Thread: Motor for an FCG rig.

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Hello,

Can anyone tell me if this motor would be a good choice for an FCG rig? I know the RPMs are good, but I'm not sure about what other variables I need to consider (how to hook it up to AC power, does the gear need to be a certain type, etc).

I'm new to this stuff, so please assume I'm a complete moron when explaining. Thanks in advance.

Probably would be a good choice, but you will want to know the torque of the motor before using it. I would suggest going to:

Halloween Prop Building Supplies For The Home Haunter - Monster Guts

They have two motors that are cheaper and work great for a FCG rig.

I used their replacement dayton gear motor for mine, and it works great. Check them out before you buy the other motor.

Hope that helps.

Hm, I think Monsterguts' motor is $50 + shipping. This one is $20 shipped. Are you talking about the wiper motors? I thought I needed a fully rotating motor for FCG.

The MG one definitely looks heavier duty with a more solid connection point.

But if you don't see any obvious issues, I'll go ahead and try the ebay one out. If it doesn't work, I have 30 days to return it and I'm just out return shipping.

Thanks for your help.

I have an old rotisserie motor, it's from the 70's I think. Would that be a good one to use? It still works fine.

Originally Posted by Eltis

I thought I needed a fully rotating motor for FCG.

All wiper motors are continuous 360 degrees of rotation. The back and forth action you see on your windshield wiper blades is created by using a crank arm linkage. But the motor is continuously turning in the same direction the whole time.

Originally Posted by mementomori

I have an old rotisserie motor, it's from the 70's I think. Would that be a good one to use? It still works fine.

I've seen a lot of people mention using them, with mixed results. I think those are YMMV, but certainly worth a try.

Originally Posted by Xpendable

All wiper motors are continuous 360 degrees of rotation. The back and forth action you see on your windshield wiper blades is created by using a crank arm linkage. But the motor is continuously turning in the same direction the whole time.

That's really good info. I was actually thinking of buying a wiper motor thinking it would be useful for something like making a corpse convulse on a table, but now I see that the motion would not be the same as I thought.

Still, the lowest speed is 15RPM, so I don't think that would quite work for a FCG.

I'm interested in this.... I'm looking for a motor for my first FCG I'm building myself.... so... yeah. :P

Originally Posted by Eltis

That's really good info. I was actually thinking of buying a wiper motor thinking it would be useful for something like making a corpse convulse on a table, but now I see that the motion would not be the same as I thought.

A wiper motor would be perfect for making a corpse convulse. There's many ways to do it, but the simplest thing you could do is create an irregularly shaped cam wheel out of wood and have the wiper motor turn that. Make it so the cam pushes something that causes the corpse to convulse.

I have a lot of experience with wiper motors and have used one for a FCG before. Here's a video:
http://www.hauntsoft.com/FCGTest3.wmv
This is an earlier video where I was still tuning it. The end of this video shows a closeup of the wiper motor in action:
http://www.hauntsoft.com/FCGTest2.wmv

I have since rebuilt my FCG to use the $49 motor from MonsterGuts.com.

I used a rottisserie motor. Speed is perfect, but you gotta watch the weight. I even rigged up a counter-weight and still had to cut down my ghost to a level that I don't want. I wouldn't use a wiper motor due to the speed. Just way too fast. My motor turns at 4 or 5 RPM.