Play in motor?

[iafirebuff]

Well I am trying to figure out if I need a new motor. Here is my issue. At my true south - if I lightly apply pressure I can move my dish approx 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch either way. At each end of the arc - 30w and 129w there is almost no play. Now, if I motor the dish from west to east, my signal quality is very low. If I motor from east to west the strength is almost double! So it appears that a gear is missing a tooth or somehow worn out prehaps? Can anyone advise how much if any play there should be? I have a Digi Power SG2100. I think time for a new motor.

 

[c_perrone]

I'm not 100% sure for your exact motor, but my motor (dg280) had a similar problem and there was a "backlash" adjustment that was in the manual that took care of it.

Clint

 

[iafirebuff]

Thanks - I will see if I can find that adjustment

 

[Tron]

Larry, it is backlash... Some batches of SG-2100 motors were very prone to it. There is an adjustment, behind the seal on the front left-hand side of the motor. It involves three screws, and is somewhat complicated. Here is a link to the information you need...

EDIT: The DMSI page no longer exists. I am going to try to search the web for the .PDF file, and post it here if I can find it. If anyone has it, please attach it in this thread... Thanks!

 

[iafirebuff]

THANKS! I did a search onthe net and that page is no where to be found

 

[Lak7]

you have to register, but it's there.....
Backlash Adjustment of Moteck SG-2100 - Satellite TV support forum & Digital TV support forum.

 

[iafirebuff]

THANKS! I will see about those adjustments. Is this something that can work loose over time? I just put the old 80cm back up and got RTN again. But only if I motor east to west. I am thinking I will just get a new motor. Maybe something better than the 2100.

 

[iafirebuff]

OK, I tried the backlash adjustment. Dish seems tighter now. Going to go and peak on my TSS then take the 80cm and see if RTN comes in on it. THANKS for the tips/links!

 

[iafirebuff]

Well the backlash is gone.... but still having a problem with the stength. When I go from east to west I am good. West to east and signal is lower. going to set up stationary now and stop spending time on the motor. I think I am back to going to need a new motor

 

[Lak7]

"Signal" Strength or Quality

 

[iafirebuff]

Quality.

Well I spent all day messing with it. Nice day - 70 degrees low humidity. The backlash is gone. But, I still have the same issue. If I track east to west I get stronger signal quality. Because of this some satellites are not viewable. I have my old 80cm dish back up again as 3 bolts broke on my new GeosatPro. Also, my old Fortec 80cm pulls in 83w while the 90cm Geosat Pro has a very hard time locking in on 83w. I cannot get the RTN stuff with the 90cm, but I can with the 80, although it is very low and not useable now. But I do gets bits and pieces. I did manage to setup the 90cm - minus 3 bolts in a temp spot. Got RTN a bit there I need to find some bolts to redo the setup. I wonder if I can get some from SAT AV? Another interesting note - my 80cm gets me the same signal quality or slightly better than the 90cm. I might add that I re-peaked my dish/motor. Increased by 5-10 % quality. I hate to buy a new motor...but I am thinking that might be the issue. Hmmm.....

 

[iafirebuff]

Another that has been going on - when I move to another satellite, sometimes it takes a loooong time for the receiver to "lock" and have a signal appear. This started when I started to have the motor issues too. Any ideas?

 

[turbosat]

firebuff, could your receiver's memory be loaded up or corrupted. Which reminds me, I need to clean out my Merc2 and Icon both. Weird things happen when software gets corrupted or memory gets near full.

 

[Lak7]

I wonder if your 90cm has a slight warp from shipping?

 

[hd fan]

I also had to factory default and reprogram everything in my CS 8100 because it was taking too long to lock after moving the dish with the stab 90. The slave CS 6000 was working fine. totally annoying.

 

[iafirebuff]

I had thought that the 90cm might be slightly warped. I think I will use the 90cm as a stationary dish once I get new bolts. The bolts and nuts seem "sheap". So I think I will do a factory reset on the receiver. Then see what happens. If that does not work, I "might" take everything down and start from scratch. Or I might just buy a new motor. I might also run new cable if the reset does not help. Thanks for all the tips!

 

[GreatFTA]

Backlash PDF

I thought posting this PDF will help others. I downloaded this PDF from that site for my personal use.
Thanks Lak for posting that site. I got the same problem with my SG2100.
It is still tracking ok as far as performance is concern. I will use the PDF when it is time for me to adjust for the backlash problem.

 

[iafirebuff]

THANKS! That is a good article!

 

[iafirebuff]

I am currently re-scanning everything after resetting the receiver to factory. Still having the signal quality issue. East to west is alot stronger than west to east. Next step is to take whole setup down and re-set up from scratch. I might just move the dish to the new location I was thinking of and order a new motor while I am at it.

 

[GreatFTA]

Sounds like you may not be completely on track on the Clarke arc belt. Let me find a article I downloaded that may help you!