Thread: Score! Salvaged motor from the trash!

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A co-worker was throwing out an 16" oscillating fan, as a small plastic piece that holds the fan/motor housing onto the base had broken.

It works fine, and I can either repair it or remove the fan blades and housing to get at the motor - and it's a powerful little thing. It can definitely support a pound or two of weight for making a motion prop!

I was actually going to go to Goodwill this weekend to look for one of these, so how nice that I had one literally fall in my lap for free!

There is a poor man's version of the FCG using a fan like this... I'm going to build the ghost over the weekend hopefully.

I've also seen one used to animate a standing prop dude (werewolf) to turn its head back and forth...

What else could I use this for?

And what kind of glue would be strong enough to repair the broken piece - it's plastic and the motor weighs about 5 pounds and obviously it moves, so I doubt that superglue is going to do the job.

What a great deal , lucky you! don't ya love free!! If you use it for a prop like the werewolf, I wouldn't just put a mask on it, it'll burn up. I had that happen one year! Last year I made a witch with a fan motor just under the shoulders in the chest cavity, then her whole upper torso moved, and the motor lasted two nights fine, , you have to make sure that it gets enough air circulation. I also took the plastic covering off, that gives more air circulation too. Un fortunately I didn't take pictures of my process.But, If I can figure it out any one can!

Good luck! I tried using a fan last year on my electric to make the guy move but it was to heavy it kept jamming. It was a very cool effect when it did work. What can I say I'm new at the whole motor thing, maybe this year I'll figure it out.

Use a strong epoxy to glue the piece. Here's a setup I used a long time ago to oscillate a styrofoam wighead that had a mask on it. This method kept my motor cool and it still works to this day and that was 3 years ago.

I decided to see how far I could dismantle the fan to get at the motor.

I had a 90% success, (removed fan blade and fan protection cage and base and the casing that enclosed the motor) and on top of that I have a motor that spins a complete 360 degree revolution - as I removed the bar that kept it from completing a circle.

It still has some of the plastic casing from the neck of the fan that houses the on/off switch, but it actually allows for 3 speeds, so it's staying put and getting painted black and I'm going to attach a small (heavy paper) fan blade to the original shaft to get a fluttery movement from the FCG. The motor's torque is pretty strong, and could move things much heavier than an FCG, so I'm VERY happy with this. (and a co-worker has offered me another broken based fan, hope she remembers!)

So for no money, I'm going to be able to have a fully functional FCG, NOT a cheapy version, and I didn't have to know a thing about wiring or electrical hookups!!

All I have to do is build a simple frame and the FCG itself now! (and the New Orleans style crypt to house it in)

Guess what I'm doing next weekend?

Dr Moribus, you fan set up is very similar to mineexcept I wanted the whole torso to move, so kept the shoulders connected to the fan, I like the way you do yourbody frame, good idea.
Frankie's girl - make sure you post pics and show how you did it,the process and finished pic!