horizon-to-horizon motor bad sensor

Status
Please reply by conversation.

madmadworld

Official TV Watcher
Original poster
Pub Member / Supporter
Apr 7, 2006
15,898
5,211
up on the roof in SinCity
i have the opportunity to get a 10' wineguard dish. it has a horizon-to-horizon motor on it .
tested the motor and got it to go both ways, but i kept getting no Actuator pulse. fliped the wires around but still kept getting no Actuator pulse.

so i guess the sensor is bad.
any chance of getting any parts to fix the sensor in this h-h motor ?

and there is no place to install a Actuator.
thanks alot
 
i have the opportunity to get a 10' wineguard dish.
it has a horizon-to-horizon motor on it .
tested the motor and got it to go both ways, but i kept getting no Actuator pulse.
so i guess the sensor is bad.
Do you know what sort of motor this is?
Can you post some pictures?
I suspect replacing the reed switch will be all it takes.
 
Do you know what sort of motor this is?
no

it is about 16 miles away and no pic's. but i might get down there next week.
i know nothing about reed switches where would one find them ?
thanks alot Anole
 
My 10' Orbitron has an Ajax H-H. It has a reed switch that Skyvision sells, but they are WAY overpriced, because what they sell is just a home-made circular piece of plexiglass with a reed switch glued to it. Anyone could make one better for much less. I replaced mine when I was loosing counts and getting actuator errors, but the replacement switch didn't help, except that the original was more of a cardboard material, and would tend to get really wet when it rained, which would give me problems, but the plastic one at least didn't absorb water.
If the dish hasn't been used much, it might just be rusted enough that it's not moving smoothly. It might help to put some grease on the gears. Also, on mine, there was a big bolt that served as the rotation axis, and once, when I was getting actuator errors, I loosened this a bit, and that freed it up a bit. It could also be dirty or shorted connections for either the motor wires or the sensor wires.
 
reading up on reed switches

thanks bj

did some reading up on reed switches.
so as i understand it there are some magnets in there and they go by the reed switch and this is how we get the counts.
is this right ?
 
thanks bj

did some reading up on reed switches.
so as i understand it there are some magnets in there and they go by the reed switch and this is how we get the counts.
is this right ?


Right and the motor controller, like a v or a g box is designed to shut down when the counts stop - like when the dish reaches the end of its travel on the east or west end. So no counts, no power and dish stalls.

I did a conversion to a reed switch, magnet wheel thing on my Birdview hh motor. The thread on how to do it is posted here somewhere. I got my glass capsule reed switch from Radio Shack and it hasn't missed a beat for a year and a half.

But that was for a system that didn't start out as a reed switch system. Yours sounds like it might have come stock with a reed switch system. In that case you should try to first troubleshoot it. Reed switches tend to be encased in little glass bulbs and magnets don't really go bad, so some good cleaning, checking wires, greasing and such might well do the trick.
 
Yeah, if the controller doesn't get any counts, it will shut down, and most controllers don't wait long at all, like a second or so. I've tried to fool analog receivers in the past by faking counts by making and breaking the pulse circuit manually, and in every case it's given me a no count error almost instantly.

It will shut down if you have a bad sensor, but will also shut down if the gears are jammed and the unit doesn't turn, or if the motor isn't able to turn the dish for some reason (in my case, when it gets real cold and the grease gets hard, the motor just doesn't have enough power to move the thing).

Reed sensors WILL occasionally go bad. I think that they somehow get magnetized and the contacts stick in the closed condition, I can't remember, but I have a couple reed switches that look to be in good shape, but just stopped working (ie I move a magnet over them, and the switches don't make and break).

But anyway, it's too snowy to go take a new picture, but I found a picture of my H-H motor that I took a while back. It shows the big gears, and the replacement reed switch that Skyvision sells. It's basically just a piece of plexiglass with a generic reed switch glued with epoxy. Skyvision sells it as a specific replacement for my Ajax, but the plexiglass disc was slightly too small, so the 3 little bolts/washers didn't even quite hold it in properly. It's in there, but just barely, it wants to fall out.

But anyway, you can see the magnets in the wheel through the clear plexiglas. The original reed switch assembly was a generic reed switch on a dark material similar to card-board, but more solid. It fit perfectly, but I replaced it, because it seemed to absorb water when it rained, and I suspected that it was shorting out. But the replacement worked exactly the same as the bad one, and I'm pretty sure that the original problem may have been with my receiver, not the reed switch assembly.

But anyway, I'm attaching a picture of the reed switch assembly on my Ajax H-H, just in case the one discussed in this thread is similar at all.
The actual reed switch is the thing with the 2 white wires connected to it. You used to be able to get them at Radio Shack.
 

Attachments

  • mag-reed-gears.jpg
    mag-reed-gears.jpg
    933.9 KB · Views: 472
You can make your own I was not familiar with it and with Anole helped me and what B J is saying.I cut atop of a ice cream container and found the reed switches on line at a alliedelec.com and the switches are from like .50 to 5.00 so i bought 10 at lower price to experiment with and to get the soidering down, and i got a more heavy duty switch like (Hermetic switch part # HSR-1015RT 20/40 reed switch with tin plated external leads) just in case the smaller switch does not hold up. And the small switch has been in from the first test still got extra just in case.
Once got plastic cut and reed switch soidering in place coated edges arond plastic and reed with all weather calk. does not look the best but works great.
 

Attachments

  • 002.JPG
    002.JPG
    359.8 KB · Views: 344
  • 005.JPG
    005.JPG
    341.4 KB · Views: 359
  • 004.JPG
    004.JPG
    356.7 KB · Views: 305
monkey see monkey do

thanks alot Lone Cloud BJ xxtornxx
for your help and pictures.
now have 2 of these type motors that i hope to be getting. one in a working system, so i hope to be doing the monkey see monkey do thing lol.
will post some pic's and let you guys know how it's going.
 
on their poles

hi guys
got these 2 dishes home and on their poles. both of the motors are the same AJAK's. the one that is working right i have set up on the arc and working ok.
have noted the limit stops the dish at Intelsat 805 at 55.5°W it will move just a ° or 2 after that.
on the other motor that is not working(needs reed fixed) that the limit switches metal has been bent seemingly allowing the dish to travel farther east.
my question is should i carefully bend the one i have working or is there another way ?

on the reed sensor it seems they fail due to being magnetised. has anyone tried to use a tape head demagnetizer on these ?
and what is the best glue to use when replacing ?
thanks alot Anole,B.J.,Lone Cloud,xxtornxx

some pic's
 

Attachments

  • right.JPG
    right.JPG
    52.4 KB · Views: 243
  • left.JPG
    left.JPG
    48.9 KB · Views: 259
  • back.JPG
    back.JPG
    48.1 KB · Views: 279
best guess:

Congrats on finding two AJAK motors! - :up - :D

I don't know if this is the exact switch, but it's similar to what you've got.
You can replace 'em if you break the metal extenders (which I wouldn't worry about).
See Microswitches at the bottom of this page, for starters, but maybe buy from DigiKey?

I don't think the reeds are magnetized.
However, if you will remove the disc with the reed, so it's not close to the five magnets inside the housing, you can try a demagnetizer.
You just don't want to zap the magnets by getting close to them!

If you replace the reed, be sure the new one is the same length.
I strongly suspect you get 10 clicks per revolution of the 5-magnet wheel.
How that happens, is by a magnet being under either end of the switch.

Also, measure exactly where the old reed was located; you must put the new one in the same place, and aligned the same way, to work properly.
Ya don't need to use calipers and make blueprints; just be careful! - :cool:

For glue, you need something that'll stick to your disc, and encapsulate the reed.
Rough up the disc where you want to put the reed. That'll aid adhesion.
If RTV or silicon rubber will stick to the disc, that'd be my first choice.
It'll make for a reliable encapsulant of the reed and wires.
Look for the kind that's good for electrical connections, not the one that smells like vinegar. :)

There are other bonding agents, such as industrial adhesives you might have.
Elmer's makes Ultimate Glue, an expensive and real strong polyurethane glue. It might work. Follow directions.
Then, Liquid Steel is an epoxy. I've never used it but read about it's success in many applications.
Just don't bother with that 1-second cyanoacrylate adhesive - it's crap IMO.
 
thanks alot Anole for all the info and the link.
spent a couple hours looking around and found only this think it would work ?
Digi-Key - HE516-ND (Manufacturer - MITI-3V1 6-12.5)

not many with pic's lol

these units are pretty clean save the web's due to the great weather here. being from back east and working with mine back there big difference.over the past week fixed a bent panel changed lnb's servo motor's adjusted f/d on the feedhorn and all the screws and bolts were like it was put together 3 months ago. even the hex key screw on the feedhorn was easy. on my 5 footer i have from back there i had to drill it out lol. will get some more pic's.
 
Best I could tell, that reed is about a quarter inch long.
You need to find one that's the same size as the one currently on the motor.
 
I would not use any high bond glue or adesive on the reed switch, just in case if you ever need to replace it in the future.

now I have replaced several of reeds threw out my time on these mounts, what I have found that works the best is, small piece of double sided tape (just to hold in place) an then clear silicone over it.
 
got lucky

went out to to try and get this dish down was on g-5 125 i guess. as i was bumping it 1/10 of a degree at a time lol
i reached up and tapped the reed switch and the motor started working right.
That happened saturday been playing with it since and it works like new.
will add a few more pic's below and a few more tomorrow,lost light today.

pic 5 of another dish sorry
 

Attachments

  • r side 2.JPG
    r side 2.JPG
    49 KB · Views: 326
  • left 2.JPG
    left 2.JPG
    40.9 KB · Views: 235
  • gear 2.JPG
    gear 2.JPG
    50.9 KB · Views: 226
  • front 2.JPG
    front 2.JPG
    49.4 KB · Views: 313
  • dark d2.JPG
    dark d2.JPG
    37.3 KB · Views: 302
  • dark 1.JPG
    dark 1.JPG
    41.9 KB · Views: 235
  • chain 2.JPG
    chain 2.JPG
    39.7 KB · Views: 268
  • bot 2.JPG
    bot 2.JPG
    38.1 KB · Views: 262
  • bolts top 2.JPG
    bolts top 2.JPG
    42.1 KB · Views: 244
  • b sde 2.JPG
    b sde 2.JPG
    59.6 KB · Views: 269
  • top 2.JPG
    top 2.JPG
    43.5 KB · Views: 256
  • reed 2.JPG
    reed 2.JPG
    48.4 KB · Views: 246
here are some more pic's
this is a winguard dish.
i noted this dish does not have a declination adjustment like most.
you adjust it with the bolts that are on the top of the mount. pic 2 above.
thanks to pendragon for the manual.
this dish was off i made a adjustment and it is now tracking the east fine did not get west yet.

has anyone had trouble with using a GI box of these ?
they are 24 volts ajaks want 36 volts.
as now when i use it it moves about 20-30 ° then stops if i wait 30-45-seconds it will move some more and stop again. the GI does not say no pulse or anything.
will try a 36v box next time out there.
 

Attachments

  • winguard side l.jpg
    winguard side l.jpg
    347.6 KB · Views: 247
  • winguard side l2.jpg
    winguard side l2.jpg
    408.2 KB · Views: 281
  • winguard side l3.jpg
    winguard side l3.jpg
    317.6 KB · Views: 251
Status
Please reply by conversation.
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)