Advice Needed Slight play in diseq motor - causing slight wobble of dish.

[Manikm909]

i noticed this morning that i can very slightly but easily move my dish about 1-2mm on the motor stub (the stub turns)

i'm sure its never done this before....

its a dark motor - is this normal, or have the winds fekked it> thanks

 

[jeallen01]

i noticed this morning that i can very slightly but easily move my dish about 1-2mm on the motor stub (the stub turns)

i'm sure its never done this before....

its a dark motor - is this normal, or have the winds fekked it> thanks

"Normal" but "not normal" = backlash in the drive train!

Remove the label that states "Do not remove/voids warrantee" on one side of the motor casing, then, using a hex key (6mm IIRC) through the hole thus revealed, carefully adjust the "slackness" in the adjuster -> "firm" and then back it off very slightly so that the motor stub turns when driven but has no looseness when not driven.

Put a little grease in the hole, clean the outside and refit the "Do not remove" label

NB: you may have to remove one of the bolts holding the motor to the pole clamp, and then "push the motor" slightly up to reveal the "Do not remove" label, but I never had a problem doing that.

 

[Manikm909]

thank you!

 

[jeallen01]

OTOH, I may be wrong about the Hex key size - could be the 4mm version!

 

[Manikm909]

i cant see where you mean - so its a side casing screw?

are you able to identify what i need to adjust from this pic \ video...

 

[jeallen01]

That's a "Supreme" DM and not quite like the "Superior" ones I have - but I think (at least I hope) you'll find the adjustment hole under the label with the "crossed-out spanner"!

PS: Obviously not an issue with your's but the "Supreme" one I had first in 2015 really DID NOT LIKE E2 receivers and would not respond to commands properly, and the seller admitted that that was "sometimes a problem" - took it back and got the first "Superior" one which was OK.

 

[Manikm909]

Thanks . Do you think its the hole next to it or literally under the sticker . Appreciate this will be obvious when up the ladder .

 

[jeallen01]

Thanks . Do you think its the hole next to it or literally under the sticker . Appreciate this will be obvious when up the ladder .

It should be the one under the sticker - if I am not mistaken, the hole next to the sticker is for one of the motor-to-clamp bolts.

 

[Manikm909]

you know whats weird.

on Sunday morning, i drilled a hole through pole and back of motor mount - i made sure USALS was correct and maxxed my signal on 1w by ensuring whole motor assembly was peaked and in the right place, knowing then that motor should never need to be moved (in theory)

i also, did the same with the actual pole and T & K bracket (bolt through both) - so the pole - nor the motor mount could move

i accomplished this fine...a few metal filings in my face and hair, but went well.

later that Sunday afternoon i steered my dish to 52e to watch spurs \ arsenal. had a nice 13db signal for this.

later that same evening, i flicked to Sat TV and noticed it was saying no signal, so I steered dish back to 1w - and a VERY faint signal only, then checked hotbird, same - breaking up signal. WTF!

i went up ladder to flex dish, and thats when i noticed the slight wobble with motor arm.

i then released, that i could get my nice signal back by adjusting my USALS nearly a whole point, East.....i dont like doing this, i like the motor to be correct along with USALS.

none of this makes sense to me! i was logical in what i did, but what has happened is illogical to me

 

[jeallen01]

Seems to "correlate well" with the "looseness" of the dish stub on the motor as that means that the dish will slightly "overshoot" when driven to a sat from further East, but then overshoot again in the opposite direction when driven to the same sat from further West - that's the effect of "backlash", and how you become aware of the issue!

 

[a33]

What I learned for cases like this:
It might be that the motor has a small misunderstanding of where it actually is.
In that case, do a Goto Reference or Goto 0 command, and check if the motor really ends at zero degrees.
If not, try a motor reset at the right zero position.

Don't know if this is the case, or might help, in your case, though.

Greetz,
A33

 

[jeallen01]

What I learned for cases like this:
It might be that the motor has a small misunderstanding of where it actually is.
In that case, do a Goto Reference or Goto 0 command, and check if the motor really ends at zero degrees.
If not, try a motor reset at the right zero position.

Don't know if this is the case, or might help, in your case, though.

Greetz,
A33

@manikm909 has already confirmed that there appears to be "play"/"looseness" in the dish stub on the motor due to "backlash" in the motor gear train, and that correlates with the lack of repeatability when driving the dish to particular sats.

OTOH, when he has "substantially reduced" that (almost impossible to completely eliminate it as that would mean that the gear train would be so tight as to cause the motor to stall/be damaged!) then that is the time at which to "re-zero" the dish on the most Southerly sat, i.e. Thor at 0.8W.

 

[Manikm909]

thanks all!

i will shimmy up the ladder at some point today for the 100th time this year..

 

[Channel Hopper]

The vibration of drilling the hole(s) may have loosened the backlash screw.

 

[Manikm909]

The vibration of drilling the hole(s) may have loosened the backlash screw.

yes, possibly - although i had to go slow with the cobalt - but yes, deffo maybe a factor.

 

[jeallen01]

So, "charcoal search" apart, did you manage to "fix" the motor?

 

[Manikm909]

Lol . I went up ladder . Couldnt access that nut as the mount shields it . So climbed back down and bbq'd some steaks on gas BBQ. Will have a look at weekend when time is more abundant .

Im going to have to raise the motor to access it which is annoying as I've peaked the arc as well I could have

 

[Channel Hopper]

Im going to have to raise the motor to access it which is annoying as I've peaked the arc as well I could have

No you dont, if you can support the dish (even a bit), you can undo the two bolts on the side nearest the adjuster and this should give enough space for a flat blade screwdriver to do the job of the allen key.

All that is required is a quarter to half turn, no real tightening as such.

 

[jeallen01]

No you dont, if you can support the dish (even a bit), you can undo the two bolts on the side nearest the adjuster and this should give enough space for a flat blade screwdriver to do the job of the allen key.

All that is required is a quarter to half turn, no real tightening as such.

Agreed, although I managed to "nudge" the motor up just a tad, and that allowed me to use a hex key.

PS: that should be easier with your Laminas dish which is a lot lighter than either my Gibby or TD110!!

 

[Manikm909]

here is motor - surely i need to loosen everything on both sides, to lift dish up, to reveal the hex nut - no?