# HELP! Newbie attempting to use wiper motor or the like.



## Hauntedholiday (Jan 25, 2018)

Hello Haunters!

I am trying to simply have some "arms" move up and down on a motor that will be hanging on the front of my home this year. I need something to simply pull up and down or rotate on a small arm all the way around slowly [maybe 10 or so RPM highest]

I need the motor to:

-Mount easily
-Slow or controlled RPM
-Bracket or arm? [Tried reindeer motors and was either too weak or got caught on the arm and tangled up!]
-Plug in to power as to turn on and off with rest of the display.

I'm not good at soldering and this will also be outdoors. If ANYONE can lend me a hand here or point me to a ready-made solution, I would be forever grateful. Thank you!!

~Steve


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

Monster Guts stocks a wiper motor kit with everything except the mounting brackets - http://www.monsterguts.com/store/product.php?productid=17761&cat=3&page=1
You can use hose clamps to easily and cheaply connect to the front of the body. You want to replace the stock arm with a longer one but that can be made from a piece of aluminum.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

I'd seriously look at a bbq rotisserie motor. It can run for hours with no issues of overheating, ti's made to rotate completely, unlike a wiper motor, and it's, normally, extremely quiet. No soldering required.


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## toozie21 (Aug 23, 2012)

fontgeek said:


> I'd seriously look at a bbq rotisserie motor. It can run for hours with no issues of overheating, ti's made to rotate completely, unlike a wiper motor, and it's, normally, extremely quiet. No soldering required.


My only argument is that wiper motors turn 360 degrees as well. Since they are DC, you can speed them up or slow them down based on the voltage input and they have amazing torque. I use them in a bunch or Christmas props and they haven't let me down yet.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk


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## greenjeep79 (Jul 18, 2018)

monster guts kit is very good for stuff like this, or I have used microwave motors for things that slowly rotate and they are AC not DC


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## Batbuddy (Sep 3, 2014)

Rock Auto is an online auto parts store and You can get a wiper motor from there as well.


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## bfjou812 (Aug 15, 2008)

greenjeep79 said:


> monster guts kit is very good for stuff like this, or I have used microwave motors for things that slowly rotate and they are AC not DC


Microwave motors? I 've heard of some people using them, but I never thought they had much torque. Do they ? I'm asking because I'm curious...........


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## Cephus (Sep 10, 2018)

bfjou812 said:


> Microwave motors? I 've heard of some people using them, but I never thought they had much torque. Do they ? I'm asking because I'm curious...........


They don't have a ton of torque, they are similar in characteristic to reindeer motors, but if the OP is dealing with light-weight arms, they might work.


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## Thisaintmayberry (Aug 23, 2010)

You can always sling a counter-weight into the linkage too. I like to do that to smooth out the glide on my FCG.


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

I did a tutorial video on getting started animating props with motors you might find helpful.


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