# Black Vent Motor Tutorial (Part 2)



## SavageEye (Aug 30, 2010)

Thanks Dave! This helps a lot...


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## cinders (Oct 12, 2003)

Dave, thanks for this great tutorial! I love the step-by-step pictures in this and the first part. I have several of these motors but never actually brought a project to completion with them. I had started working on the tombstone peeper a couple years ago, and remember that it was really difficult to solder the wires with the motor case on. This way seems much easier.


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Thanks SavageEye and Cinders!

Yea, like I said I used to solder the wires straight to the gold pins, but it was a big pain and I always ended up with the wires not adhering properly. They would eventually just come off, like they were just glued on.

I hope you can finally complete your project, Cinders!


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## halloween71 (Apr 22, 2007)

Thank you so much for writing this up!!!


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

I love these gear motors & use them in several of my home made animated props. Most notably, my wall breaker (Here's Johnny's design), and my floating lantern. Tbh, I wish there were a wider range of ultra low rpm gearmotors near the price range of these. At $50+ for the Dayton styles, they eat into the budget pretty quickly. Unfortunately, there just aren't many alternatives.


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## jnelson217 (Oct 1, 2008)

Are there any voltage or current limit ranges on the power adapters for these motors. I just ordered 5 of them


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

I'm not really sure. I always use the 12 volt AC/DC adapters, rated anywhere from 100 milliamps up to one amp.
Mostly I use the ones rated at 500 milliamps.


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## madmax (Dec 28, 2003)

jnelson217 said:


> Are there any voltage or current limit ranges on the power adapters for these motors. I just ordered 5 of them



I burn one out by using a 30vdc power supply It ran for 15 minutes and stopped. 

I used the following power supplies with out any problems (volts lower than 11 or 12 will slow the rpm down)

7vdc

9vcd

11vdc

12vdc

17vdc

As far as amps goes I used power supplies with 300ma up to 6 amps without any problems. The motor calls for a 12vdc, 400ma power supply but remember that the most it's going to pull is what it's rated for......400ma. Even if your power supply can put out 6 amps the motor will only draw as much as it needs.


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

I'm going to guess the intended limitation on voltage is around 15 VDC. As the original applications will see 14.4 to 15 VDC dependent on how good the voltage regulator in the alternator is. Many companies market them as 5 rpm motors, which would likely be at 14.4 V (nominal alternator output voltage). It would be interesting to see if how much voltage they can actually take. 

I've always ran mine on a 500 ma or higher rated transformer w/ no problems.


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## robalex32 (Aug 24, 2010)

I used them with many powertools batteries,from 9v to 14.4volts,but with the 9v gives the slowest motion and power for the skull behind the tombstone.


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Yea, even a regular 9 volt battery will power this motor.


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## loach160 (May 4, 2010)

for 2 days 24/7


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## Cryptorchild (Sep 9, 2009)

*AC/DC Adapter*

What type of AC/DC adapter did you use?


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## MadDog (Oct 13, 2003)

I hooked mine up to a 12vdc 500ma


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## Runfromron (Aug 29, 2005)

Just one note:

If you run the motor CCW, it will tighten rather than loosen the bolt over time.

JMHO.

Ron


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

I normally add a 1/4" lock washer to the crank screw to keep it tight on the motor shaft.
I haven't had one come loose yet.


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## robalex32 (Aug 24, 2010)

Where do you think, are the cheapest ones to buy?


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Well, I'm not sure. It used to be Surplus Center for $2.99. 
I always bought mine from Electronic Goldmine on sale for $3.95 (reg. $7.95), but now I hear they are sold out, too.
I don't know who else might have it. Strange they disappeared all of a sudden.


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

I just bought the rest of the parts to start another vent motor project myself. Just waiting on my new order of motors to arrive sometime next week.


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## robalex32 (Aug 24, 2010)

All Electronics have them for $9.99.Way too much.
Where did you get yours from Raven's Hollow Cemetary?


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## Xane (Oct 13, 2010)

American Science at sciplus.com has them for $7.95, that's the lowest I've seen


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

Xane said:


> American Science at sciplus.com has them for $7.95, that's the lowest I've seen


Yeah, that's where I got my latest order. Considering that someone (in all likely hood a commercial interest) is buying them all out whenever a lead is posted though, it might have been better a better idea to pm the info to people. Rather than posting it in the general forum. :S


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## Xane (Oct 13, 2010)

I actually think *they're* the ones who bought them all out. I thought you all were talking about secret sources to still get them at $3-4 apiece. SciPlus does this all the time, there's tons of stuff on their website where the description is "we're not sure what this is really used for, but we found a great deal on a bunch of them and are sending the "savings" onto you", where the "savings" is nothing but pure profit for them.


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

That wouldn't surprise me a bit Xane. It does seem a little suspect that they're nearly one of the last to have stock. I'm on their (e)mailing list, so it's no shock to me...their markup is very high on many things. On others though, they're very reasonable.

Even still, considering that the only alternate sources are even more expensive, and auto parts stores... You want to talk markup? How about 10 x the markup @ an auto parts suppliers-vs.-what we were buying them at Surplus Center for. No, that's not an exaggeration at all :/ That one (auto parts retailers) makes even A.S.& S. look like a bargain. Buying used rotisseries for the motors, and undervolting them, is starting to look like a better option. The rotisserie motors aren't quite Dayton quality, but very close considering the price differences.

I'm hoping MadMax lets us in on this new gear motor find that he's testing currently, in pretty short order. Because I've not found anything for an inexpensive substitute as of yet, and buying one for the old price of two, is going to wear thin pretty quickly.


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

I browse American Science and Surplus quite often and I know I've seen the vent motor on their site for quite some time.
Maybe even for a couple of years.
Not that they weren't the ones who bought out Surplus Center's supply, I just know they've carried this same motor for a long time.


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## Death Wraith (Aug 31, 2005)

Agreeing on the vent motor comments. I had bought 6 a few years ago @ $3 a piece. Never used them, found them stashed in a drawer in my workshop. Seeing this tut made me want to put them to use and pick up some more. Now they're sold out/over priced. Same thing on eBay will go for $25+ each. Agreed that A.S.S. is waaay marked up on a lot of stuff. Sad to see another haunters bargain that has gone away. Anybody remember Odd Lots Bluckys for $6 retail? Now they're $16???


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

I've seen them there for years too Dave, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were buying up the remaining inventories to keep stock, is what I was saying. We were thinking the same, just worded it differently.  

I remember them Wraith, along w/ the Talking Douglas Fir's & Borris's that used to be prime hacking material for dirt cheap compared to the new props. This is unfortunately what happens when something gets to popular. It gets super commercialized by people seeing $$$ signs, and they nearly take the fun right out of it. Prime examples being Christmas, and even the pro end of the haunt industry. Just to clarify, I don't mind people being in business. I just find it offensive when we the consumer, starts being gouged heavily. That feeling extends to every industry in my eyes. People...(don't say corps, because it's people behind those labels of corporation) taking advantage of others just irks me to no end. Being a small business owner, it offends me just as much as from the point of view of me as the consumer. Lol! Problem is, because of my philosophy in that respect, I'll never be rich. But oh well, at least I have a clear conscience!


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Yea, I guess I made the mistake of thinking those motors would be around forever. At least the AFFORDABLE ones.


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

I really don't think they're going to make any money even doubling their money. They could have got a better price if they bought out Surplus Center's entire inventory, but I still think they would have to sell them for a lot more than they are to make it worthwhile.


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## Coalburner (Sep 9, 2011)

*12vdc mirror adjuster mechanism*

Take a look at these.. They may be a useable??
12VDC MIRROR ADJUSTER MECHANISM

http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/DCM-273/12VDC-MIRROR-ADJUSTER-MECHANISM/1.html


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## T.Bennett (Aug 28, 2011)

My vent motors just came in from Sciplus...so I havent had a chance to work with them yet, but the ones in the previous post definitely look like they could work....


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## madmax (Dec 28, 2003)

I have a couple of those motors on the way...

The places to get the vent motor just took another hit

American Science and Surplus is OUT OF STOCK ...seems like everytime I buy a shipment of the motors that place goes out of stock  (not me I only bought 10)

One more place to get the motors...I just ordered 40 motors and I hope that gets me through Halloween...along with the 10 I ordered from American Science and Surplus (which are spoken for)


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## billman (May 1, 2006)

Wow, whoever is buying them up is spending a ton of money!


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Coalburner said:


> Take a look at these.. They may be a useable??
> 12VDC MIRROR ADJUSTER MECHANISM
> 
> http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/DCM-273/12VDC-MIRROR-ADJUSTER-MECHANISM/1.html


I wouldn't think those could be a replacement for the vent motor. It looks like that mechanism just raises and lowers a 4 in. platform.


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

madmax said:


> I have a couple of those motors on the way...
> 
> The places to get the vent motor just took another hit
> 
> ...



I knew that was gonna happen as soon as I saw someone posting the link to AS&S


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## Woodsy (Sep 20, 2013)

Has anybody found these anywhere in 2013 ? I am a newbie but LOVE this idea . Thanks.


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

I haven't found these anywhere, but if you look in the "For Sale by Merchants" category on this forum you'll see where a member is selling a different version of the vent motor. 
Supposedly these work just as good as the old one.


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## Woodsy (Sep 20, 2013)

Thanks as a newbie I am overwhelmed by the amount of ideas I have found so far. It seems just like technology , things change very fast !


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Glad to have you on board. Feel free to PM me anytime if you have any questions about anything!
I'd be happy to help.


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## SLAM (Sep 16, 2012)

Hey Dave, where's part 1? I can't seem to find it... Of course I may be blind....


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## daddywoofdawg (Aug 26, 2012)

second that


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## jpbaily1 (Sep 21, 2009)

SLAM said:


> Hey Dave, where's part 1? I can't seem to find it... Of course I may be blind....


Slam:

Here is the original post which has part one in it. http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutorials-step-step/105063-breathing-grave-how.html


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Let me see if I can find it again.


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutorials-step-step/105127-black-vent-motor-tutorial-part-1-a.html


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Thanks for finding that, Screaming Demons !!

I can't keep track of my tuts !


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## Jottle (Aug 17, 2006)

I'm trying to make this prop this month, does anyone have a new source for the vent motors? Sold out or discontinued everywhere. Thanks for looking Dave!


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

Jottle said:


> I'm trying to make this prop this month, does anyone have a new source for the vent motors? Sold out or discontinued everywhere. Thanks for looking Dave!


http://www.halloweenforum.com/sale-merchants/129832-12vdc-new-vent-motor-sale.html


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