36v actuator - how many amps?

[kenny]

Got myself a fairly serious problem here. I suspect a careless workman may have accidentally cut one of the two power cables connected to the actuator motor on my 120cm dish. If I could avoid digging up 20 metres of my lawn, I'd prefer it. Since I do have a spare pair of thinner cables that used to operate a polariser, before the days of universal lnbs also buried in the same tube, I wondered if I could get away with using one (or both?) of these in place of the broken power cable? I guess it's all a question of how much juice the motor takes. The actuator has been outside for so long that any information labels it may have carried have long since perished. What do you guys reckon?

[TheBadger]

You will probably get away with it. I think it's a case of suck it and see but if the cable's been in the ground a while it may all be u/s. If it's in a tube can't you use the existing one to draw a new one through?

[kenny]

I installed the cable about 10 years ago. Unfortunately, at the time the only tube I could lay my hands on made for a very tight fit, so I'm unlikely to be able to pull a new cable through. It's about 50 metres as well. If I can't find where the break is, I guess trying the old polariser cable is my only option. Suck it and see, as you say....

[wod]

well which cables are damaged as on my 1224 motor the 2 thicker wires are for the power and the thinner wires are for the sensor and pulse

the motor should use anything up to 5amps i would say as my 1224 uses around 3.5amps

[kenny]

So, I started digging up my lawn yesterday evening, trying to find where the damage had been done. I have a robotic lawn-mower, and the guy had been installing some additional guide-cables, using a diamond-edged circular cutter to make a slot to drop the cable in. He reckoned the break was likely to be at a point where he may have intersected the tube containing the buried sat cable in the middle of the lawn. Had no luck locating the tube, so went back to the dish end to check the exact direction that the tube lay (I installed it 10 years ago, so couldn't remember exactly) .... Lo and behold, after uncovering a couple of metres - there it was - a gash right across the plastic tube. The bloke had been adamant that he had not used the cutter near the dish - but clearly he had. Cutting out a section of the tube showed that not only was one of the motor cables cut, but also the 2 polariser cables (no longer used) which I had thought about using in case I couldn't locate the break! So - I have been able to effect a temporary repair, and the dish is moving again - phew. The bloke will be getting a phonecall from me shortly to come and make a better repair that will survive being reburied in the ground, naturally with a new section of tube. I'm relieved that the problem has been resolved relatively easily.....