All of the failures were specifically attributed to either a stuck relay in the control box, a manual switch sticking (not releasing) on the front rotor control panel, and a software or computer crash that continued to drive one of the up, down, left, or right control lines.
73,
Tim - N8DEU
----- Original Message ----- From: "Clive Wallis" [email protected] To: "amsat" [email protected] Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2011 11:50 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: G5500 Elevation Rotator Short Circuit?
Many thanks Tim for your comments. From what you've said it sounds like a faulty motor. In the ones you've repaired have you been able to determine the cause of motor over heating?
The problems I've had in the past have always been due to water getting into the units.
73 Clive G3CWV
Hitchin, North Hertfordshire, UK
On 07/10/2011 18:50, Tim Cunningham wrote:
The common failure of the motor windings is caused by heat which causes the enamel coated wire to breakdown. When the enamel breaks down an inner winding short results.
I have successfully rewound motor windings on these rotators just to say it could be done, but it takes some work (not recommended).
I have never seen one of these motors with an open winding. The failure mode on the 8 that I have repaired were always enamel insulation breakdown as a result of overheating.
Tim - N8DEU
Sent from my HTC Tilt™ 2, a Windows® Mobile phone
-----Original Message----- From: Clive Wallis[email protected] Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 11:35 AM To: amsat[email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] G5500 Elevation Rotator Short Circuit?
I wonder if this is a known fault. Recently the fuse on my G5500 blew. The problem seems to be a short on one of the motor circuits.
Checking the DC resistance at the control end, the resistance of one winding is 1.2 ohms, whereas all the other windings are 4.6 ohms.
I could understand a motor burning out and going open circuit, but a short circuit seems less likely. I'm wondering if it could be a short on the cable at the rotator end, where it is subject to much bending. There's about 15 metres of cable.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Unfortunately, at the present time I'm not able to inspect the rotator. It's stuck in the horizontal position, so I will still be able to use the antenna for low elevation passes.
73 Clive G3CWV
Hitchin, North Hertfordshire, UK _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
_______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
_______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb