Nodge68
Well-Known Member
In theory that can't happen. The ignitor for the air bag takes a couple of Amps to trigger it. A DMM only puts out a few miliamps at most. However it's not considered safe practice to try it, as an uncontrolled airbag make a big mess.
Nodge68
Well-Known Member
ive never been brave or daft enough to find out, lol
When I was at one garage, we sent a lot of vehicles off to scrap. The scraper wouldn't take vehicles with un-triggered pyrotechnics (airbags and belt pre-tensioners). So when we had the insurance company authorisation to dispose of a vehicle, we had to trigger the pyros before it was loaded on the waggon. We used a starter pack (jump pack) to fire the pyros, simply by connecting long wires from the pyros to it. There's a pop or hiss as the pyros fire and all was safe. There's quite a spark on connection of the pyro, so obviously it needs current. This is current simply isn't available from a DMM.
bet that made u jump,lol
know what ur saying , but personally i still wouldn’t ever connect one to an airbag
i always thought they only needed around 4ohms to fire, but alas as you’ve tested it must req a lot more , think i’ve onky got a 9v battery in my meter
Nodge68
Well-Known Member
4 ohms at 12 Volts is 3 Amps.
so there's no way a DMM should fire one. However there's no reason to measure an airbag with a DMM anyway. The wiring is the weak link in the system not the airbag.
4 ohms at 12 Volts is 3 Amps.
thks, indeed and learnt that from personal experiance when i had to replace curtain airbags in my D3,
Rich in Vancouver
Well-Known Member
With all the talk about flaws in Takata airbags I'm always very careful when dealing with them, whatever the make.
Better safe than having your specs become contact lenses!
Better safe than having your specs become contact lenses!
