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Satellite TV receivers & systems support forums
DISH SETUP: Single sat, Multi-Sat & Motorised
Fibo Owners Club
How (and with what) to lubricate motor etc
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<blockquote data-quote="superswede66" data-source="post: 562762" data-attributes="member: 273473"><p>It's been a while since I posted the original question and I thought I'd post an update as a few things have happened.</p><p></p><p>A few weeks ago, after having moved the dish away from my usual satellite to Astra 1, I was unable to move it back <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite53" alt=":confused" title="Confused :confused" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":confused" />. My Echostar 8700 which I use mainly as a positioner now (and to watch some analogue channels, mainly Eurosport and F1 on RTL during ad breaks on ITV) reported a 'motor error' which is the first time I've seen that. No matter what I did, nothing happened and the dish stayed where it was :mad:. I checked for Voltage on the output on the Echostar and that was there just fine. I then checked to see if that reached the motor and it did. I checked the screw connections and they were all nice and tight. But suddenly the dish moved (not all by itself, I had used the remote) while I was checking for Voltage while having my multimeter probes pushed on the 36V electrical connectors. That made me wonder if I had an intermittent bad connection problem.</p><p></p><p>By now I realised that the dish was not pointing to where the positioner thought it was, so I thought that I'd take the motor off and have a look inside, hoping I'd be able to fix the problem. The motor itself came off very easily and I was pleased to find that the dish itself moved very freely along the arc. No problem with the spindle sticking at least.</p><p></p><p>Taking off the motor cover I was pleased by how clean the internal gears and motor looked after almost nine years. A little investigating soon revealed the problem. Poor and cracked solder joints holding the screw terminal block onto the small circuit board. All five joints where there is a wire attached had cracked. A bit of soldering and the joints were as good as new. I'm just wondering why I hadn't had a problem earlier. I took the opportunity of using some silicone grease on the various internal gears before closing it all up again.</p><p></p><p>After putting it all back in place the dish now moves quickly and freely, so I think that at least part of my original problem was the poor solder joints not allowing all power to reach the motor.</p><p></p><p>Now my only problem was getting the dish and positioner to agree on where the dish is pointing. Having never done such a thing I didn't have a clue where to start. I searched this forum but found nothing. In the end I was a bit lucky though, as I found a pdf copy of the Echostar manual to download. In there I found the 're-sync actuator' menu option. Having moved the dish until my Technomate digital receiver was able to pick up a strong signal I used the re-sync option and moved the dish to where the Echostar thought it should be, before moving it manually (using the remote) to where it should be and then storing that. Worked perfectly. All is now functioning exactly as it should be and I'm a happy bunny <img src="https://www.satellites.co.uk/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/smile.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://www.satellites.co.uk/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/smile.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://www.satellites.co.uk/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/smile.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-shortname=":)" />.</p><p></p><p>Thanks for the help from everybody as it was very useful in the end with the removal and re-fitting of the motor.</p><p></p><p>Please find below some pictures showing what I found. Nice clean internals, poor cracked joints, very clear to see on the close-up.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="superswede66, post: 562762, member: 273473"] It's been a while since I posted the original question and I thought I'd post an update as a few things have happened. A few weeks ago, after having moved the dish away from my usual satellite to Astra 1, I was unable to move it back :confused:. My Echostar 8700 which I use mainly as a positioner now (and to watch some analogue channels, mainly Eurosport and F1 on RTL during ad breaks on ITV) reported a 'motor error' which is the first time I've seen that. No matter what I did, nothing happened and the dish stayed where it was :mad:. I checked for Voltage on the output on the Echostar and that was there just fine. I then checked to see if that reached the motor and it did. I checked the screw connections and they were all nice and tight. But suddenly the dish moved (not all by itself, I had used the remote) while I was checking for Voltage while having my multimeter probes pushed on the 36V electrical connectors. That made me wonder if I had an intermittent bad connection problem. By now I realised that the dish was not pointing to where the positioner thought it was, so I thought that I'd take the motor off and have a look inside, hoping I'd be able to fix the problem. The motor itself came off very easily and I was pleased to find that the dish itself moved very freely along the arc. No problem with the spindle sticking at least. Taking off the motor cover I was pleased by how clean the internal gears and motor looked after almost nine years. A little investigating soon revealed the problem. Poor and cracked solder joints holding the screw terminal block onto the small circuit board. All five joints where there is a wire attached had cracked. A bit of soldering and the joints were as good as new. I'm just wondering why I hadn't had a problem earlier. I took the opportunity of using some silicone grease on the various internal gears before closing it all up again. After putting it all back in place the dish now moves quickly and freely, so I think that at least part of my original problem was the poor solder joints not allowing all power to reach the motor. Now my only problem was getting the dish and positioner to agree on where the dish is pointing. Having never done such a thing I didn't have a clue where to start. I searched this forum but found nothing. In the end I was a bit lucky though, as I found a pdf copy of the Echostar manual to download. In there I found the 're-sync actuator' menu option. Having moved the dish until my Technomate digital receiver was able to pick up a strong signal I used the re-sync option and moved the dish to where the Echostar thought it should be, before moving it manually (using the remote) to where it should be and then storing that. Worked perfectly. All is now functioning exactly as it should be and I'm a happy bunny :):):). Thanks for the help from everybody as it was very useful in the end with the removal and re-fitting of the motor. Please find below some pictures showing what I found. Nice clean internals, poor cracked joints, very clear to see on the close-up. [/QUOTE]
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DISH SETUP: Single sat, Multi-Sat & Motorised
Fibo Owners Club
How (and with what) to lubricate motor etc
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