Windshield wiper motor to 12 volts

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Jackedup86

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Ive got a problem with my windshield wipers, they only work when the knob is turned fully and they are very slow even then. Its an 85 blazer and its a mud truck, unregistered and never going to see the road again. Question is, can I wire the motor straight to 12 volts through a switch on the dash? Or is straight 12 volts too much for it. I would assume the highest speed on the switch is straight 12 volts anyways. Anyone done this before?
 

chengny

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Speed of the wiper motor is controlled internally by the design of the armature windings. Both the high and low speed windings are supplied with full battery voltage - there is no voltage regulation in the switch.

Before you waste a lot of time adding a switch, I would test the motor by running a jumper straight from the battery to the wiper connectors. 12VDC to the terminal that normally is supplied by the GRAY lead should result in slow speed operation. 12VDC to the PURPLE terminal should run the motor on high speed. That would be the 3 wire plug - not the 2 wire plug.
 
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Jackedup86

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Okay I will test that first. I didn't know the windings were what determines the speed. I figured it was like a blower motor with a resistor block with different resistance values for each speed. I will check the motor first before I do this. So with the three wire if the motor is good I can apply 12 bolts to the wire that controls the high speed and then in theory it will work on high speed all the time?
 

chengny

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Stop - and disregard what I said above.
Do not apply battery voltage to the GRAY/PURPLE terminals. Those leads go to ground.

The way the wipers work is:

The motor always has 12VDC supplied at the common brush and the switch on the column changes which winding gets grounded - and runs the motor. Sorry about the mis-communication.

Yeah - what you suggest above would be the case if you have a grounding problem in both the high & low speed leads. But I wouldn't bet the farm on that being the answer.

More likely you have a mechanical binding issue in the linkage or a motor that is just old and tired.

While the ground from the high/low windings comes out on two different brushes - the armatures share a common brush to provide power. So if the common brush is worn or the commutator is loaded with crap - neither set of windings will run the motor properly.

Permanent magnet motors usually have three brushes, common, low and high speed. Motor speeds are determined by completing the circuit to the low or high speed brush, while the common brush is used at both speeds.


That is how GM describes it. It might be more accurate to say "Motor speeds are determined by completing the circuit FROM the low or high speed brush...


Here, see if these dwgs help at all - I am not very articulate this AM:

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shiftpro

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I found this post through google, not the local search feature. Anyway, I'm starting to connect a few dots.
 

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