Refurbish old Polarmount?

[saadi]

Hi,

Some time ago I came across a tutorial which came in a .pdf, which explained in a very detailed manner the refurbishment of an old polarmount, including the dissassembly of course.
Sadly I forgot where I came across that .pdf, I already searched a lot through google.

Does anyone remember such a tutorial, and the link to it?
Would be very interresting!

Thanks!

 

[purplemarina]

Did you mean refurbishing an actuator? this is in the dish setup guide and info thread. hope this helps.

 

[satelliteman]

As mentioned, there is a pdf for a linear actuator. If you are referring to a polarmount; which type and for what dish?

 

[saadi]

@Purplemania: Thank you a million times, thats exacly what I've been looking for!

But there is still one problem: If I try to open the file, there opens only a white window (clear.gif) , and the browser gives following adress: _http://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/attachments/forum216/28927d1269163963-pdf.att
Seems to be something wrong?

Edit: Found it on another forum..
_http://public.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pTFLCP6CCU68j6F18Gx-rYdd3lvYA0M8qnwbF3GpyKfLynwoJfc5URE5UYZl-Q1HSdNV5EK9lI63k_n0g7mtESg/Refurbishing_a_Jager_Actuator.pdf?download&psid=1



@ satelliteman:
I thought those big motors (not the small ones for offset) work the same and also actuator and polarmount also describe the same device. Is there a difference betweeen polarmounts?
Once I will get acess to the rooftop I will do some snapshots of it. Actually there is also my neightbour's actuator, which I would also like to refurbish as he's not in need of it.

 

[Topper]

Try downloading again there was a minor problem before

 

[saadi]

Thanks! The attachments work again, good job

 

[saadi]

So, now I got acess to the rooftop, in the attachment is a picture of the Actuator. (Still don't know the difference btw. Actuator & polarmount.. can someone explain? :-hide)

Though most of the label has corroded by time, I could still identify some of the written:
Its a Geotrack TD 24 so supposedly 24 inch (?)

Is it a good actuator?

So when I have time i'm going to refurbish it, thanks to Rick's manual (a big thanks again :-worship)




Edit: I just disassembled the actuator and removed the gears and connected the motor wires to a positioner and it worked )
But I have a question: I connected the positioner with the actuator motor through a telephone cable. Is that ok or is the diameter of the Telephone cable too small to support the voltage? Because the original cable that comes out of the actuator is rather thick. PS: Our neightbours actuator is also connected to the positioner through a Telephone cable!

Edit2: Why does an actuator need not only two wires for the motor but additionally two wires for the reed switch sensor? What is it's function? And how many degrees does the Actuator move the dish when manually finetuning, e.g. 0.1° or 1°?

Thanks!

 

[Vipersan]

Hi Saadi..
There is quite a high current flowing in the 2 wires which feed the motor ..
Ideally these should be quite thick wheras the 2 wires connected to the reed sensor carry a low current
these 2 wires do not need to be so thick ..
I would not recommend using telephone wire as it is stiff ..brittle and not designed for high currents ..
I have used the multicore wire used for alarm systems in the past ...but In order to use this you should pair up various colours to simulate 1 thicker wire ...
For example a six core wire might have red black blue orange white and green ..
in this six core wire I would pair say orange and red and twist the cores together at both ends ..
The same with Blue and Black ...
These would then be your motor connections ...
The white and green I would then use singly to connect to the reed switch..

If you used 8 core wire ...you could triple up 3 wires to each motor connection..
If you choose to use this method ...make sure you correctly pair/triple up the colours or you will end up with a short circuit on the motor supply..
The reed switch is important as it is closed /activated each time the magnet mounted on the rotating gear inside the motor assembly..goes round once.
I rotation equals one pulse ..which is recognised and counted by the positioner..
This is how the receiver/POSITIONER ..can find its way back precisely to a stored satellite position.
The positioner counts pulses

As to the actual difference between a Polar mount and an actuator ..
The actuator arm is in essence the motor or driving force to move the dish ...which is mounted on the polar mount
The polar mount is the mechanical structure which supports the dish ...and is pushed east or west by the actuator arm ..and when set up correctly accurately tracks the satellites positions ...which are on an arc ...not in a straight line East to West.
Hope this clears up a few things for you..
rgds
VS

 

[saadi]

Hello,

Thank you for your excellent explanations, I unterstood everything ;)

Today I finished refurbishing the actuator (vaselined the cogwheels; stored old rusty screws in diesel for two days, oiled some WD40 in the bearing ball) and after I reassembled everything and connected an positioner, it worked like a charm The actuator is like 15-20 Years old and some time ago I wanted to throw that old think away O-no ..
Now a last question in regards to the oiling of the actuator arm: What should I use here? Spread WD40, vaseline or diesel on the actuator arm for smooth movement?


To come back to the connections for the actuator, I just tested the actuator by an old telephone cables, and it worked fine. However the cable is short. If I would connect a longer telephone cable, theoretically, what could happen then as worst case? Would the cables get very hot? Or would the power not be enough? My neightbor's satellite motor is also connected to the positioner by an telephone cable.
But I will follow your advice and buy a thick 4wired cable.

Actually Rick's manual was so helpful, that I'm thinking to make one in German ..

Last but not least: What if when I assembled the motor on the dish and when I press the east button on the remote the dish would move west, could I simply switch the motor connections of the positioner? Then the Motor will work vice versa as the current flows in DC.

 

[2cvbloke]

Just a note about lubricating bearings:

Do not use WD40!!! Use bearing grease for Ball and Roller bearings, and 3-in-1 Oil for Bronze Sleeve bearings, WD40 is a water dispersant and should not be used as a lubricant and will dissipate within days...

Proper refurbishment of bearings is more than just slopping on fresh oil, you need to clean them out in a solvent for ball and roller bearings, simply remove the seal (if not an open bearing), wipe them clean, then place the bearings into the solvent and using a pencil or screwdriver rotate the bearing to work the stuff in, then allow to dry (24hrs at best). Then apply the grease with a flat screwdriver or a putty knife and then replace the seals and refit...

Bronze sleeve bearings are easy, just use cotton bud sticks (or cue-tips, whatever you call them), soak them in oil and wipe the inner race out until the cotton comes out clean, then soak in oil (most will have a wadding to hold oil, fill the bearing until it won't absorb any more oil), then refit...

As for the actuator arm, use Grease, otherwise it'll wear out a lot faster if you use anything but that...

 

[saadi]

Ok, thank you for the tipps!

I just saw a sticker on the motor of the actuator of my neightbor (superjack), that the motor has to be turned upside wise when installing the actuator.
What is the reason for this?

 

[Topper]

I can only guess to allow the IP 54/55 drain holes to be at the bottom thus allowing gravity to act upon any condensation that develops after running the motor hence allowing the water to drain away, standard practice for outdoor use, although often never made clear in manuals etc as IP54/55 drain holes are not always obvious