[Scary Papa]

A couple of years ago I bought Spirit Halloween's Spitting Werewolf. I have other Spirit props and I have generally been pretty happy wit them. However, this prop never really worked the best as it never spit very well. Now it has quit altogether and also the eyes quit glowing. The movement and audio work great however. Even with the problem the prop is still pretty cool. But since Wicked Grandma says "a werewolf that don't spit ain't worth nothin'" I have to make this thing work. I have opened the pump case and the little pump seems to be working but it simply won't suck the water from the reservoir. I am thinking of using a 12v auto windshield washer pump to fix this problem. I am sure this will work if I only knew how to wire it up. I assume I will need some sort of prop controller like a picoboo and a trigger that will work with the controller. Since I have no experience with prop controllers I just don't know how to do this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here is a photo of the prop.

 

[Cloe]

I have the same problem with mine. Got mine at the day after sale and he never worked. I feel the suction just as you on the tube but when attaching it to the reservoir no spitting. If you get yours working I'd love to know what you did.

 

[J-Man]

I don't own that prop but if the pump is running, it would seem that either the line is clogged or pinched, or the reservoir is at a level too far below the pump and it just can't lift the liquid. Maybe try priming the line or raise the resevoir if possible. Like I said, I don't own this prop so these are just possible solutions.

 

[spookydave]

or it's suckin air somewhere maybe check for tight fittings or a crack in something...

 

[DaveintheGrave]

Maybe the seals in the pump have dry-rotted?

I hooked up a windshield washer pump to my stirring witch one year, but when I wanted her to spit, she all of a sudden did not work. Found out later the cat had chewed up the wires to the pump.

So, I'm sure it would work. Maybe E-bay has those pumps cheap?
If it were me I'd just manually control the squirting with a remote control. But that might not be feasible in your haunted trail. Maybe the new pump could run off the wires from the old pump, as long as it's 12 volts DC.

 

[Scary Papa]

Thanks for the help. Our local Spirit Halloween store is really good about trying to help with issues like this. I spoke with Lou, the manager at our local store. He said he would be happy to help figure it out but I just hate to take it to his house (it is off season you know and the store isn't open again yet. Any way I think I will look at the pump again. I don't think the seals are dry and the pump does seem to be working. It just has never really worked right. I think I will go ahead and try the windshield washer motor. I can't trigger it manually as the werewolves are in Werewolf Hollow deep in the haunted forest so I will have to figure out some way to trigger it.

 

[wackychimp]

If you're looking to trigger it remotely maybe this will help:

http://www.amazon.com/Transmitter-Channel-Relays-Wireless-Control/dp/B00XY60YEY/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1436989519&sr=1-6&keywords=wireless+relay

If you want it to be motion sensitive maybe try one of those driveway alarms that folks around here are modding to trip props.

 

[Scary Papa]

wackychimp....thanks for the info. Unfortunately, This prop needs to be activated with some sort of motion, sound or light sensor as it is a long way into the forest. I have used the driveway alerts a lot...and I mean A LOT! They have really worked great for me. I currently have about 18 of them working with props in the Haunted Forest (check out the tutorial I did on them with a lot of help from my friends here on the forum). I wouldn't have any trouble setting up a driveway alert system to activate the prop if the prop was working properly but I just don't know how to make a driveway alert work with a 12v windshield washer setup for the spitting part. The aggravating part is all the other movements and sounds work great and the prop looks good too. Too bad this is the weak part. There is a video on line that says you have to prime the pump by activating the prop about 30 times, I tried this when I first bought the prop and it finally did spit a little but it never really operated like the one in the store. It is possible the line is clogged but it seemed clear when I checked it. It isn't that big of a deal. I'm just trying to make Wicked Grandma happy and make this darn think spit on people. For some reason Wicked Grandma thinks this is necessary.

 

[J-Man]

As I mentioned earlier, and I don't know if it's possible, try raising the reservior to a higher level. It really sounds as though the pump just doesn't have enough lift to suck the fluid.

 

[Scary Papa]

J-Man..ok now I understand what you meant. Get the water reservoir higher than the pump and let it gravity feed to the pump. I will try that. Sometimes the simple solutions are the best.