Making a windshield wiper delay circuit

I have cobbled together a delay circuit for the non-park feature windshield wiper on my MS Pilot II. This design applies only to wiper switches which interrupt a SINGLE 12-volt power wire going to the wiper motor.

Parts I used:
Spade connector expander for the panel Carling rocker switch at the helm - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0071NCJ44/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

6 mm universal joints - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R482X86/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Brass knob - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07122JS83/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Push on/off button - https://tinyurl.com/y87aseef

Plastic box to contain circuit board - https://tinyurl.com/y8olunk2

Delay circuit board - https://tinyurl.com/y77f9p3u

6mm brass rod

Below is what it looks like ready to be installed on my boat. All connections on the back of my wiper motor switch (Carling lighted rocker) are spade type, and no existing wires were required to be cut or modified. Only two small holes in the console are required for the installation. The box can be wire tied or glued into place behind the console.

The push on/off switch is required in the wire between the normally closed contact on the circuit board and where that wire ties into the normally open wire and the power wire heading out to the wiper motor to enable switching between delay wipes and continuous wiping action.

The roughly one-second time for the wipe is not controllable on this circuit board which for my motor means a single wipe from one side to the other PLUS a bit. Without a park feature, the wiper never ends up in the same place; so if this would bother you, this circuit is not for you, and you need to go to the very expensive solution of ripping out your non-park motor and install one with that feature. However, for me, it eliminates me having to have my hand on the switch all the time when conditions required an occasional swipe (often the case on this wet riding boat).

The links take me to my Amazon account page. Hmm, maybe it's an Apple thing.
I wanted to check out the delay circuit. Whenever I need to do something like that I use
an octal-base(!) industrial timer relay. They are convenient but kind of bulky in comparison.

KnotYet said:

The links take me to my Amazon account page. Hmm, maybe it's an Apple thing.
I wanted to check out the delay circuit. Whenever I need to do something like that I use
an octal-base(!) industrial timer relay. They are convenient but kind of bulky in comparison.

Click to expand...

I checked them on Win 10 on Preview and all was well with the first two. However, the rest are as you say.

Here is the push on/off button https://tinyurl.com/yarjrcwy

Here is the circuit board MaxxTronic MXAO41 https://tinyurl.com/y7qhk6wk

The plastic box is just any old box that will fit a 2.5 by 2 inch cicuit card with 0.8 inch depth.

Sorry for the bad links.

I like it! When I put in self parking wipers over the winter this year, I put in a on-off-(on) switch, so you can hit the momentary position briefly as a "wipe once". Much better than the switch flipping game with the old on/off switches and non-parking wipers.

For my particular installation, with a lighted Carling rocker switch, the installation is easy because you have a convenient 12-volt and ground source for the circuit board power at the back of the switch - just tee off and run the wires to the CB. The single power wire running off to the motor is pulled from its spade connection on the Carling switch, and the delay CB's common terminal is then connected to the now vacant motor power spade on the Carling switch. The N.O. and N.C. terminals of the CB are connected to the disconnected end of the power wire to the motor, with the N.C. terminal of the delay CB running through the push on/off switch. In operation, the Carling switch is pushed on acting sort of like a circuit breaker, and the delay knob has to be turned past the off detent to "on" (if it was not left twisted on the last time the wiper was run). Delayed wiper action ensues. If the windshield gets so much water on it that continuous wiper action is needed, the push button is pressed. It is a bit Rube Goldberg-ish but it is the only way short of major surgery replacing the wiper motors that I can get what I need.

Hi Rich.. I’d like to use this mod on my 34’ Pilot since it rides wet quite often in Nantucket Sound. I understand the wiring plan buTneed further info on the 6mm universal joints and how they are used.
Thanks for the help.
Jeff G
Mainship 34 Pilot
Jubilant

Jeff, I had intended to mount the CB box with its protruding on/off-rheostat knob at a distance and somewhat off angle from the hole I was going to drill in the console next to the wiper Carling rocker switch, but there was no room. The universal joint would have been handy doing that; however; I ended up having to use a simple 6mm coupler (I got on Amazon) between the switch and the knurled brass knob (6mm bore with set screw) on the console face. The switch box is pushed up flush with the back side of the console. The hole is drilled out big enough to accommodate the coupler, and a piece of 6mm brass rod connects between the knurled knob to the coupler. There is enough interference back behind the console to hold the box in place as the knob is twisted to turn on the delay and adjust the amount of time for the delay. Here in the top photo you see the knurled Delay Time knob on top and the Delay/Constant push button below alongside the Wiper Carling switch. Below shows these add-ons infull context - my console is getting to look like to cockpit of an airliner!

Wiper delay

Thank you Rich... Am I correct in assuming you’d need another unit for the port wiper?
Also to be clear... operating sequence is as follows...
1- Turn on rocker
2- Flip on on/off switch
3- Adjust time delay

Thanks for sharing this..
Best,
Jeff

Jeffg47 said:

Thank you Rich... Am I correct in assuming you’d need another unit for the port wiper?
Also to be clear... operating sequence is as follows...
1- Turn on rocker
2- Flip on on/off switch
3- Adjust time delay

Thanks for sharing this..
Best,
Jeff

Click to expand...

You are correct, but the admiral doesn't need to have a delayed wiper on her side - she never looks up from her danged phone. However, you could run them both off the one control by just moving the power lead from the port wiper from its Carling switch and joining it to the stdb lead. OR put in an on/off switch connecting the two Carling switches and by having the port Carling switch off and the stbd switch on, you delay both wipers. With switch off and both Carling rockers on, you get delay stbd and no delay port. How many switches do you want is the question.

With my initial condition, you start off with Carling rocker off, Delay Time turned to off, and the push button in either delay or constant (I never know where I left it). I suppose I could have used an on-off toggle switch which could have been labeled Constant on one side and Delay on the other, but a push button arrangement was more to my liking and seemingly easier to operate without looking down (more on that below).

If you roll the Carling to on from my initial condition, you get either no-action or constant depending upon which position the push button was last left in. If you then wish to have delay, you twist the Delay knob to on and set the delay time (more delay by continuing to twist the knob). If you want to go from either the delayed wipe or no-action to constant wipe, press the button. Voila! In on-again/off-again light spray conditions, just leave the delay time set and use the Carling switch from on to off to on to get back and forth from no-action to your desired delay. If it is alternating from pesky spray to a lot of it, leave the Carling switch and delay timer on and alternate between delay and constant with the push button.