Hi Dave,
How long does one have to stall the motor before the windings' insulation starts to degrade? I seem to recall it's not very long (less than minutes).
With all that thermal mass, and the insulation from the heat shrink tubing, is the thermal switch really going to be effective mounted that way? I would have thought it needed to be buried in the windings themselves somehow (though I can't imagine getting good thermal contact there either).
Great pictures, by the way.
Greg KO6TH
David Palmer KB5WIA wrote:
Hi Everyone,
Here's a quick update on my G5500 Azimuth rotator story. (Recall that three weeks ago I stalled the rotator after switching antennas.) Yaesu Parts USA is still backordered on the replacement motors, possibly some will arrive from Japan in a few more weeks (or possibly not). The company that I sent the motor to in LA (Eurton Electric) just gave me a quote today for the rewinding cost: $365. That's close to $3X what the motors go for new (if you can find one!), so at least with them it's not cost-effective to repair the motor. I'm having the motor shipped back, and I'll either try to rewind it myself, maybe someone else who can rewind it, or buy a replacement sometime in the future.
To get the antennas back on the air, I decided last week that it would be good to have a spare -- so I ended up purchasing a replacement G5500 system and installing the azimuth rotator this last weekend. Everything's working great so far! I also added a thermal cut-out switch to the motor to prevent a similar stall-induced-motor-burnout in the future. If anyone is interested in how I installed the switch (or what a G5500 azimuth rotator looks like inside), I've added pictures to my blog at:
http://kb5wia.blogspot.com/2012/03/az-el-antenna-system-new-70cm-yagi-and.ht...
73!
Dave KB5WIA _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. 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