Actuator noise

[arlo]

I did 6 pumps and cycled the actuator but I don't see any grease on the shaft. So, I emptied a 3 oz tube of grease into both actuators and still no evidence of grease on the shaft. The grease tubes were empty when done so the grease must have gone into the actuator tube.

I'd grab a junker and tear one down if I were you. You can certainly wipe a layer on the outer tube but the whole idea is to lube the ball screw assy. inside. Once you rip one apart and look at the guts you'll get it.
Almost certain that if you took a friction comparison with the motor off before and after you will see it is reduced a lot.
Can't really say I've ever needed a whole tube of goo to get things working smooth and slick.
Look out for squish-out definitely.
*oops....a 3oz tube. i was thinking a regular tube for a mans grease gun. lol! three trigger pulls from a smurf gun is like 1 from mine.*
Good Job. Keep us posted.

 

[arlo]

I've never read someone putting that much effort into an arm before. Kudos. I would of just bought a new one.

Sent from my LM-G710VM using the SatelliteGuys app!

True I guess. Seen the price for a 36" Von Weise? A buck-two-ninety-eight of grease and a 39 cent Zerk let's me put money in the cookie jar for a new fancy trailer jack and keeps the super crap doing its job.

 

[ZetaMale]

I'd grab a junker and tear one down if I were you. You can certainly wipe a layer on the outer tube but the whole idea is to lube the ball screw assy. inside. Once you rip one apart and look at the guts you'll get it.
Almost certain that if you took a friction comparison with the motor off before and after you will see it is reduced a lot.
Can't really say I've ever needed a whole tube of goo to get things working smooth and slick.
Look out for squish-out definitely.
*oops....a 3oz tube. i was thinking a regular tube for a mans grease gun. lol! three trigger pulls from a smurf gun is like 1 from mine.*
Good Job. Keep us posted.

Yeah I got a mini lube gun that takes 3 oz tubes of lube. I figured that's all I really need. But I did notice that there's a better variety of lubes for the "real" lube guns. By the way, mine is an acme screw, not a ball screw. And I don't have a junker to tear apart.

 

[arlo]

Yeah I got a mini lube gun that takes 3 oz tubes of lube. I figured that's all I really need. But I did notice that there's a better variety of lubes for the "real" lube guns. By the way, mine is an acme screw, not a ball screw. And I don't have a junker to tear apart.

Well you're on the right track. The idea will come clear once you peek at the photo. We want to extend the tube so that when you pump the sauce in and run it in and out a few times the screw assy. and hopefully the thrust bearing/washer will get what it needs.
And hey. You didn't have to scan and save all of your sats back in either from a complete teardown.

 

[ZetaMale]

Apparently I overlubed one of the actuators. It groans when it gets close to the maximum retraction. I set the soft limit to stop the actuator before that point to be on the safe side. I suppose I could remove the zerk and let the excess ooze out. But it's interesting that nothing oozes out with the zerk still in place. Yep, I'm a rookie at this.

 

[ZetaMale]

Get yourself a can of white lithium grease with the straw and ease the straw in the gear cavity and spray it in while someone inside punches the E-W button.

I shot some white lithium grease into the gears and didn't make any difference in noise level. Good thing it didn't kill the actuator either. But I was wondering if it would help with a noisy HH90.

 

[arlo]

I shot some white lithium grease into the gears and didn't make any difference in noise level. Good thing it didn't kill the actuator either. But I was wondering if it would help with a noisy HH90.

No idea. Some grease in mechanisms that require it that have none is always a good idea.
A good teardown of the geartrain and some thick sticky grease would work better than lithium.
But if it's really worn and sloppy noise may be there still but at least not running dry.