Advice Needed Nextvision vbox II now not moving dish

[sat-tv-fan]

I've just had a new LNB fitted and all was fine for a day or so...now all I see is E2 showing when I try to move it E or W but it's stuck on where it was, the display keeps saying 624 when I switch on... I have tried resetting but nothing changes...

it seems a wire or more has come off the motor at the dish end but the cable goes into an enclosed box so nothing is visible from the ground

Assuming everything is still electrically connected how do I unlock the vbox ?

 

[Channel Hopper]

Does the V box 'click' when it is commanded to move ?

 

[sat-tv-fan]

Does the V box 'click' when it is commanded to move ?

Yes

 

[sat-tv-fan]

I can only think the vbox is suddenly not sending out voltage to the motor or the motor has died ? Anyone got any clues about this please ?

 

[Mickha]

The V-Box II is usually connected by 4 wires, to your motor, Motor +, Motor -, (also can be M1, and M2), then you have M Pulse, which counts the steps, and Ground, which correspond to similar connections, in the 36v motor.
Motor +, and Motor -, move the dish East/West. You can use just these two, connected to a 12v battery, to move the dish, to check that the motor is working.
How are you trying to move the dish? Using your receiver, or using the V-Box II remote, or buttons on the V-Box II?
Have you tried all options?
Often the software limits have accidentally become set, not allowing the motor to move, either on the receiver, or on the V-Box II itself.
Of course a connection could have been damaged, or the pulse counter stopped working.

Can you please tell us what you've tried, when moving the dish, have you tried the controls on the V-Box II, or selected a satellite, using the V-Box II remote?

 

[Channel Hopper]

I thought I had sent this earlier. #

Disconnect the motor wires going to M1 and M2, and link up a 12V car lamp to them. If it lights briefly when the dish is commanded to go East or West then you know the problem is either the motor, or the cables to the dish

 

[Terryl]

A V-Box II is going to put out 36 volts DC when moving a "C" band linear motor, it would be best to use a DVM to test this, (any cheap one from a hardware store will do) as using a 12 volt bulb may work for an instant before it burns out, also a 12 volt battery will be very under powered to run the linear motor, two or three in series may work better.

But the true test would be the DVM, it will switch between the plus and minus voltages as you try and move East or West as the V-Box tries to move the dish via the motor.

Also is the motor on your dish rated for 36 volts???? Some smaller ones used 24 volts, I would check this out before anything.

 

[Channel Hopper]

The sensor pulse (that will be missing when the command is sent) activates the motor for less than 200mS, just enough for the bulb to light before it gores out

 

[Mickha]

I often used a 12v battery, on all my 36v motors, including my Jaeger 1224, it was a simple 12v house alarm battery, without any problems, and it moved the dish, 1.2M channel master, in all cases.
If you look at sat-tv-fans profile he has a 1M motorized dish.

 

[jeallen01]

@sat-tv-fan
What brand/model is the dish motor?

Did you disturb, or even just touch the connections to the motor terminals when you changed the LNB?
(if the motor has been installed for a long time, the terminals &/or the wires might have become corroded, &/or damaged - and then any little movement could effectively break the electrical connection(s) between the V-box and the motor)?

BTW: I ran an NEC H-H mount with a 24V motor on a +/-36V o/p receiver without any problems for years by inserting a bank of 4 parallel-connected w/wound resistors into one of the M1/M2 lines to drop the actual voltage at the motor terminals to around 24V.

 

[sat-tv-fan]

Thanks for the replies. it's a 36v H to H motor, using a Nextvision vbox II, been up about 15 years or so. only just had the new LNB put on and this happens, just my luck. I am trying to convince the installer the wires have simply come out from the motor end as I say. I don't have any 12v supply only a few CB type 13.8v power supplies. he says try the motor with this but the plus and minus wires are green for motor+ and red for motor- so what the heck is green to a power supply ?! I don't want to burn the motor out though I think also the motor could have died or is it the reed switch or the vbox ? I measured the voltage out and it was only giving 6.4v so it seems the vbox has died ?

 

[Mickha]

The colours of the wires are irrelevant, providing the connect correctly, from your V-Box II, to your motor.
Try connecting Motor + to positive, Motor - to negative, and have somebody watch the dish, to see if it moves, then revers them to move it back.
Did you use your V-Box II, to move your dish, or your receiver, using Diseqc 1.2?

 

[sat-tv-fan]

The colours of the wires are irrelevant, providing the connect correctly, from your V-Box II, to your motor.
Try connecting Motor + to positive, Motor - to negative, and have somebody watch the dish, to see if it moves, then revers them to move it back.
Did you use your V-Box II, to move your dish, or your receiver, using Diseqc 1.2?

Irrelevant for the 13.8v power supply you mean ? are you sure green / motor+ should be red positive for the power supply ? I use the vbox to simply move the dish for whatever receiver I am using. I can hear the dish moving myself

 

[Mickha]

Your motor is a 36v motor, that uses 4 wires, to connect it to your V-Box II, the colours of the wires can be anything, providing you ensure you know which wires are connected to which ports, in the 36v motor.
Inside the 36v motor you will see connections for something like M1, M2, Ground, and Sensor, or pulse, these connections then need to connect correctly to the V-Box II.
It doesn't matter if you get the M1, and M2 wires mixed up, as this will just send your dish east, when you select west, and vice versa, but if you get the others mixed up you can damage the motor.
Did you install the dish yourself?
Changing a LNB should have no affect, on your motor, unless whoever did it caught the motor wires, using a ladder, as the LNB is well away from the motor wiring.

 

[sat-tv-fan]

Your motor is a 36v motor, that uses 4 wires, to connect it to your V-Box II, the colours of the wires can be anything, providing you ensure you know which wires are connected to which ports, in the 36v motor.
Inside the 36v motor you will see connections for something like M1, M2, Ground, and Sensor, or pulse, these connections then need to connect correctly to the V-Box II.
It doesn't matter if you get the M1, and M2 wires mixed up, as this will just send your dish east, when you select west, and vice versa, but if you get the others mixed up you can damage the motor.
Did you install the dish yourself?
Changing a LNB should have no affect, on your motor, unless whoever did it caught the motor wires, using a ladder, as the LNB is well away from the motor wiring.

I had a local enthusiast / satellite installer replace the LNB as it's about 7m high above the guttering and in a rather precarious position. Yes I know what you say. I am talking about trying to get the motor moving with an external power supply. Green motor+ to the power supply's red + are you sure or does it not matter ? I need to know as if it does matter I don't want to kill the motor though atm I am thinking it already is dead

 

[sat-tv-fan]

tried the power supply, no go so the motor is dead I guess or is it the vbox or the reed sensor, bizarre all this. but as I say the vbox only is sending out 6.4v not 24v so that part is dead but would it affect the sensor connections also ?

 

[Terryl]

tried the power supply, no go so the motor is dead I guess or is it the vbox or the reed sensor, bizarre all this. but as I say the vbox only is sending out 6.4v not 24v so that part is dead but would it affect the sensor connections also ?

Can you test this with the wires disconnected at the V-box? If you still get the lower voltage (less then the 36 volts) then the V-box is dead. If it goes back up to the correct voltage then the control voltage wires have a short or the motor has a short.

 

[Terryl]

Can you test this with the wires disconnected at the V-box? If you still get the lower voltage (less then the 36 volts) then the V-box is dead. If it goes back up to the correct voltage then the control voltage wires have a short or the motor has a short.

 

[Mickha]

Using a battery, and the Motor +, Motor -, wires will move the motor, unless the motor has reached its mechanical limits, the wires have become damaged, or loose, or the motor is broken.
You will need someone to check the wires, and the motor.

 

[sat-tv-fan]

Can you test this with the wires disconnected at the V-box? If you still get the lower voltage (less then the 36 volts) then the V-box is dead. If it goes back up to the correct voltage then the control voltage wires have a short or the motor has a short.

The test was with the wires disconnected from the v-box. I think the wires have become disconnected at the motor end so when the installer can get back to check I have no idea atm. No movement with power supply. the reed sensor can be replaced on the 36v motor ?