Bench testing a Power Antenna?

So I have a Roadmaster sedan antenna that I was going to try and use, but ended up selling. The junkyard said it worked when pulled. But before I send it out I want to double check that thus I dont send someone a bum antenna. The plugs for the roadmaster and the caprice are different (naturally) so is there a cheap and easy way to rig something up just to make sure the antenna goes up and down?

When I go into the junkyard, I "bench test" power antennas with my cordless drill battery before I even think about pulling them. There are only three wires - power, ground, and signal. I forget which one's which, but the factory service manual should tell you (I don't have it handy).

Thats a good idea. Do I run a line to each and tap the battery or just one at a time? I'll have to remember that for next time. This one was already pulled from the car so I had to take their word for it.

I hooked it up to my battery charger. White is down, green is neutral, and gray is up.

Nick Danger wrote:

I hooked it up to my battery charger. White is down, green is neutral, and gray is up.

What and where do I do that on the antenna?

On the oval connector. The other way to test them quick is to plug into your car without installing.

jayoldschool wrote:

On the oval connector. The other way to test them quick is to plug into your car without installing.

Can't do that. The RMS and the Caprice plugs are different.

Cadet57 wrote:

Nick Danger wrote:

I hooked it up to my battery charger. White is down, green is neutral, and gray is up.

What and where do I do that on the antenna?

There should be three wires coming out of the antenna motor, blue, green, and gray. I also grabbed the relay from the junkyard; I unplugged that. That gave me holes with the wires underneath. I attached some spade connectors to wires, stuck the connectors into the holes, attached the other ends of the wires to the car battery charger, and ran the antenna up and down.

If you just have stub end wires, you can skip the spade connectors. If you don't have any wires at all, you'll have to look up what goes where.

I have the full set up, relay, antenna, and harness. Which terminal of the charger do I connect the wires to?

Sorry for all the questions.

If you have the relay, there should be six wire attached to it. Three of the wires to to the antenna motor.

Green is ground. The BLACK terminal of the charger goes to GROUND.

White is down. Gray is up. The RED terminal of the charger goes to either UP or DOWN, depending on which direction you want the antenna to go.

WARNING: The fuse for the power antenna is 20 amps. So if your charger delivers more than 20 amps, I wouldn't use it. If it delivers less than 20 amps (mine is 15 amps), you should be safe.