# Wiper motor power help needed.



## Systematic Chaos (Sep 7, 2008)

http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/DCM-249/POWERFUL-WINDSHIELD-WIPER-MOTOR/-/1.html

I bought that wiper motor for the stirring cauldron today. Waiting on it to ship. This will be my first prop with movement. I know I need to power it and I know they are nick named wall warts but could someone steer me in the direction of what that would be and which one I need to order? I would need to power that specific one or does it matter.

I don't know that this wiper has different speeds either. So I might have jumped the gun there. I did call Monsterguts and asked them about their power suppliers. So now I need to know, 5 volts or 12 with this Wiper motor. I don't want it moving too fast.


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## ruafraid (Jan 3, 2006)

Most of use use a used PC power supply they can be had for almost nothing from thrown out computers. They have 5V and 12V and a few others. Lots of AMPS to run the wiper motors. You can search the forum as well lots of information out there on this very topic.


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## Dan N (Oct 3, 2008)

Chaos,

I tried doing the same thing and excellent results by using a multi-voltage AC adapter like this one:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7011994&type=product&id=1099392727414

Basically, I cut the adapter end off, stripped the wires, added the proper wire ends, and tapped it into the wiper motors power lines. I can adjust the speed of the motor by changing the output of the adapter. From really slow at the 3v setting to not that bad at the 9v.

Most Walmarts, Circuit Citys, etc. sell these.

Hope this helps!


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## Systematic Chaos (Sep 7, 2008)

I might have to check that out! I'm excited about this prop. Just hope I can get it together.


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## Dan N (Oct 3, 2008)

I'm building a Monster in a Box and and so psyched to get the motor installed!

Fun stuff isn't it!!


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## Severin (Aug 5, 2007)

That motor (From allelectronics) is VERY picky about voltages and speed unless you modify it by removing the circuit board.

Check out the following threads. It will give you all the info you need for hook-ups and modification etc

http://hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=9189&highlight=DCM-249

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=3785


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## Dan N (Oct 3, 2008)

My motor was out of a '90 Nissan Sentra. Could that be why I had it so easy??


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## mem22 (Feb 26, 2007)

Go to monster guts and get the 5volt 5amp power supply, slow enough for your witch. Get the quick connects to connect the power supply to your motor. You should have bought the whole kit from Monsterguts, their stuff is great, shipping is fast and Dean is super.


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## mymania (Jun 12, 2007)

Here's info on how I do it
http://www.my-mania.com/halloween/wipermotor.html


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## Systematic Chaos (Sep 7, 2008)

mem22 said:


> Go to monster guts and get the 5volt 5amp power supply, slow enough for your witch. Get the quick connects to connect the power supply to your motor. You should have bought the whole kit from Monsterguts, their stuff is great, shipping is fast and Dean is super.


I actually did buy the quick connect. The wipers however they were out of.


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## Systematic Chaos (Sep 7, 2008)

Severin said:


> That motor (From allelectronics) is VERY picky about voltages and speed unless you modify it by removing the circuit board.
> 
> Check out the following threads. It will give you all the info you need for hook-ups and modification etc
> 
> ...


Well, I might have screwed up then. I ordered the 12 v power supply. Even if it works correctly I imagine it'll spin way too fast. lol I felt a panic being on a time crunch. Should have done more reading.


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## Systematic Chaos (Sep 7, 2008)

Dan N said:


> Chaos,
> 
> I tried doing the same thing and excellent results by using a multi-voltage AC adapter like this one:
> 
> ...


I might try this. Is it easier then it sounds? I'm not so hot with electronics.

Anyone else have a source for reliable wiper motors?


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## krough (Oct 7, 2004)

A great resource on Wiper motors and how to power them
http://www.scary-terry.com/wipmtr/wipmtr.htm

I typically use a PC power supply if The prop can house the size of it. Freely available and can supply a lot of current. 
http://www.scary-terry.com/atxps/atxps.htm

Also makes a good benchtop DC power source with a bit of modding.
http://www.wikihow.com/Convert-a-Computer-ATX-Power-Supply-to-a-Lab-Power-Supply


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## Dan N (Oct 3, 2008)

Systematic Chaos said:


> I might try this. Is it easier then it sounds? I'm not so hot with electronics.
> 
> Anyone else have a source for reliable wiper motors?


Took me 2 minutes while eating dinner with the wife and kids.. incredibly easy! And I'm not that hot with electronics either.

I picked up my wiper motor from a body shop.. most will have some lying around and they'll thank you for getting them out of their way. Either that, or they will have a few junkers in the back, bring some tools and toss em a six pack after you take it out of the car yourself!


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## haunted1 (Oct 3, 2007)

In my experience, using a AC Converter isn't as effective as using a PC Power Supply. If you're going for a space saver, then use the AC Converter. If you're looking for more power, but willing to sacrifice a little space...then use the PSU. Way more power...and also a bit cheaper.


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## Systematic Chaos (Sep 7, 2008)

*Update. Help needed.*



haunted1 said:


> In my experience, using a AC Converter isn't as effective as using a PC Power Supply. If you're going for a space saver, then use the AC Converter. If you're looking for more power, but willing to sacrifice a little space...then use the PSU. Way more power...and also a bit cheaper.


I'll check into that as well. Being a newbie I need the easiest most reliable way to power this motor. I had boughten a walwart and have been reading and trying to comprehend how to hook it up.

My walwart 12 VDC 5 amps
I bought the easy connect that simply plugs into the walwart. It has two female disconnects on one end. If I'm understanding this I need to take one of those female disconnects and split it into two. How?

What I'm also confused on is do I take the now THREE female disconnects and hook them to the wiper motor plug using the 1,2 and 5 pins? OR do I hook two of the female disconnects to the pins and one to one of the female disconnects ( Now converted to a ring terminal ) to one of the mounting holes on the wiper body itself?

I'm referring to this thread here. As far as the information I have so far. 
http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=12017


Troy said:


> Sorry I can't see the pics here at work what I did was cut the ground wire from my walwart and splice another piece of wire to the one I cut...the other end of the second ground wire I attached to one of the top mounting holes omn the motor (I used hose champs to mount my motor) after doing the above I was able to run this motor as low as 3 amps. 7.5 would cause the stirring to be too fast IMO.
> 
> If you have any other question PM me and maybe I can help you over the phone.


This confused me ( not hard to do I assure you )* " Cut the ground wire from the walwart " * How do I find out which is the ground?

How do I splice them. Do they make some kind of splitter that plugs into the female disconnect?

I guess I'll stop here and wait for some responses before asking more questions. Thanks again.

I'm making this more complicated then it is I'm sure. Just excited and feeling the crunch time. Living payday to payday and buying a little at a time.


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## haunted1 (Oct 3, 2007)

I'm assuming you purchased the universal AC converter ( I can't tell, your post is confusing me...lol ).

If so, all you do I splice the ends of the wire before the female connectors. I chose to do the splice after the connection so I can just unplug it when I dont need it on.

On the wiper motor, you should have 5 wires (some have 4, some have 6...most have 5). I'm not sure what wire leads to what, but if you splice the ends to all of them and test each one, you should find that there is a high speed, low speed, and the reverse motion for each. Test the different connections to find your setting. I've found in most cases a ground wire isn't necessary. This may differ between motors.

Hope this helped.


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## Severin (Aug 5, 2007)

*Systematic:*

I have the allelectronics wiper motor stirring my cauldron. If you'd like, I'll post some pics of my hook up. I'm using a 5V 3.7AMP desktop wallwart (Also for allelectronics) to power it.

A couple of things to note. 12v is going to be fast for a cauldron (as you stated earlier) ...my rough estimate is around 65 rpm. 5v seems just right (17rpm). If you want to use that wiper motor at 5v, you're going to have to pop off the cover and bypass the circuit board and connect directly to the motor. Otherwise it won't budge.

*EDIT*

Forgot one thing. If you bypass the circuit board, you don't need to worry about the ground. You can hook either wire to a motor terminal. Reversing them will just reverse the spin direction of the motor.

If you connect with 12v and circuit board intact, you are going to have to splice your -12v wire and connect it to wiper pins 2 and 5. The +12v wire gets connected to wiper pin 1.

To find the (+) Pos or (-) Neg on your wallwart, you can test with a multimeter. I've also found that a good deal of wallwarts have a wire that is striped or marked with dashes. This is usually the (+) Pos wire, but that might not be the case with all warts.


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## Systematic Chaos (Sep 7, 2008)

ok, thanks a bunch. I'll try bypassing the circuit board. If I do this then I shouldn't need the Voltage adapter right?


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## ststock23 (Oct 20, 2008)

*more wiper motor woes*

I'm running 6 wiper motor props. What's everyone's opinion on the most economical way to power them? They are all slow moving.


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## Systematic Chaos (Sep 7, 2008)

newbie here, but from what I've read I think the computer power supply is best. I just haven't messed with them yet. They are in my future though.


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