door locks wont work. This will not fry the alarm or burn your car down. I have seen many things that will fry electronics and burn cars down, and this is not one of them.
I have fixed many installs (other people's work of course) where a screw for a speaker or some cut sheet metal or something grounded one of the actuator wires. Simply fix the problem and the keyless works again.
BTW, the power source to the door lock actuators is already fused. This is downstream of your actuator wires. In fact, that fuse rarely blows when one of the actuator wires is shorted and that just goes to show you how little current we're talking about here.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with fusing the actuator wires and I wont criticize someone for being overly careful. But I always feel obligated to correct bad info in these forums. I personally would never bother to fuse them and you will never see that in my write-ups, except for the constant power to the relays... constant power ALWAYS needs to be fused.
I would recommend a professional mainly because the complication of wiring the double relays and the difficulty of mounting the actuators just right. It requires cutting the sheet metal in many instances and aligning the rod to the movement of your factory lock rod just right. But there are many people that can do it on there own by following my write-ups.
..........i think im gonna let the pros install with what ever i decide to go with..thx for the beware info btw 
