# Help with wiper motor power supply



## whitehotdog (Jul 16, 2011)

Hi all
I have made some props using wiper motors and have read on this site I can power them with 12v 5 amp dc power supply . But on uk eBay the cheapest I can find is £17 . So got a 12 v 5 amp ac power supply that costs half the price 
And seem to work fine . Is there any difference apart from the different current . So basically in lay mans terms will the power supply burn out ,will the wiper motor burn out or will it function just the same . 
Thanks in advance


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

See Dean at monsterguts.com...he can handle what you need.


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## whitehotdog (Jul 16, 2011)

Thanks for quick reply but I live in uk so monster gut products go good to me . As when I have paid for item I then have to pay shipping and import duty so works out very expensive .


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## Vlad (Aug 2, 2005)

OK, I'm the worst at electronics, lol, but I can't figure out why it's working at all. I've moved this thread to the tech section where better thoughts than mine can deal with it. I would suggest though that you look for wall warts (power supplies) from some old printer units, they have more than enough ooomph to do the job and are _dead_ cheap.


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

You say 'they seem to work fine' - meaning the power supply puts out voltage ?, or it actually runs the motor? I wouldn't expect the 12 V AC power supply to run a DC motor. You'd need to add at least a full wave bridge rectifier. Though those are generally pretty cheap. You could either buy a complete unit such as:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062583

or make one from four discreet diodes:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electronic/rectbr.html

But the rectifier is driving up the cost and complexity of the 'cheap' AC power supply.

Generally the cheapest source of 12VDC power supplies would be looking around computer salvage/resale places. Either an old ATX power supply from a desktop computer or a cord power supply from a laptop (ie the little plastic 'brick' on the extension cord) Looks like there are some 12VDC / 8A ATX supplies on ebay.co.uk for £10 right now, if you don't need it immediately you could probably knock a few quid off that price.


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## paulcav151 (Nov 15, 2009)

*$8USD shipped*

http://www.buyincoins.com/details/1...-power-supply-acer-benq-aoc-product-1988.html

They come from China, and rather quickly relatively speaking. I bought 5 and they work great.


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## whitehotdog (Jul 16, 2011)

After reading the various threads I have even been and checked the stickers on the power supplies .they say the same as the eBay listing 12v 5 amp ac .. But they do run the motor fine . I just made my first prop a six foot gorilla in a cage that shakes the bars
When you go near and it's quite heavy prop and It works fine . Who knows maybe wrong stickers on supples and they are dc ? . All I was worried about was could it set on fire whilst running . But thankyou all for the advice least now I know where I can source cheap dc power supples for the future .


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

Guess it could be a universal motor which would run on AC or DC. I figured a wiper motor would be a permanent magnet DC motor, but maybe not.

Hard to say without actually seeing the set-up. But I guess as long as nothing is getting terribly hot while running, not much danger of a fire.


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