Actuators AGAIN ...

Vipersan said:
Well the QARL 3624+ has arrived ..and is totally unlike the one received from Red Apple..
I've had it on once and had to remove it again to re-set the lower limit ..
Winding it out before fitting it is not acceptable with this one as the lower limit is fixed and the activation plastic lever on the wobbly metal worm does not shift as the jack is manually unscrewed..
So ..
Took it off and brought indoors to reset this and running it indoors and guts exposed ..I was singularly unimpressed with the design and construction ...
The main nylon worm that tranfers limit activation and rotates the mag wheel is not straight so wobbles side to side as it rotates ..thus the mag wheel also wobbles eccentricly as does the upper limit switch push rod activator ..
as it wobbles it passes too close imo to a nylon gear at right angles to the wobbly worm ...but does get there but not in a straight line ..
fine adjustment is not possible ..
an all or nothing situation ...
Also ..there is no lower drain hole on this jack ..
Normally found close to the motor end ..so if rain does find its way inside the jack ..how is it going to get out ???
All in all a p1ss poor lump imo for £100..
Will it last longer than the Red Apple one ..?
I have my doubts..
rgds
VS
Click to expand...

Doesn't look a whole lot difference of the innards of the QARL seeing as mine is ten years old or so. VS got me thinking when he said about the count error...I had the same when it was new and I had to solder some extension wires from the circuit board then again onto the reed relay to get it to work, I think the reed switch was too far away from the magnetic wheel for it to count properly. A bad design which obviously has not been improved upon!
You can see what I did in the picture.
 

Attachments

  • P1010038.webp
    P1010038.webp
    118.6 KB · Views: 45
Captain Jack said:
Is it a real Super Jack?
Click to expand...
Maybe it's not a Super, but actually a Captain, Jack?

(I am soooo sorry, but it just blurted into my mind and straight through the keyboard. Cheap laughs and all - I do apologise. I shall constrain myself fortwith. Honestly.)
 
scopus said:
Doesn't look a whole lot difference of the innards of the QARL seeing as mine is ten years old or so. VS got me thinking when he said about the count error...I had the same when it was new and I had to solder some extension wires from the circuit board then again onto the reed relay to get it to work, I think the reed switch was too far away from the magnetic wheel for it to count properly. A bad design which obviously has not been improved upon!
You can see what I did in the picture.
Click to expand...
Oddly the QARL2004 version ..like my now useless one and the one Llew has is totally different and uses a more conventional method ..
having the limit switches (cams) and the mag wheel driven from 2 seperate points on the gearbox ...and not combined with a push rod system ..
I'll open it up later and post some pics..
right now I'm off for a soak in the bath...
Oh 2 B warm today ..
;)
 
Ok ..as promised ..
Under the hood of the QARL 3624+ circa 2004 ..
Top right is the dual cam limit switch arrangemnt ..
Middle bottom The Mag wheel and to its right the Reed switchDSCF0119.webp
This to me seems a more sensible and reliable arrangement ..so why did they revert to the combined worm drive and push rod in 2010 ??
less to go wrong ..
presumably Llews is the same ..?
rgds
VS
 
That is bloody weird VS, I take it the one pictured is a genuine one?
 
Yes, that's the same design as mine.

BTW, I notice mine is labelled SuperPowerJack, obviously not a genuine Superjack. Without searching for the invoice, I can't remember who I bought it from a few years ago, at the same time as I bought my Gibertini. Wasn't from the same supplier.
Couldn't have been SSS as they stress they only sell genuine Superjacks.
 
Llew said:
Yes, that's the same design as mine.

BTW, I notice mine is labelled SuperPowerJack, obviously not a genuine Superjack. Without searching for the invoice, I can't remember who I bought it from a few years ago, at the same time as I bought my Gibertini. Wasn't from the same supplier.
Couldn't have been SSS as they stress they only sell genuine Superjacks.
Click to expand...
Yep ...thats the QARL I bought as 'genuine' for £119 from Red Apple ...about 18 months ago ..
Maybe thats where you got yours Llew ?
This one also says Superpowerjack on the label..

..but then again ..they aint really lying I spose ..
afterall ..it probably IS a genuine 'Superpowerjack' borrowed Superjack cloned model number...
Bloody crooks I calls 'em
Grrrr

Yep just checked ..
They still have this one listed ...as a 'superpowerjack'...so although they may not be genuine Superjacks ...they aint really lying...just 'misleading'..
http://www.redappledigital.co.uk/category-s/1848.htm
bottom left of the page
 
Last edited:
Yes, that's likely VS, as I usually check our sponsors first for items.
 
Llew said:
Yes, that's likely VS, as I usually check our sponsors first for items.
Click to expand...
As did I at the time ..
...btw ..Are they still sponsors ??
 
AFAIK, yes, as RAD. His profile still shows him as a sponsor - his last post was in April, although there's no showing in the Advertiser's section.
 
Llew said:
AFAIK, yes, as RAD. His profile still shows him as a sponsor - his last post was in April, although there's no showing in the Advertiser's section.
Click to expand...
Indeed ...the fact they no longer have a dedicated RAD section made me wonder ..
cheers buddy
 
Ok ..
bright n sunny for a few hours this morning so removed the motor cover and replaced the reed with a cheapie from china ..
This one is not encased in plastic ..but is more flexible for fitting because of this ..
Christina moving again...but wont replace the motor cover until Im happy it wont fail me.
rgds
VSDSCF0124.webp
 

Attachments

  • DSCF0125.webp
    DSCF0125.webp
    113.9 KB · Views: 31
  • DSCF0122.webp
    DSCF0122.webp
    275.2 KB · Views: 28
So far I'm totally unimpressed by this so called genuine superjack ..
Within 2 passes of the arc the reed switch failed ..
I have fitted a cheapie which has got it running again ...
Then proceeded to store sats in the Gbox again ..
Set 20E 1W 55W and 58W ..
58W being the last posn ..then returned to 1W ..
TPC signal was reduced so re set this by moving a few clicks ..then moved to 20E ..
Signal gone ??
Reset 20E a good 1 degree out ..then returned to 58W ..
actuator almost closed ...at 58W ..
it too had appeared to have shifted ?
Went outside to check for slack in the system ..and found non ?
Verdict ..
Miscounting pulses ..
Yes this could be the reed switch as it isn't a pukka replacement ..so will wait to pass judgement until the Ahem ...genuine replacement arrives from SS.
Personally ...I would suspect missed pulses due to the wobble refered to earlier where the Mag wheel on top of the worm shifts side to side approx 3mm as it rotates ..thus it's position relative to the reed varies ...giving the possiblity of missing pulses..
In short ..
Dont buy this jack ..
This is NOT a dig at SS ..
they dont make the product ..only sell it on.
But ..Perhaps it's time they started selling Von Weiss or Venture ?
imo is probably the worst design and most inaccurate jack I have ever purchased ..
a PITA imo
but then ..what do I know ..
I'm only joe schmo the punter parting with hard earned for shoddy products..
rgds
VS
 
Last edited:
Satellite Superstore used to be quite good, not cheap, but at least they seemed to know the product, and supplied quality gear, at least when I first started, many years ago.
The last product, I bought from them, was nothing but trouble, poorly designed, and manufactured, even their instructions, for assemby, were incorrect, and a part, I suspected would fail, did so.
I even emailed them, questioning this part, before assemby, as it didn't appear strong enough, to shift a heavy dish, but they claimed it would work.
I returned the part to them, as requested, then they claimed it wasn't needed, and sent further instructions, regarding assembly, without it.
I doubt I'll be buying anything else, from them, as I no longer trust them.
 
So ..
just completed filling in the form to SS tech support ...
and this is what I sent ..hopefully ..
No Idea if it actually was sent as after hitting Submit ...
nothing but a blank web page ..??

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Dave ..
Recently purchased QARL3624 Superjack and have a few questions about it.
Is this actually a genuine product ..?
If so I'm not impressed at all by its performance so far..
I've been working with satellite dishes since the analogue days and have never had problems replacing the actuator on my 1.8Alcoa PF till now..
Yes its a big dish so they do fail more often than I'd like but having fitted the QARL the reed stopped producing pulses after 2 arc transitions ..and measured permanently closed ..?
This freed off (probably spot welded contacts) overnight and the error2 condition on the Vbox vanished thus the dish moved again ..
You are apparently sending me a free replacement for the reed which I will then fit.
In the meantime I borrowd a reed from an old superpowerjack and fitted this ..
The actuator ran smooth again ..and I started to set sat positions in the Vbox.
But noticed a transition from 20E to 58W left the dish a good 1degree out ?
Reset these positions ..but again the dish failed to return precisely to to the stored settings accurately.
Checked for play/slack in the assembly and found none.
running the actuator with the motor cover removed I observed the magnetic wheel on top of the nylon worm drive wobbles from side to side by at least 3 mm
as it rotates and the limit switch push rod also wobbles as the worm gear rotates ..
This could easily account for missed reed pulses ..
All in all a very poor design and construction the like of which I have never witnessed before in any actuator in over 30 years.
I'm attaching a photo of the parts which wobble ..
and a link to the thread where this is being discussed on satellites.co.uk ..where I am a moderator.
https://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/threads/actuators-again.165949/page-5
Perhaps it's time to source and stock say ..Von Weiss or Venture ..
These apparently are a better design and build quality than the stuff we have access to in Europe ..but sadly only appear available in the US.
Thanks for reading this.
regards
Evan
aka Vipersan
-------------------------------------------------------------
If I do get a response I'll post it here
rgds
VS
 
martin-f said:
That's just the ACME drive Even, if you watch the video it tells you ACME is the less accurate drive, you will never get it right your just wasting your time pal sorry.
https://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/threads/actuators-again.165949/page-4#post-939186
Click to expand...
Not expecting perfect Alex ..but do expect a return to the same stored position within reason ..
Not landing at least 1 degree out and this is in Cband ..(more forgiving)
Even the supposedly inferior superpowerjack did better than this for 12 months.
 
:-dohAll you people buying these troublesome actuators. looks like you have been screwed! Sorry.
 
Back
Top