Intermittent wiper

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steviewonder7
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Intermittent wiper

Post by steviewonder7 »

Hi all,
Just out of curiosity,has anyone made a modification to their intermittent wiper function.Have you noticed on older models of the xantia(and maybe other models)that the 'interval' for the intermittent wiper is a fixed time period.
I was wondering if there was a modification to fit a variable control to the dashboard so as to vary the 'interval'for for the intermittent wipers?This means modifying the intermittent relay I believe.
Has anyone by chance managed to accomplish this and wish to share their experience on the matter?
OR... do the later Xantae(or other model citroen's)already have this facility fitted as standard and could the 'gubbings' be tranfered to my Xantia without too much trouble?
Thanks for any replies..Stevie
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born2die
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Post by born2die »

dont know about moving the gubbins over but the activa I have has them fitted as standard
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Mandrake
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Post by Mandrake »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by steviewonder7</i>

Hi all,
Just out of curiosity,has anyone made a modification to their intermittent wiper function.Have you noticed on older models of the xantia(and maybe other models)that the 'interval' for the intermittent wiper is a fixed time period.
I was wondering if there was a modification to fit a variable control to the dashboard so as to vary the 'interval'for for the intermittent wipers?This means modifying the intermittent relay I believe.
Has anyone by chance managed to accomplish this and wish to share their experience on the matter?
OR... do the later Xantae(or other model citroen's)already have this facility fitted as standard and could the 'gubbings' be tranfered to my Xantia without too much trouble?
Thanks for any replies..Stevie
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Hi Stevie,
My 1997 VSX has the variable intermitant wiper as standard - while my Dad's 1994 SX does not. I think its a standard feature of the VSX and above.
The intermitant delay knob on mine is located part way up the stalk where the rear wiper switch is on my Dad's car, while the rear wiper switch on mine is moved to the end of the stalk, which is a dummy position on Dad's car.
So the stalk itself is obviously different, but I don't know how much of the control system would need to be swapped over (if any) to perform an "upgrade" though...
Regards,
Simon
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Post by dnsey »

I haven't looked, but I'm sure that you could replace the timing resistor in the control relay with a potentiometer, which could then be mounted somewhere convenient.
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Post by czenda »

Yes, it can be done, but I doubt it is worth the effort.
The "cleanest" way seems to use the VSX stalk described by Mandrake, which IMHO has the potentiometer already built-in. Then, I imagine, one would have to find a way to get the variable resistance to the control unit and replace a fixed-value resistor in the unit with the wires from the potentiometer.
Or, if aesthetics is not an issue, any potentiometer with the value required could be placed anywhere within comfortable reach.
In any case, it would be useful to know the exact model and a typical diagram of IC controlling the wiper action before considering any such changes.
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Mandrake
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Post by Mandrake »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by czenda</i>

Yes, it can be done, but I doubt it is worth the effort.
The "cleanest" way seems to use the VSX stalk described by Mandrake, which IMHO has the potentiometer already built-in.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Yes, it's a continously variable potentiometer.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
Then, I imagine, one would have to find a way to get the variable resistance to the control unit and replace a fixed-value resistor in the unit with the wires from the potentiometer.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Well in the VSX wiper control stalk the extra wires are obviously already there [;)]
The question is whether there are any differences in the control unit that they plug into.
If Stevie was thinking of picking up a wiper control stalk from a VSX at a scrapyard, then also grabbing the control box that the stalk connects to is all thats probably needed to upgrade it to variable intermitant. (No promises on that though of course)
I do find the variable intermitant quite a useful feature, although I feel it would have been more useful if it just had (say) 4 settings rather than a continuously variable setting with no real indication of what delay you'll get from a given knob setting...(apart from minimum and maximum, its hard to get back to a given setting without trial and error while concentrating on driving)
Regards,
Simon
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steviewonder7
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Post by steviewonder7 »

Hi Chaps,Thanks for your positive replies:)I'm going to look into opening the control relay for the intermittent wiper and see if I can explore the option of replacing the fixed value resistor in the timing circuit(providing its not an integrated circuit timer)for a dash fitted potentiometer.Hoping
its as simple as that!!!Just got a funny feeling transfering the 'gubbings'from the likes of a scrapped vsx Xantia may cause further headaches.....Next thing,to locate the relay in question.
Cheers Stevie :)
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