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Panographic Windshield wiper installation

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kirkll

Regular Contributor
Are there any other threads here on installing these pantographic windshield wipers? I'm getting ready to change over to a Marinco 12-17" with 16" blades and have some questions.... Thanks, Kirk
 
Hi Kirk, I’m not sure about specific, but you might find some helpful info by searching 'pantographic wipers' or 'Marinco installation' in the forum. What questions do you have? Maybe someone here can assist!
 
cathywill said:
Hi Kirk, I’m not sure about specific, but you might find some helpful info by searching 'pantographic wipers' or 'Marinco installation' in the forum. What questions do you have? Maybe someone here can assist!
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I tried that first thing without any luck. I’ve spent a certain amount of time researching this subject before purchasing some parts, and I’m actually pretty amazed at the complexity of these pantographic wiper assemblies. I made some inquiries at first trying to figure out the length of the arms needed and the length of the blades from a reputable company, and the information they required was nothing short of a pretty detailed geometric drawing requiring not just dimensions, but angles at each corner of the glass. Of course these fixed windshield panes are different size port and starboard due to the center section opening to the bow, and are rhombus shaped, not square.

Being a carpenter for almost 50 years now, I wasn’t intimidated by the math problem. I simply made patterns of the glass using butcher paper, then measured the dimensions and angles on my work bench. It wasn’t a huge undertaking. Then the company required $150 to do the engineering before giving me a parts list….. Well THAT ripped it… I’ll be damned if I was going to pay $150 bucks for some engineer to do some math after I’d already done the pattern work. After researching further I also found their products a bit over priced too.

So I did a mock up on my work bench using my patterns to determine the wiper arm length and blade length . Here are some photos of the procedure. Rather than doing a complex drawing calculating radius and chord lengths, I call this procedure Carpenter Cad. It’s amazing what you can accomplish with a few strips of wood and some finish nails if you put your mind to it.

photos.app.goo.gl

7 new items by Kirk Lavender

photos.app.goo.gl photos.app.goo.gl

Soooooo….. I was able to figure out a 12”-17” adjustable arm with a 16” blade was going to give me the best coverage, and ordered a Marinco pantographic arm, and hopefully the right blade. I haven’t received that wiper arm yet. But playing with the arm a bit I haven’t exactly figured out how it’s going to work with my existing wiper motor on the starboard side. I figured I’d get one set up and working before buying the motor and arm for the port side in case I need to replace my existing one too. But…. I have found zero tutorial info on you tube for the Marinco wiper assembly. So I’m just flying by the seat of my pants here…lol. Once I get it figured out I guess I better do a video myself to share with others in my boat. Kirk
 
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