Actuator Experts Required

[simon 2003]

my actuator (18" superjack)has been sounding a bit dodgy lately it really grinds as i move across my arc (28e>30w),i mainly just go between 1w and 19e at the moment,today some lads were installing a digi aerial next door and managed to persuade 1 of em to grease the act arm for me,as ive no ladders and a frozen shoulder,so i fully extended it over to 30w and he greased it for me ,but now it wont move ,but the motor still whirrs,he went back up to dish and pulled it back east but it wouldnt move on own but it would move west with motor then just flopped against wall at west limit

now im thinking either.A. it gave up on its way to 30w and arm snapped internally (are they plastic threads)is this possible??
or .B.its unthreaded itself somehow as maybe dish count was off if it was grinding,and is just a case of disconnecting dish end and screwing back in think .B. maybe a bit hopeful though,,

any ideas/opinions chaps

[chorleycat]

hi
it sounds like the gearbox -- or the slot where the gearbox is connected to the worm gear -if so it wont be easy to fix -- not much to go wrong with the worm gear -- apart from getting stiff from lack of grease -- if they get too stiff they will cause the damage i mentioned first.
i,v put a new worm gear bearing in a few actuators that were showing a lot of forward and backward play in the shaft - thats a reasonably easy job
sounds like a new one is your best bet -----

regards c.c.

[cosworth4x4]

yes it is a plastic thread inside the tube part , and can wear quite easy , only moving the short distance dont do them a lot of good , but we all in the same situation , dont think mine as moved ,futher that 13/19 east for the last 6 months, :frown:

[simon 2003]

thanx lads

[satwyn]

I wonder when they greased your actuator arm did they seperate the arm from the motor if so was it put back properly

[simon 2003]

there was no force applied m8 just literally applied the grease,whats involved to re-attach as i cant find any diagrams ect ,that help,would i have to remove from bracket or could i do it on the ladder,,i was resigned to getting new act after chorleycats advice

[satwyn]

there was no force applied m8 just literally applied the grease,whats involved to re-attach as i cant find any diagrams ect ,that help,would i have to remove from bracket or could i do it on the ladder,,i was resigned to getting new act after chorleycats advice motor can be detached from arm one bolt at base of motor but it would be advisable to remove whole unit from polar mount to have a proper look but logically a new motor would be the best way forward keep the old unit to familiarise yourself with the inner workings of the actuator

[TonyO]

the rack and drive gear inside the actuator dry up after 5-10 years and need cleaning and lubricating inside , because of the exterior mounting location and its hot and cold wet and dry cyling, erosion catches up with the mechanism.

I've done this a couple of times with my echostar 18" jack and it worked fine afterwards, you need to strip it down on a workbench and do the job thoroughly.

I had one that water and ants got into which was beyond repair, if yours is mounted high on a wall buy a new one and do the job once only.

[simon 2003]

thank you for advice gents

[spliff]

when mine did this it was the bearing had colapsed and the inner race pulled out alowing the arm to pull out.
new bearing was about 3 quid and 10 mins to clean up and replace