Wiper wiring - Bare with me... *** UPDATE ***

[oldskoolbug]

Ok, so the wiring harness is in, and I've tested all of the electrical system. Everything works EXCEPT for the wiper motor. Whenever I pull the switch, it pops the fuse. Its a '62 bug converted to 12v with an original 6V SWF wiper. I replaced the stock 6v armature with a 12v unit purchased on cip.

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VWC%2D113%2D955%2D811%2DB

Wiring for single speed, was double checked as per photo below:

Now, as mentioned, whenever I pull the switch, the fuse pops. From doing some research here, seems that the wiper arms cannot ground on the body What about the bolt that holds the wiper motor onto the body. Does the wiper unit ground itself here?

The wiper switch itself, when I pull it, it seems to have two positions, but its wiring would indicate its a single speed. I'm not too familiar with these switches, so I'm a bit ignorant on this subject. Could my switch be faulty, or is this a two speed switch?

Also, is there a way I can test the motor for functionality outside of the car? Thanks!



*********** U P D A T E **************

Ok, problem has been solved. #1 the wiper shafts were grounding on the body due to worn out rubber grommets , and #2 the wiper motor itself wasn't grounding out on the support bracket . Wiper motor NOW works , and yes switch is a single speed unit. It just needed some WD40!

Amazing what a little bit of forum research can do! Still, it never hurts to get a 2nd opinion from TheSamba crowd!

[oldskoolbug]

In the last diagram, it shows the use of two voltage drop resistors. If anyone is looking to do this modification, here is the info you need on the resistors...

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=398182

[EODinert]

I just did a 12v conversion on my wipers, and on mine, the wiring was backwards from the schematic... or at least partially backwards... but I can't tell you what year my new wiper motor is, because I bought it at a junk yard.

For the conversion, I needed an SWF brand, and my '61 came with a Bosch. In my head, I pictured the schematic as looking down on the car from above, but at least for my new SWF motor, the ground was on the opposite side. This caused me some problems, at first, that involved smoke coming out of a pair of clip leads that I was using to jump power to the unit to see if it worked.

The ground on my SWF motor was obviously the ground, as I could see with my calibrated eye ball that the screw terminal was connected to the case of the wiper motor.

I don't know if my '61 motor matched the schematic, or was backwards, because I didn't check when I took it out.

Hope that helps...
_________________
'61 rag top beetle, '73 type 181, '66 13 window deluxe

[oldskoolbug]

[Blue69Baja]

oldskoolbug, I just finished doing a tear down of my 69 wiper gearbox and motor. This is the type motor that has the wire retainer for the cover on the motor, not the round motor.

The motor sounded like it was struggling and the wipers were slow.

I found the gear box to be doing quite well and didn't need anymore grease. I just moved the excess around and that was all.

What I did find, bench running the motor is that the Armature (wheel) was beginning to touch the field magnets. This is caused by bushing wear and the plastic stop where the armature shaft contacts inside the gear box. The slop in the bushing and the plastic stop is actually tolerable but not for the armature. The contact/rubbing makes the armature heat up pretty quick and will finally burn it up.

I used a battery and some alligator test leads to run the motor.

I used a piece of cellophane (thin paper) and found the spots that the armature was rubbing.

Before you take the motor apart wedge some tissue paper between the brush wires and the brush body. Use a dental hook to gently pull the brush away from the communicator, then put the tissue in. This will keep the brushes from popping out...If they pop out....you will need a lot of patience putting them back in.....Believe me I know.

Now use a Moto tool with a grinding wheel and remove some metal from the areas of contact. I had to do it 3 times to get the motor to not contact. I probably didn't remove more than .020....that cured the dragging....whahoo. Be sure and remove the metal dust from the magnets. If they get back to the contact area some binding may occur.

I have no Isolation issues with my assy. The rubber is for sealing and viberation reduction. I confirmed that during bench testing and in the car.

Jim

[EODinert]

Inside my wiper motor, from another forum:

Today I decided to make my wipers work. Actually, I decided to make them work a week ago, and ordered some bits to facilitate that from Wolfsburg West. They recently got some conversion armatures back in stock (after being out of stock for a very long time, from what I understand), to convert your 6 volt SWF wiper motor to 12 volts. Why only the SWF wiper motors can be converted, I don't know, but if you have a Bosch, you have some shopping to do.

I did some reading about the different methods of conversion, and decided that using a 12v armature would be best. My son will be driving this car, and it would be good, should it rain, if the wipers work.

My '61 came with a Bosch. I went to Blair & Sons on Broadway, and got me an SWF for about $30 bucks. It was ugly, but it said 'good' in felt pen on the side. It looked like it had been in a potato sack with a bunch of flywheels bouncing around in the back of a truck. Ok, not that bad, but the aluminum cover is soft, and it bears the scars of its junk yard life. On the inside, it was pretty clean.

It's gotta say this on top:

Here's what I started with: A wiper motor, and an armature.

Open 'er up:

There are only two screws you need to take out to swap armatures. This is one of them. The other one looks just like it, but is on the other side.

Once you have both screws out, you can lift off the brushes.

Take out the old armature, and kick it to the curb. It lifts right out, just give it a tug.

Get the new armature out of the box, and get ready to install it. I was going to say 'put a dab of grease on the gear on the new armature' right now, but I ended up opening up the other side of the wiper motor to change the grease... but if you did put a dab of grease on the drive gear right now, this is what it would look like.

Put the brushes back on, after you put the new armature in. You'll have to spread them a little, just like this:

Put the screws back in.

At this point, I decided that I did not want to count on 50 year old grease to keep my wipers wipin', so I decided to see what I could do on the other side. I took out the four flat head screws on the bottom, on the plate that the arm sticks out of.

It came apart real easy, and nothing fell out and got lost. Nothing was even loose. Normally, when I do something like this, parts shoot across the room, never to be seen again. Not this time.

Crustiness

I busted out a Q-tip, and went to work. This is what came out. Not pretty. Feeling like a smart guy for decided to open this thing up.

After I swabbed it out, it looked a lot like this:

I packed it full of new grease, and put it back together with no surprises. If you look directly left of the hole in the center of the greasy spot, that's the drive gear off the end of the armature...so you can see futility of greasing the gear on the armature during the top half overhaul since you should be taking the gear box apart to replace all of the grease (since it's so easy).

I'd like to finish this with '...and then I put it in my car, and it worked perfectly', but I don't have electricity in my car yet. So, when I get electricity in my car, I'll come back and tell you that it worked perfectly.

Anyway, if your wipers are moving way to fast on your window, and you'd like an option, this really is pretty easy. Way easier than getting the wiper frame assembly in and out of the car, taken apart, and put back together.

Edited to add: I got my car going, and it works great, but the wipers park in the wrong place. For now, I've disconnected the 'parking' wires, and just shut them off when they get near where they need to be (not that it ever rains here, or anything).

I understand I need to de-weld the arm that comes off the bottom, and re-locate it when the wipers are parked... but that's a project for another day.
_________________
'61 rag top beetle, '73 type 181, '66 13 window deluxe

[Blue69Baja]

Now that makes me mad.....I should have taken some pix's for posting...
The 69 motor has 4 brushes!!!! Probably for the 2 speed feature.

I picked up another 2 speed, when I got through it I'll take pix's.

EODinert, very nice post!!!

Jim

[gerg]

Well, six years in the waiting and I have FINALLY completed the first 'in car' electrical test of my restoration.

I had a Bosch 6V motor ( ) so the SWF drop in armature would not work for me. So, I got a '68 two speed motor from a local shop . . .and for one of may reasons, I decided to go single speed in the original housing. So, I opened them both up and dropped the later 12V armature into the 6V housing.

I had to change the drive arm so the small pin matched my linkage components.

Wired up like the middle graphic above and WOOOOHOOOOOOO it works as should be!!!

They park when off, and run fine in either switch position. Single speed of course.

Only snafu was a single E clip came off on the driver's side . . . but that is small potatoes compared to where I was 3 weeks ago

_________________
Gerg

. . . I got 99 problems and my bus ain't one . . .

'65 Sunroof Beetle
'65 Vert
'60 Singlecab

[BUGTHUG]

EODinert, I don't think you have to cut and reposition the arms. I was reading somewhere, I'll try to find it again, where they pulled one of the wires and touched it to another wire and it causes it to park where its suppose to . I was looking to buy a new wiper assey and this company had the whole set up but out of stock, and they explained how to reset the park position by just messing with a wire.
_________________
I know you would understand what I'm saying if you could just see my HANDS
Even the middle of the week says W T F

1963 15 window bus
1966 VW bug
1966 21 window micro bus
1969 Dune Buggy
1965 VW bug
1974 VW bug
1972 Kelmark, VW drive line
1948 Chevrolet Hearse

[gerg]

That is interesting because the park is triggered by a clocked connection on top of the final drive plate where the wire connectors brush as it spins.
_________________
Gerg

. . . I got 99 problems and my bus ain't one . . .

'65 Sunroof Beetle
'65 Vert
'60 Singlecab

[BUGTHUG]

OK ,I just remember were I read that. Its on the Cip-1 site with the new wiper assey they have for sale, its VWC-113-989-955 they have some info at the bottom of the page on how to clock the PARK setting. I hope this is what EODinert was talking about.
_________________
I know you would understand what I'm saying if you could just see my HANDS
Even the middle of the week says W T F

1963 15 window bus
1966 VW bug
1966 21 window micro bus
1969 Dune Buggy
1965 VW bug
1974 VW bug
1972 Kelmark, VW drive line
1948 Chevrolet Hearse

[gerg]

Looks like the drive arm is tapered and you can set it anywhere:

Special Note about setting the stop position: These motors are not pre-set in the park position. The nut that holds the small arm to the shaft sticking out of the motor is not tightened down. These are shipped loose from the factory. The shaft is a tapered fit and the arm needs to be adjusted to the correct position before it can be tightened.



Positioning the motor shut-off: You will need to ground the assembly and then apply power to either terminal 53 or 53b (doesn’t matter which one). Once the motor is working, the power wire needs to be taken off 53 or 53b and put against terminal 53a to make it park and stop. Then tighten the nut and then your done.
_________________
Gerg

. . . I got 99 problems and my bus ain't one . . .

'65 Sunroof Beetle
'65 Vert
'60 Singlecab

[mrmeharry]

I have a 2 speed ( I Think) motor and putting it on a Manx. I have a single toggle switch I'm using and a voltage step-down as well. What is the best way to wire it --there are 3 spade connectors on the motor plus a ground wire. I only need it to run on 1 speed.

Thanks

[Cusser]

[EVfun]

[mrmeharry]

Thank you for the reply.
I have a stepdown unit, do I actually need to add a relay? If so is the relay before the stepdown or on the motor side of the stepdown?

[EVfun]

[mrmeharry]

I can live with not having the park work, So I understand that I DON'T NEED A RELAY, CORRECT ?
Thanks

[mrmeharry]

I just have a SPST switch

[EVfun]