My 2 year old Venture 24" Actuator has about 2 "clicks" in either direction worth of slack. I have tried to search but haven't found much here on the subject of repairing excess travel in a Venture actuator. Any suggestions on repairing?
Venture 24 actuator slack
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I've never had one with this issue, so can't help you directly beyond recommending that you call them on the phone. They are very helpful, and might even send you a new one if yours is only age 2, if they can't talk you through an adjustment.
Leading Electric Linear Actuator Manufacturers and Supplier in USA - Venture Mfg Co.
Hummm, that sux! Have you checked out at the dish to see how much slack there is in the lead screw nut? Do that by trying to move the dish back and forth by hand and see how much of the inner sleeve moves in and out of the outer housing.
Have a look at this: Motorsports Village • View topic - Von Weise Acme Nut Repair
Have a look at this: Motorsports Village • View topic - Von Weise Acme Nut Repair
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The bolt attaching the actuator to the dish is a good fit and snug. I can pull or push on the dish and the slack is in the actuator. It works out to about 2 clicks.
Thanks for the link! I'll look it over and see what I can do. It would be nice if I could just get a new actuator rod and just swap the motor. I know that's do-able with the cheap QARL ones, I don't know about these.
They just emailed me the price for a new one. $200 USD. That price is higher than what Rick lists it for, so I'm guessing it includes shipping to Canada. I'm probably not going to order it.
Maybe in the spring I'll order a Ball Screw model.
Maybe in the spring I'll order a Ball Screw model.
I think I've got an 18" Super Jack and what looks like an 18" Venture out in the shop that looks very similar to what Venture has on their website. I'll see if I can take that inner tube out of one of them Sunday and see what's involved replacing that nut.
The 18" model is a different beast. It was not designed or built by Venture and is a China OEM of the same unit sold by Super Jack.
I have no complaints with Venture. I actually bought the 18" model and it died very quickly, followed by a second. Venture sent me the 24" as a very kind gesture. I hope to purchase another Venture, but this time it will be the ball screw version. I'll wait for spring to get that.
Both these actuators I have came with OLD dishes that I picked up locally, ie, they were probably 30 +/- years old?? The Venture look alike was on the 10ft Unimesh and the Super Jack ZX HQ was on the Raydx. From China in the 1980s??? Really??
The old legacy Super Jacks were a decent product. The current builds are quite poor quality. The reported failure rate on the 18" Venture Super Jack that I carried was approx 40% within 2 years.
Brian, was that 40% failure rate due to the lead screw nut wearing out or was it other problems?
When I got these two 18 inchers on those dishes I already had two extra 24 inch Von Weise movers so I swapped these 18 inchers out. Since then they have only been used to test some of the Vbox controllers that I've worked on here in the shop.
To be honest, since most of the stuff I watch now is between 97w and 127w I could get by with using those 18 inch movers again if needed. I'd probably use them before I'd pay $200+ for another 24incher.
Well, not good news. I just went out to the shop and tried to run the inner tube off the Venture look alike I have so I could see the lead screw nut, BUT, it won't run off the end of the lead screw like a Von Weise will??? I guess they make it that way to keep you from being able to repair it. I probably could get it apart if I had to, but, since it's still in good shape and usable like it is, I'd hate to turn it into scrap just to see how it's made.
Having said that, I'm pretty sure that nut could be replaced, just not as simple to get off as the Von Weise is. Maybe one day I'll get my hands on one that's already junk and I'll experiment with that.
Sorry
Having said that, I'm pretty sure that nut could be replaced, just not as simple to get off as the Von Weise is. Maybe one day I'll get my hands on one that's already junk and I'll experiment with that.
Sorry
In the mean time for a bandaid fix, take a rubber tarp tie-down and strap it across the actuator so it pulls the slack out and holds the dish to one side. Hopefully keeps the dish from rocking back and forth in a slight breeze and losing signal.
The 18" failures were all motor related. Jammed and broken brushes, broken power leads (solder wicking up the flex weave). The 24" Super Jack motors in distribution for the last 10 years by various distributors/ resellers typically have similar type motor failures, but also have had weak reed switch circuits. The factory switches tend to magnetize and prematurely fail.
This weekend I took down the "slacking" Venture 24" and actually put back the 18" Venture. This is the second 18" unit, the one with the bad sensor, but I replaced the sensor from the first one that had the bad motor.
It works well, in that it is a little faster, has more clicks per position for better adjustment and has no slack. No telling what its durability will be like, but time will tell.
It works well, in that it is a little faster, has more clicks per position for better adjustment and has no slack. No telling what its durability will be like, but time will tell.
I highly suggest you strap a STRONG piece of good braided steel wire (maybe vinyl coated clothesline wire?) from just in front of the motor on the tube, to where the bolt on its end is screwed down to the polar mount. Just long enough that it won't interfere with extension/retraction, BUT so it can keep your mount from flopping over fast and hard possibly damaging anything, IF the actuator breaks in half.
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