Liquid Engineering for actuators

[Vipersan]

Not been able to move Christina for at least a month ..
The Vboxes reported short jerky movements followed by errors ..
needless to say ..the stored sat positions are now garbage.
My Fault I guess..
It turned very cold..
Another one of my less umpressive ideas was to mount a funnelled cup around the main body of the actuator arm so it overlapped the extending section at the joint..
The idea itself I guess was ok ..but the cup was taped in place using amalgamating tape ..and the cup filled with copper grease ...with a diaphragm to hold the grease in place and stop it spilling out..
Also made from amalgamating tape..
It worked fine up until winter ..whereupon some sort of chemical reaction took place ..
The grease became stiff ..the rubber of the amalgamating tape mixed with the grease ..
et voila ..
perfect seal ...and no actuator movement ..
yes that ammount of pressure created by the seal was enough to stop the worm driving the jack.
Today was warmer though drizzly ...so I decided today was a good day to try and fix it ..
I used a grease solvent ..and half a bottle of fairy liquid ..plus an old torn up bed sheet ..
3 hours later and nudging Christina a few inches at a time ..
and having cut loose the grease cup ...I had the actuator visibly clean of grease and rubber..
..and just re-greased the inner actuator extension with what I hope is a more suitable grease ..
A water rellant white grease with zinc oxide anti- corrosion additive
NLG1:2
claims..
Ideal for marine and automotive use where extra protection is required against salt ,acid and chemical action.
eg trailer,car & outboard bearings and linkages.
Temperature range -35deg C to 150 deg C
A re-think regarding the grease cup needed I think.

So far Christina is once again moving ...but sat positions will have to be re-established.
rgds
VS

 

[Lazarus]

I too have experienced short, jerky movements.

I think it's due to my medication

 

[Vipersan]

I too have experienced short, jerky movements.

I think it's due to my medication

I can only sympathise buddy ..
following my recent endoscapy ..and prep ...
No problems here ..
In fact it's often a race to beat gravity..

lol

 

[Channel Hopper]

Bolting a sheet of aluminium above the worm drive part that extends (secured at dish end) that is an inverted 'V' will fix most evils.

 

[Vipersan]

Bolting a sheet of aluminium above the worm drive part that extends (secured at dish end) that is an inverted 'V' will fix most evils.

Good Idea CH ..
I suspect none of this would be neccessary if I lived in a place with less daily precipitation..
Still ..there are worse places to be atm ..
Just ask Terry..

 

[Lazarus]

I can only sympathise buddy ..
following my recent endoscapy ..and prep ...
No problems here ..
In fact it's often a race to beat gravity..

lol

Ah, yes. The old "world has fallen out of my bottom ploy"

 

[RimaNTSS]

Once I made weather protection-roof for polar-mount and partially for actuator. Used smaller antenna for it. From one antenna is possible to make 2 covers.

 

[nelson_b]

perfect seal ...and no actuator movement ..
yes that ammount of pressure created by the seal was enough to stop the worm driving the jack.

Surprising ...... Good though that you are back in action again now

 

[Vipersan]

Not the end of the story Nelson ..
unfortunately ..
Yes I can now more the dish from full East to West ..but having re-synced the Vbox ..I cannot accurately get it to return to a set position ...
Not surprising really as Err 2 still keeps occurring ..
Err 2 indicates afaik that the pulse count is not being read ..correctly..
So either there is another issue ...or more likely the New-ish Venture has been damaged ..
ie the internal mag wheel is not rotating as it should ..
A job for another day I think.
Ideas or suggestions welcomed..
Why is it that I have gone through at least 5 actuators in 5 years whereas the one I had on Christina prior lasted over 12 years ??
My opinion ..fwiw ..
everything is built to fail ..
nothing made to the same quality as it once was..
c'est la vie

If only I could get my hands on a 24 inch Von-Weise from older stock..
Those were built to last a lifetime

 

[Terryl]

We used this stuff in cold places. (certain radar sites north of the arctic circle)

Low Temp | Lubriplate Lubricants Co.

 

[Vipersan]

We used this stuff in cold places. (certain radar sites north of the arctic circle)

Low Temp | Lubriplate Lubricants Co.

Hi Terry ..
everything ok at your place ?
Is the weather improving ?
rgds
Evan

 

[Channel Hopper]

Not the end of the story Nelson ..
unfortunately ..
Yes I can now more the dish from full East to West ..but having re-synced the Vbox ..I cannot accurately get it to return to a set position ...
Not surprising really as Err 2 still keeps occurring ..
Err 2 indicates afaik that the pulse count is not being read ..correctly..
So either there is another issue ...or more likely the New-ish Venture has been damaged ..
ie the internal mag wheel is not rotating as it should ..

Is it a four or five wire actuator ?

Regardless, try the small screws holding the wires from the cable to the interior bits first, they lose their ability to provide a good connection on modern kit.

 

[Terryl]

Well right now we have AC main power, but another storm is on it's way and it looks to be a big one.

Stocked up on fuel and other supplies, but we have been notified that the big dam near us (Don Pedro) may over flow during this one, (it's 2 feet from the top of the spillway) if it does it will take out the road below the spillway, this means we have to add 20 miles to any trip to Sonora CA.

This last happened in January 1998, took them 4 months to get the road back.

Other then that I am as happy as a towel boy in the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders locker room, thanks for asking.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Better take the large dish off the mount, put it on the deck and climb in with some provisions.

 

[scopus]

Not the end of the story Nelson ..
unfortunately ..
Yes I can now more the dish from full East to West ..but having re-synced the Vbox ..I cannot accurately get it to return to a set position ...
Not surprising really as Err 2 still keeps occurring ..
Err 2 indicates afaik that the pulse count is not being read ..correctly..
So either there is another issue ...or more likely the New-ish Venture has been damaged ..
ie the internal mag wheel is not rotating as it should ..
A job for another day I think.
Ideas or suggestions welcomed..
Why is it that I have gone through at least 5 actuators in 5 years whereas the one I had on Christina prior lasted over 12 years ??
My opinion ..fwiw ..
everything is built to fail ..
nothing made to the same quality as it once was..
c'est la vie

If only I could get my hands on a 24 inch Von-Weise from older stock..
Those were built to last a lifetime

I had a new V Box off SSS, about Sept last year, within two months if failed, dead. Dave sent another but I was having E2 errors myself, I found the V Box was getting hot. I have now changed the transformer out of a faulty Technomate V box (Motek) no problems now seems to be fine and running quite cool.
Maybe the V Box is faulty VS? Or underpowered? It seems the Venture is pulling a lot of current.

 

[John]

... Just done some load start & run current readings off my 36" Venture on the 1.8CM loaded quite heavily.
To push or pull from extreme East or West positions from standstill draws a start current of around 6.5amps for around a 1/4 of a second and drops to around 1.6amps once moving.
On a lesser motor load task , at around mid arc positions the start current is around 3.5amps again dropping to around 1.6amps normal running current.
I had problems with Motek type positioners, the ASC1 Titanium controller handled the extreme start currents ok most of the time. The RC2000 controller in present use has no problems at all with the high start currents generated at the extreme arc positions.

 

[moonbase]

...The RC2000 controller in present use has no problems at all with the high start currents generated at the extreme arc positions.

The price for the 2nd user RC2000's recently available at just over £100 made them a good buy considering they cost several thousands new. For sure, a 2nd user RC2000 costs more than a v-box from SSS but you would think that the RC2000 would be a better all round performer, especially considering it is dual axis and saves the need for a second v-box on a dual axis installation.

Rgds

 

[Vipersan]

Cant believe I'm doing this again so soon ..
but seriously considering a Von Weise ..
I'm currently in communication with Scott Abright at Von Weise ..
and he is currently calculating the total cost of shipping one over to be ..
............................................
Hello,

The actuator at the link below is 24-36 VDC and the stroke is 24". If you
need additional information (pulse count, etc.), let me know.

V76-5 Actuator with telescoping tube

If you send me your complete shipping address and phone number, I can
calculate shipping cost (FedEx) and any duties/VAT/etc..

Thanks,
Scott
....................................................
Still in the contemplation phase atm ..
we shall see.

 

[aceb]

E2 errors can be caused by all sorts of issues, if it were me, and before I coughed up for a new actuator I would take the positioner, or even two positioners and with a new bit of cable connect to the actuator from out in your yard and retest it. As I'm a bit of a tightarse I used doubled up Cat5 cable for the 30m run to the 1.8 and it worked fine for about six months then for no reason started throwing up E2 errors when I sent it east. A new run of decent four core cable sorted it.

 

[Vipersan]

E2 errors can be caused by all sorts of issues, if it were me, and before I coughed up for a new actuator I would take the positioner, or even two positioners and with a new bit of cable connect to the actuator from out in your yard and retest it. As I'm a bit of a tightarse I used doubled up Cat5 cable for the 30m run to the 1.8 and it worked fine for about six months then for no reason started throwing up E2 errors when I sent it east. A new run of decent four core cable sorted it.

Pretty sure it is an error with the motor Paul..
Did much as you suggested this morning ..
short wire with the original Vbox ..then tried a second Vbox ..
Still getting errors ..
It may well be fixable ..but I need to get Christina working by fitting another actuator ..whilst I remove and inspect the Venture ..
Now I could do this with a cheapie superjack ..but why not go for broke if it dont break the bank..
At least that way I will have a jack in reserve..
It really does depend on what price I'm quoted ..but there is so much admiration for VonWeise product ..I wont deny I'm tempted..
;)