Manually operating the wipers: just me?

[SiliconS]

Something I discovered about my 2010 A6 is that I can move the wipers manually (by hand) when I wash the car, without needing to put them into the parking position using the MMI thing. I haven't seen any other threads about this - does nobody else do this?

The wipers must be driven with some sort of direct-drive motor rather than the more normal worm-gear. It takes only very moderate force to move them and a worm-gear would mean they would be locked solid.

[Guest 2]

Oh no! Don't do that I've noticed this before slightly but I was told/saw somewhere on here actually that it's bad for the motor moving it manually.

Service position is far better.

[SiliconS]

Chris - do you know why it's bad for the motor? I wasn't aware that electrical motors could be damaged if they're driven (rather than driving), especially if it's low-force movement. Happy to be educated though.

[Guest 2]

I'm not totally sure, I remember on here (it might've been an A8) that a car washer person moved the wipers manually to clean underneath them and ever since they never operated correctly ie, resting too high on the windscreen.

I'll have a look through my subscribed threads tomorrow and see if I replied to it because I distinctly remember it.