# Help with motor controller



## Cloe (Mar 18, 2013)

Part 1
I have 2 wiper motors from Monster Guts that I'm trying to slow down. One I've used in my skeleton leerer for a few years and another I bought awhile back along with their controller to use for a cauldron creep. Both motors also were bought with the quick connect. Never got around to finishing my creep so I thought I would use that motor this year for a Pirate helm. When I first got the motor/controller for the creep my son connected it, worked fine and was put aside. I also purchased one of the motor controllers on ebay hoping to slow my leering movement down as it's always giving me trouble halfway through the night every Halloween.


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## Cloe (Mar 18, 2013)

Part 2
Tested the creep motor a few days ago and still was fine. I was hoping to duplicate the wiring with the e-bay motor but was unsure where to splice with the quick connect. Thinking I'm just going to switch the monster guts controller to the leerer motor for now, I tried to duplicate the connection and now I can't get the fricken thing to work on either motor and my son is out of town for a month. I've posted pics of the one motor with the pink that is on the monster guts controller and the plug with the red connectors are to the 2nd motor I'm hoping to splice the e-bay one to below. If anyone can help me figure out what I'm doing wrong here I'd be extremely grateful. Or any ideas for splicing the ebay controller (the larger one) would be appreciated too. Thanks.


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## Cloe (Mar 18, 2013)

Here's the pics:


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## Diabolik (Apr 10, 2006)

Hi Cloe, You should have no trouble using the eBay controller with your motors. If you look on the underside of the controller, it should be marked something like Motor - + and Power - + . If you then cut your quick connector (with the Red plugs) you should be able to splice that right to your controller. The side of the splice coming from the power supply will go to ( Power - + ) Not sure if you have a meter and can determine which wire is positive and which is negative or not? Anyways, take the other piece of wire that connects to your motor and connect that to the Motor - + terminals. Connect the other end with the red plugs to your motor. I can draw you a sketch if it will help.


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## Cloe (Mar 18, 2013)

Thanks so much for responding. I probably should just stick with static things when my knowledge of electronics is so bad. Rather than bother you again I took the parts up to Radio Shack and asked the guy there for help. He directed and sold me parts and I tried to connect them per his suggestions. It didn't work. As far as the pre-wired kit I bought with the speed controller I have connected in the above photos. Does it look like it's connected right? I'm wondering if I killed it by wrong connections. The wiper motor is working when I plug it in but the speed controller isn't. Below is a pic of the guy at Radio Shack's parts and advice for connecting the e-bay speed controller. Can you tell what might be wrong here?


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## Diabolik (Apr 10, 2006)

Have you tried reversing the two wires on the speed controller that are coming from the plug (power supply) you might have the polarity wrong. It looks right otherwise.


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## Diabolik (Apr 10, 2006)

I am assuming that on the bottom of the speed controller it says POWER - + under those 2 screws? All of the speed controllers I have used like that are exactly the same.


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## notoriouskelly (Jul 5, 2015)

Agreed with Diabolik- I have that exact controller and you have the proper side for input power- try reversing the wires there.

If that doesn't work, try reversing the motor wires.

I have miswired those controllers without damaging them but you never know- it might have arrived defective.

If that transformer will run the motor directly, it should be good. I have transformers that don't have enough ummph to run one motor but will work on another so I started buying 10 Amp power supplies.

OOPS- 1 more thing- there is a fuse on the right there that could be blown. Be sure to check that. You can usually visually verify that it is good but to be positive someone with a multimeter can check it.


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## Cloe (Mar 18, 2013)

I have 2 motors both with the power pack that was ordered with them from Monsterguts. One motor has been in use for a few years and I bought the speed controller off e-bay this year to slow it down. (Yes, it does say motor +/- on it). The other I purchased as a kit with the speed controller and power pack. The latter was working till I took it apart and tried connecting it to the older motor. After reconnecting it the motor runs but the speed controller no longer has any effect. Same thing when I connect it to either motor. I tried connecting the e-bay speed controller as shown in my 2nd set of photos but I can't get it to work at all. I tried doing the crimp connectors over again in case that was the problem and have moved the wires in all combinations but nothing. No power to motor at all. I have noticed that 1 of my power packs quick connects seems to have a loose connection at the quick connect though as wiggling it effects the speed and connection. I've went back and forth with both motors , power packs, and both speed controllers with no success. Super frustrated here and contemplating switching up my leerer to a reindeer motor.


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## J-Man (Feb 1, 2011)

There are some components on that PWM controller that can be damaged if the power supply polarity is not correct. By using that barrel connector for the power supply, you could have unknowingly had the polarity wrong. If the motors run without the speed controller, it's fairly safe to say that the controller is problem. Hard to say from here if the controller is damaged but it does sound like it is. Switching the motor leads on the controller won't do any harm, it just changes the motor rotation. Incorrect power supply connections to the controller is another story.


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

Cloe, that ebay motor controller will work great. I have used these motor controller on wiper motors on several of my animated props with no problems. Below is a photo of the one I use. I like this one because it is in a case and while not completely waterproof it does help protect the controller's electronics. This controller also has a wiring diagram right on the case to show how to wire it up.


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## Cloe (Mar 18, 2013)

Thanks all. I was afraid I may have fried them. Thinking maybe I better replace them just in case since the shipping takes so long. Might be wrong but I'm thinking the one I bought off e-bay came from Hong Kong. Scary Papa where did you get the ones you use?


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

Cloe, I get the ones I use from ebay. They come from China. I have never had any problems with them and they arrive pretty quickly. Just be sure to wire them up according to the wiring diagram. I did fry one when I hooked the leads backwards to the 12v battery I was using. I had the wiring correct from the controller to the motor but I hooked the leads to the battery wrong. I put the positive controller lead to the negative on the battery and the negative controller lead to the positive on the battery. When I turned the controller on it fried. Here is the link to the motor controller I buy.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PWM-DC-Moto...758?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6d641546


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## J-Man (Feb 1, 2011)

If you do a search on ebay for PWM DC MOTOR CONTROLLER you'll find some US suppliers for about 6 or 7 bucks each including shipping.


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

Cloe,

Here is how I hook up my motor controller to a wiper motor.

First here is the motor controller I have. It has 3 wires, red, black and blue.









On the back of the motor controller there is a label with pretty straightforward instructions.









I like to put plugs on the ends of the motor controller wires so I can plug them in or remove them if I need to change the motor controller or use it for something else. So you will need some stuff.

The motor controller, a couple pieces of small gauge red insulated wire, wire crimpers, wire strippers, and 4 end connectors and one splice connector.









Now strip the insulation off the end of the motor controller black wire and crimp on the connector. I used a female connector because I have male connectors attached to the wires from my wiper motor.









Now in the same way attach a connector to the blue wire on the motor controller.

Now comes the only tricky part. (Not really tricky. I just said that to make you think there is some really hard thing to do to make this work.) You need to attach 2 wires to the red wire on the motor controller. One to go to the wiper motor and the other to go to the positive side of the battery. To do this strip the insulation from the end of the red wire coming from the motor controller case. Also strip the insulation from one end of the short piece of red wire. Now twist the two bare wire ends together and slide them into one end of the splice connector and crimp them tightly.









Take the other short piece of red wire and strip the insulation off one end. Twist the bare end and insert it into the open end of the splice connector. Now crimp this wire tightly in the connector. Now crimp connectors on the free ends of the 2 red wires. You should now have 3 red wires crimped together.









Your completed motor controller hookup should look like this.









Now to connect the motor controller to your wiper motor all you have to do is connect the red wire from the motor controller to one wire from the wiper motor and the blue wire from the motor controller to the other lead from the wiper motor.

















The remaining red wire goes to the 12v batter or other 12v power source positive side and the remaining black wire goes to the 12v power source negative side. Do not get these 2 wires mixed up or you will fry your motor controller. I speak from experience.

If your wiper motor is not turning in the direction you that want you can change the direction of rotation by simply swaping the connections from the motor controller to the wiper motor.









Just be sure to switch the connections to the motor and NOT the connections to the 12v power source. You ALWAYS want the red wire from the motor controller to connect to the positive side of the 12v power source and the black wire from the motor controller to connect to the negative side of the power source.

By the way...I always connect my lead wires on the wiper motor to the high speed connections. If you want the motor to run more slowly well, that is what the motor controller is for.

Creepy creations has a great tutorial on wiper motors. You should check this out.

I hope this helps.


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## jbaum (Feb 18, 2011)

I had some problems with my PWM using the 5 volt 5 amp power supplies. My PWM was rated at 12-40 Volts. When I hooked it up to a 12 volt power supply everything worked great and I can get some real slow speeds. You need to be careful with the positive and negative for the PWM as it will damage them.


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