Best way to power a wiper motor prop?

[charlie]

I am working on building a coffin banger and am having trouble deciding which method to use to power the motor. I would like it to be safe and reliable. I would also like some sort of way to switch it on and off from behind the scenes. I have been reading on scary terry and he doesn't really say what the best method to power a motor is, he also doesn't say how many watts a computer power supply should be to effectively power the motor.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Charlie

[airscapes]

I did this a few years ago and it has been working good ever since. I use a small 6 amp car battery charger pluged into a motion sensor extention cord. This is just an addon motion sensor you buy at the home store in a box with a receptical hooked to an extention cord. I set the motion senesor to test and when people walk up the coffin thumps a few times and stops. I also have a strobe light in the coffin hooked to the same extention cord.. coffin lid thumps and storbe goes of.. very cool but anoying after a while :googly:

[NickG]

I picked up some pc power supplies from mjpa.com for $10 each, just make sure they're rated for at least 5 amps @ 12v.

you can also use LCD monitor power supplies - that's what monsterguts.com sells to use with wiper motors.

I also have a 12v power supply that came with a little fridge you can keep in your cubicle or use in the car... that ran my torso crawler fine last year.

[Stiff Kitten]

I also use a battery charger it runs a couple of props.Two of them are outside.I live on a very busy street and I want the props to go on and off randomly.I use my christmas lights outlet controller that goes on at dusk(light sensor).With a night light tied to it so when the outlet turns on so does the night light which make the outlet turn off again.And it just keep turning on and off every couple minutes.I also keep all of that stuff inside the house to keep it all dry.

[UnderMan]

You could use a wall wart rated for 12v, but it has to be rated over 1A. I have a 1.5A wall wart to animate a witch's head and it works perfectly, doesn't even get hot, so I know the current is fine. I slow down the wiper motor to control the speed of the back and forth movement, otherwise she looks psycho.

[Gothic Nightmare]

I use 5 pc power supplies ala scary terry. Each power supply is different, but they all have a lower amp 12v output, and a highter amp 12v output. 5 amps is a good all around number, but if there is a lot of resistance or drag on the motor it can pull a lot more amps than that. I have one power supply with a 30amp 12v output. I haven't needed that yet. Wiper motors will turn using the 5v outputs as well, just a lot slower. That's one way to control speed.

[michael myers]

I use a 12v 15a Radio Shack power supply. It was a little pricey @ $90, but I can control 6 different wiper motors, not to mention the Christmas deco. that I use it for. I went ahead and bought this, cause by the time you start adding up the price of getting an individual power supply for each prop, you get the picture...and, I get to use it throughout the year with my J-O-B (can't say that its work, because I really do enjoy the towing business) testing used auto electrical parts before I buy-you know the sign..."No refund or exchange on electrical parts".

[Death Wraith]

I've hacked PC power supplies for my motors. Scary Terry's site links you to another site that has good info on doing it. On my supplies a use the 12v 5v and 3.3v wires for different speeds. The 3.3v runs my wiper motor right around 8RPM which is great for my FCG! 5v runs a motor for my stirring cauldron at just the right speed. Depending on the wattage of the power supply you should have plenty of amps to go around.

DW

[Eon]

Check monsterguts.com for both 12v and 5v power supplies that are designed for running wiper motors. They also have connectors available that make hooking up to the motors a snap. I used a PC power supply last year. It worked okay, but wasn't as reliable as I'd like. If you live on the east coast, you might still be able to get an order before Halloween. I've always received my orders from them in 1-2 days.