"Lucas, Prince of the
Intermittent Windsheild Wiper"
or,
How to Make a Real One!
An Article by Ed Esslinger
June, 2002
Page 1
- WHY DO MOST SUNBEAMS HAVE SCRATCHED WINDSHIELDS!
- WE NEED TO INSURE THE WIPER BLADES PARK WHEN THE IGNITION SWITCH IS TURNED OFF!
Let’s say it is raining you turn on your wipers and every thing is OK. Now you park and you forget to turn off your wipers to let them park before you turn off your ignition switch.
When you turn off the ignition switch every thing stops, (If you put on your brakes) including the wipers wherever they happen to be at that time.
Now a few days later the windshield is dry and dirty or worse, the blades are frozen to the windshield. The wipers will start or try to, as soon as the ignition switch is turned on. Even if you turn off the wiper switch before you turn on the ignition switch the wipers will run or try to run to the park position across that dry and dirty windshield, as soon as the ignition switch is turned on!
- WHY WE NEED INTERMITTENT OPERATION!
Another cause of scratching is running the wipers continuously when there is only enough mist to obscure your vision.
I have a fix for these problems, any time the ignition switch is turned off the wipers will go to park, and will not turn on again unless the wiper switch is returned to the off position first.
In this design I have incorporated a circuit that has the ability to give intermittent operation (interval can be adjusted) in place of the slow speed selection of the wiper switch, Normal speed is unaffected.
The circuit fits in a tube 1-1/4”X 4” and can be installed or removed in about 20 min with no cutting or splicing of any wires.
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