Superjack 24 Inch Worse for Wear

[mapperuo]

My five year old superjack 24 inch + has finally died I fear. It took out the GBox last month so I should have guessed something was wrong.

The seals have all gone green and when I opened the electronics box at the bottom a lovely flood of water came out.

Checked the reed switch and two microswitches, they still work continuity wise. The motor brushes are getting voltage but the motor itself is just not spinning. Small parts of metal that keep the motor brushes in place keep falling out so I think it's a lost cause

Bit frustrating the seals died! Thought they'd last bit longer than 5 years...

 

[moonbase]

mapperuo,

Are the semi circular magnets still glued to the inner sides of the armature sleeve?

I had an old Geotrack 24" actuator that was not working and the cause was that the semi circular magnets had become detatched from the sleeve and were magnetically adhering to the armature and preventing it rotating. Its a simple check to carry out.

Advice Needed - Geotrack HV24 Actuator - Siezed Up !


Rgds

 

[Terryl]

If water got into where the brushes are located then it could be a build up of carbon sludge, this can get in between the slots on the commutator and short it out, this would keep the motor from spinning.

New brushes and a cleanup of the commutator would help, you need the clean out any junk between the sections on the commutator with a stiff fine wire brush, then if you can set up the motor in a drill press and spin it at low speed, then using some 400 to 600 grit wet/dry sand paper you can clean up the commutator its self.

This would make it like new.(except for these small metal pieces your talking about)

As to water getting thru the seals, I would use some #2 non harding Pematex automotive sealant, this will flex but stay tight when the unit goes through the seasons hot and cold cycles, what may have happend to the regular seals they did not seal when it got cold but compressed when it was hot (metal case expands when hot) and did not relax when it got cold, thus letting in water when it rains.

 

[blademedia]

Thought they'd last bit longer than 5 years...

You've done well to get five year use from it, most of them are lucky to last 2 years, they are cheap Chinese rubbish.

 

[Channel Hopper]

You've done well to get five year use from it, most of them are lucky to last 2 years, they are cheap Chinese rubbish.

He did say it was a 'superjack 24 inch +'.

The clones have a different logo.

Mind you , Mapperuo is in Fife so five years may not be so bad on a 1.8.

 

[blademedia]

Yes I read what he wrote

If it was bought from SSS its a Chinese clone,

 

[mapperuo]

Yes I read what he wrote

If it was bought from SSS its a Chinese clone,

I did buy it from there. Ill go grab some pics.

 

[mapperuo]

This bit looks OK, it was the bit with the water in it, but Ive done a continuity test on the switches and they give a good resistance.

 

[mapperuo]

The brush up top wants to always point down, I cant be entirely sure its contacting the motor part as it's enclosed when you slip it on.

This is turnable by hand so I dont think the issue is here.

Hard to get the right angle, but there are chunk of the peach coloured metal surrounding the circular hole coming off.

 

[blademedia]

Personally I wouldn't bother with it, unless it was a good make Thomson/von weise etc, if your not in a rush go on the net and get one from China that's all SSS do and put 60/80 £ on top

Another option would be to buy a quality one.

 

[Captain Jack]

The jack you have is allegedly SuperJack (not to be confused with SuperPowerJack) and is supposed to be a better option. 5 years is a good run with it.

We had a group buy recently to get a Venture one from USA. I think it was around £350 with all shipping and import charges but it's a totally different beast.

 

[scopus]

The jack you have is allegedly SuperJack (not to be confused with SuperPowerJack) and is supposed to be a better option. 5 years is a good run with it.

We had a group buy recently to get a Venture one from USA. I think it was around £350 with all shipping and import charges but it's a totally different beast.

Can concur with CJ here, the Venture is in a different league.

 

[blademedia]

It would be also worth checking prices with Thomson, the Saginaw I am using at the moment is 20yrs old and still going strong,

Thomson are also based in the UK,
Global Customer Service | Thomson

 

[Channel Hopper]

Yes I read what he wrote

If it was bought from SSS its a Chinese clone,

Apologies, I did not know SuperJack is used on clone motors. The other name 'SuperPowerJack' is mentioned continuously on the forum.

Looking at the images fro Mapperuo, there is the possibility of moving the end point of the arm further to the edge of the reflector support to give the actuator better accuracy, and an easier life if they have the full reach.

 

[blademedia]

Looking at the images fro Mapperuo, there is the possibility of moving the end point of the arm further to the edge of the reflector support to give the actuator better accuracy, and an easier life if they have the full reach

It would certainly help, quite easy to do it this is a bolt ?, put a gate eye here

 

[blademedia]

quite easy to do it this is a bolt

If not, flat bar with three holes drilled, two for holding it, and one for the actuator arm to bolt on

 

[moonbase]

@mapperuo

Is there a drain hole in the actuator casing?

It might be the pictures, but to me it loks like the actuator should be installed at approximately 180 degrees rotated on its axis, that position would have the cable going into the case from the bottom and any water getting into the actuator would either run out of the cabling hole or the drain hole.

The pictures seem to show the cable going into the actuator from the top and if that is the case then water could also be getting into the motor that way?


Rgds

 

[Captain Jack]

MB, this is the 'normal' way for installing actuators for some odd reason - cable coming in from the top. All manuals suggest so.

 

[moonbase]

MB, this is the 'normal' way for installing actuators for some odd reason - cable coming in from the top. All manuals suggest so.

Ooops shows you how often I use actuators !!

Rgds

 

[Channel Hopper]

MB, this is the 'normal' way for installing actuators for some odd reason - cable coming in from the top. All manuals suggest so.

The condition and colour of the mating gasket between cover and gearbox suggests water ingress was not a reason for the motor failure, though it is clear a spider got in from somewhere.