actuator problem

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LocutusOfBorg

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Aug 2, 2009
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The actuator arm on my 12 foot KTI will not stay in place - it's a recurring problem. I've tightened the clamp as much as I can. I've attached a photo showing where it was (black line) and you can see how far it slipped. Any way to prevent this from happening again?
 

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Is it the correct diameter clamp? It appears to be too large for the tube diameter. There is usually up to 1/2 inch spacing between the two sections when fully clamped.

It's the clamp that came with the actuator. I have an older clamp that I can try that only has 2 bolts versus the 6 on the one I'm using. I'll have to consider the "anti-skid" tape also.
 
I put a different clamp on the actuator. Let's see if this one holds up. It was difficult to do under these windy conditions so I had to be extra careful. It's interesting that I never had this problem with my 12 foot Paraclipse actuator clamp.
 
Looking at your picture, I have never seen a clamp installed that close to the motor end of the arm!

Anybody else think its odd?

Here in east TX, the clamp is placed on the other end of the arm.
 
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You people in Texas put your actuators on then wrong side any way. As a east coaster you have the whole thing on backwards. LOL! But I agree and any thing to shim it up a little would solve you problem.
 
Looking at your picture, I have never seen a clamp installed that close to the motor end of the arm!

Anybody else think its odd?

It looks like Johnny has added an angle iron extension on the mounting ring ... probably to increase arc coverage. That would change the back clamp location.
 
Looking at your picture, I have never seen a clamp installed that close to the motor end of the arm!

Anybody else think its odd?

Here in east TX, the clamp is placed on the other end of the arm.

I've always mounted the clamp close to the motor. According to the article at http://www.tvrosat.com/phpBB-3.0/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=146&t=1252 , I have mine installed incorrectly. I've never heard of mounting a clamp toward the end of the tube before and I wonder if it really matters as long as you can track the arc. But, I'm going to give that articles recommendation a try and see if the dish performs any better. When I try to visualize the operation with the clamp installed that way I get the impression that it won't track all the sats west of me. I'll have to change the clamp position to see what actually happens. Stay tuned.
 
Where are you located? East or West of 80 degree Longitude?

Your picture appears to show a Western setup.

Here in East TX, at AMC 8 or 139 degrees, my actuator is almost all the way in, but my actuator is mounted in an Eastern setup! ( on the other side compared to yours )
 
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Location has a lot to do with it but you also need to think about what part of the arc you'll be watching the most. Actuators don't work as good and it also weakens them quite a bit when fully extended for long periods of time. It also depends a lot on the satellite mount. I can track from at least 139 to 40.5 and could probably go farther than that if it wasn't for trees. Some mounts are more pron to flop over than others.
 
The actuator arm on my 12 foot KTI will not stay in place - it's a recurring problem. I've tightened the clamp as much as I can. I've attached a photo showing where it was (black line) and you can see how far it slipped. Any way to prevent this from happening again?
100% SURE YOU HAVE A CLAMP NOT MADE FOR THAT ACTUATOR buy the right one, I may even have one to give you for free, but you pay for shipping and handling my friend. Soon they go to the dump anyway WHO MAKES THE ACTUATOR? AND WHICH MODEL, rule of thumb if you have to tighten it like you have it it's ALWAYS GOING TO SLIP HAVE DONE THOUSANDS IN MY LIFE TIME, TRUST this old timer, I would not steer you wrong, sure you can wrap heavt duty metal foil tape and pray it works, but I doubt it, the wind is always playing push back and forth with the clamp, 24/7 just to let you know, good luck you should have at least 1/2 gap, you have zero
Gary
 
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That's where it goes on my Pinnacle,and it couldn't do this otherwise,

View attachment 124410 View attachment 124411
So what, not the reason for your issue wrong clamp, I have done everything possible to make H-H work, with regular ACTUATORS even used two one with the power wires switched, and the reed only hooked to one, so one motor pushes while the other pulls, only issue after 6 months one wears out some, and it gets screwy
 
I got a different clamp on it now. It looks like the clamp in section 5.3 of http://www.tvrosat.com/phpBB-3.0/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=146&t=1252

We will see how well it works. I bought the actuator from Skyvision - I don't know who made it for them. Besides, this actuator and the new Venture Maxi (http://www.venturemfgco.com/maxi-ball-screw-actuator/) that I just bought had clamps that had to be assembled because they came as 2 pieces and with a swivel ball. Those clamps were tightened to where there were no gaps. You guys say that's not right even though those are the clamps that were sent with the actuator. Maybe I installed those clamps wrong?
 
I want the same type of clamp as illustrated in Section 5.3
No clamp in the world will fix this, if you do not have the arm set up correctly! Any chance that you are running out of dish travel?

Is this happening while hunting for sats, or after a storm?
 
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