Side impact sensor - offside ?????

[chris75]

Thanks Simon .
So , the question became "what is an electronic accelerometer ? "
looking it up gave me .......
Despite its humble appearance, the accelerometer consists of many different parts and works in many ways, two of which are the piezoelectric effect and the capacitance sensor. The piezoelectric effect is the most common form of accelerometer and uses microscopic crystal structures that become stressed due to accelerative forces. These crystals create a voltage from the stress, and the accelerometer interprets the voltage to determine velocity and orientation
So I should have hit it with a hammer whilst measuring voltage .....
I can confirm that the sensor is fastened snugly to the cross-member and was tightened with the torx equivalent of an allen-key , so I reckon 6 Nm will be about right

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by chris75

The piezoelectric effect is the most common form of accelerometer and uses microscopic crystal structures that become stressed due to accelerative forces. These crystals create a voltage from the stress ...

This is the principle used by crystal and ceramic pick-up cartridges on record players which you'll remember if you're a certain age Chris.

Originally Posted by chris75

So I should have hit it with a hammer whilst measuring voltage .....

I think it's fair to say that these impact sensors cannot be tested. If they get wet, they are likely to fail and replacement seems to be the best option.

Simon