Electric trunk Actuator....I took a look inside

[Pdwight]

Mine went Tetons up on me so I got a replacement and after Installing it I decided to take a look inside to see what is what and how it works.

It is actually quite a bit of engineering , I expected to find a simple spring solenoid....but this is Porsche.

It is a gear driven device with a small DC motor. The motor shaft has a small gear which drives a much larger gear suspended or supported by a recoil operating device very similar to a push lawn mower. Made quite well inside and a dab of grease, the recoil spring is metal (spring steel I suppose). It is a very efficient design with not great current demands considering what it accomplishes. I could post some pics if anyone is interested.

[MARTHA]

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I would be interested in photos

[stelan]

Pics please

[Pdwight]

[MARTHA]

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Thanks

[Racer Boy]

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like typical German engineering! Meaning over-engineered/-complicated, expensive, and not necessarily that reliable!

Before you flame me for making inflammatory statements, you should know that I've been working on German equipment for years, and I'm 1/4 German.

[Pdwight]

But IMHO rather elegant in it's design. BTW I am also 1/4 German and work on German medical equipment........also 1/8 Native American

One thing I like about this forum is everyone can jump in and no one gets angry....I Like the collective knowledge shared here

[particlewave]

This is actually a typical actuator design. A solenoid powerful enough to pull the latch reliably (every time) would have to be huge and consume a lot of power.

This design, for what it does, is very small and simple.