I'd been looking to do this for some time. The cheap lock on my aluminum toolbox was never easy to turn, and it's a pain anyway to have to fish around for the key to get the thing open. Everything else is power--why not the toolbox?
Unfortunately, it appears no one else shares my ideals. Plenty of power tailgate and topper locks, no dice on the toolbox. So, I decided I'd make my own.
Started when I found a power door lock actuator on eBay for about $2.00. There's
plenty of them available.
Mounted this to the toolbox with machine screws. Drilled a small hole in the piece of metal that rotates in front of the latch when it's locked, used the hardware included with the actuator to connect them together, like so:
Here's a closeup:
Forgive the wire taps--my soldering iron is broken.
Only problem with this setup is, the latch won't rotate unless the key is in it. So I scored the key just past the point of the last pin in the tumbler, broke it off, stuck it in the keyhole, and sealed the whole thing up with JB Weld. Nothing to grab on to and turn. I suppose you could beat a screwdriver in and turn it, but that would be about as hard as breaking the original lock open, I think.
Had a bit of trouble with it vibrating open at first, found it was the screw I'd put through the hole I drilled backing out. Tightened up with a bit of green threadlocker, and it's fine now.
As far as wiring, it's pretty simple. Ground one wire, +12V on the other, it locks--reverse the connection, it unlocks. You'd need a DPDT momentary contact switch--if you leave it energized, it will keep trying to move, and burn up. I had two extra buttons on my car alarm remote, though, so I decided to use one to lock, and one to unlock. I used the
four-wire setup from the12volt.com because I had a bunch of SPST relays around--if you have some SPDT relays, the 5-wire setup only needs two.
Anyway, I think it's great. Hit one button, the toolbox unlocks; hit another, it locks again. A couple pushbuttons or momentary-contact switches could replace the alarm outputs. Only problem is, if the servo fails, I'll have to drill out the lock to get the box open.
Now, has anyone else tried this another way? Any ideas for improvement?
Power locks on the toolbox
Linear Mode
