Thomson Saginaw Actuator question

[PANHANDLER]

I am getting very close to puting my Prodelin 10' up , till i ran across this Thomson Saginaw actuator. It looks very promising sense it has a 24" stoke and ball screw .I connected it to my Gbox for a test run and it moves just a few revs then errors out with a loud click. The extention arm unscrews manualy just fine so it isn't frozen . I am not familur with the micro switch setup . Can some one help me out here . Will this even work with the Gbox .

Thank you
Dan

 

[greenguy]

some of the guys where tellin me a few weeks back that the g/vboxes dont work with certain reed switches, i have not confirm this, but one other way you can get this problem is if you tried runnin it with out hookin up the reed switch wires.
does the positioner move other actuators?
i also hav one of these jacks, and inside dont look anything like yours. . .by as far as i can remember.

 

[PANHANDLER]

The positioner works great on other actuators , so far i tried several combinations of the sensor leads also tried as you sugested without hooking up the sensor wires . The results are the same , just moves a few revs then clicks inside the motor area .Ths arm is so well built i want to get this going .

 

[crackt]

try testing it with another power source. i use an 18v cordless drill battery. that will tell you if its seized atleast. you can also hook a meter up to the reed switch and check for continuity while you move it. meter should beep as it runs.

crackt out,.

 

[1captain]

you can also hook a meter up to the reed switch and check for continuity while you move it. meter should beep as it runs.

crackt out,.

that is not a reed switch, that is a mirco-switch.

what you have their is their PAN, is the 1st transition over from a 1 to 10K pot to a pulse that a receiver could log the actuator position of the sats. an it works on the same princeapal as a reed switch, it is just mechanical instead of a magnet wheel moving over the reed.

if you look at the bottom of the gear box their is a star that come out of gear housing, an the button on the mirco-switch should be depressed when it comes in contact of those star points. now most mirco-switches have 2 wires out of them, unless they are a double poll switch, or they could be using the other wire for a ground, a multi-meter will tell you that an should be able to trouble shoot the pulses from the mirco-switch.

at 1st when I look at you're picture thought you had a optic sensor, but after closer look no you don't, an that was because of the color code on the wires.

a lot of companys that produce actuators back in the early to mid 80's where using this set up, an they where very dependable too, untill they started to standardize the satellite industry, with wiring color codes, lnb's an reed switches that could be inter changed from all of the different receivers a satellite systems that where produced.

 

[crackt]

sorry i didnt see the pictures. that is a different setup then ive seen. im interested in the micro switch ? spdt ? you need to put a meter on them 3 wires and see which contact when the switch is depressed. those are the wires the positioner needs for the sensor.

crackt out,.

 

[PANHANDLER]

Thanx for all the advise . It looks like this acuator is worth keeping . I'll find some time today to open the gear box itself and put some fresh grease in it also inspect for any probs . I will definatly check the reed switch a little more .

 

[FaT Air]

It could also be a "Solid state micro switch" which is a hall effect transistor and magnet on the actuator button. I got a couple laying around somewhere. I've replaced a few with a normal micro switch, just don't use the +5

 

[greenguy]

well guys here is a pic of mine.

 

[PANHANDLER]

I just finished opening the gear box up all looked pretty good till i went a bit deeper is when i found the reason why the motor would only turn a few revs then eror out in both directions . The magnets that are glued to the inside of the motor housing came lose . It looks like some type of apoxy was holding them in place and most likely from age and heat the appoxy let lose, so the magnets were just floating around and would bind in the armature. Also i found the micro switch has failed . I am sure i could save this motor till i remembered i had another acuator with good motor and reed senser , but the 2 tubes are in very poor shape . So to get to the point i looked inside the tube drive end of the Thomson Saginaw and it is exactly the same as the acuator i was giving up on . The Saginaw tube fits perfectly in the motor housing . The best part is now i have a working unit with good reed senser and limit switch .
Once i get this dish up and rumming i am going to start a new thread on this adventure , it will contail everything from the start of this project from cleaning . painting , all mechanical and fine tunning .Heres a pic of the motor assembly that i got lucky with . It pays to hang on to parts you my think you will never use .

 

[crackt]

yes spare parts are always handy. i have about 12 actuators and i can make maybe 5 worth keeping from the parts.

crackt out,.

 

[DK_Sat]

When you open the Thomson Saginaw gear box check the plastic wheel to see if it is crack or broken anywhere

 

[tvropro]

well guys here is a pic of mine.

Thats how mine looks.

 

[PANHANDLER]

When you open the Thomson Saginaw gear box check the plastic wheel to see if it is crack or broken anywhere

All the gears looked great . The one mechanical thing i found bad was the magnets came lose are just floating around in the body . As i mention in the previuos thread i swapped the motor and gear housing out for a more updated one . The Saginaw is going on the shelf for parts . The unit works great now . Thank you everyone for your great insite and sugestions .