DG-380 Motor backlash

[JohninSD]

My DG-380 motor from Sadoun has developed some play in the shaft - it turns a degree or two without the motor turning. This motor is said to have automatic backlash adjustment so I don't think this play should be there - anyone else have this problem? I don't think I've overloaded the motor - I'm using it with a WSI9036 dish.

thanks,

John

 

[brentb636]

Check with tech support at Sadoun. They had a batch of motors with the wrong backlash adjustment screw. They can tell you if yours is one of the batch, I'd guess, and help you out if that is NOT the problem.

 

[JohninSD]

new screw on its way

I contacted Sadoun and they are sending me a replacement screw - my motor has the wrong one.

 

[pback]

I have the wrong screw in my motor as well and the right one is on the way, but, I have a diff problem than yours, John. The DG 380 will stay at 30W Hipasat and will not drive West again without a few manual nudges on the dish. Hope the bad screw is the problem and not the control board

 

[jibaro29]

I have the same issue with my DG 380. I do not go to 30W anymore. One thing I notice is that the worm screw (I'm not sure that is the correct name for it) slips once in awhile and screws up your alignment. The gold plated shaft that is supposed to holds the worm screw in place does not work very well with a 1.2 dish. My dish is just to heavy (37lbs). Going back to the shaft, I took it out and replace it. I got a rod from ACE Hardware. The only thing I changed was the nipple at the end of the shaft now is a tad longer (1/8"). I have no more backlash or alignment issues. I'm finally happy with this motor. I almost forgot, there is more change I made. The DG 380 motor shaft I replaced it with one from an old SG2100. I did not like that split shaft at all.

 

[pback]

Thanks for the modding tip, jibaro.........I will have to look into that if the new screw don't fix the 30W problem.

 

[walrus1957]

My DG-380 motor from Sadoun has developed some play in the shaft - it turns a degree or two without the motor turning. This motor is said to have automatic backlash adjustment so I don't think this play should be there - anyone else have this problem? I don't think I've overloaded the motor - I'm using it with a WSI9036 dish.

thanks,

John

Strange I should see this post. A few weeks back my dish toppled over in high winds. After I set it back up it had about ten degrees of slop in the motor. Like you I was told that it had an automatic backlash adjustment so there would be no way to remidy this problem. I took it apon myself to repair the motor (DG380) just two days ago. What I found was a set screw on the side of the motor that allows you to adjust the backlash. See the attached photo and note the allen wrench I used to reset the backlash. It took about one full turn in on the set screw to remove the slop. I played around with this set screw in and out noting the slop, and set it just to were all notible slop in the motor stem was gone. I then used my stb to move the motor from east to west limit. All worked OK so I re-installed on my dish.

EASY FIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Babadem]

Strange I should see this post. A few weeks back my dish toppled over in high winds. After I set it back up it had about ten degrees of slop in the motor. Like you I was told that it had an automatic backlash adjustment so there would be no way to remidy this problem. I took it apon myself to repair the motor (DG380) just two days ago. What I found was a set screw on the side of the motor that allows you to adjust the backlash. See the attached photo and note the allen wrench I used to reset the backlash. It took about one full turn in on the set screw to remove the slop. I played around with this set screw in and out noting the slop, and set it just to were all notible slop in the motor stem was gone. I then used my stb to move the motor from east to west limit. All worked OK so I re-installed on my dish.

EASY FIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Being 10° degrees off, meaning when you set the motor to Zero your pointer on the motor was pointing at the 10° degree mark on the motor? My Dish or motor have been off lately and I have always compensated for it by adjusting my longitude position. I will be tunning my Dish/motor soon, any information will be highly appreciated.

 

[walrus1957]

Being 10° degrees off, meaning when you set the motor to Zero your pointer on the motor was pointing at the 10° degree mark on the motor? My Dish or motor have been off lately and I have always compensated for it by adjusting my longitude position. I will be tunning my Dish/motor soon, any information will be highly appreciated.

I did not mean it was ten degrees in error. What I noticed is that a slight breeze would rock the dish ten degrees back and forth. There was at the very least ten degrees of backlash in the motor stem. This happened after the dish and tripod toppled over in high winds. The impact of the dish to ground was such that it bent the LNB support arm up one and over two inches, and pushed the LNB out of the metal holding bracket. Prior to this wind damage there was no backlash in the motor stem.

After I set the dish back up and before I corrected the bends in the LNB arm and motor backlash, signal from 91W was the best I could do. Nothing else on the arc would come in.

Resetting the motor backlash was an easy fix, the dish did not fair as well. Still working on re-aligning the dish. I installed hold down stakes on the tripod to keep this from ever happening again.

Apparently you can set the initial backlash on the DG380 motor using this set screw. So if you notice a little bit of play in the motor you should be able to correct for it. If you over tighten the backlash adjustment the motor will not move and possibly fault out. So it is a trial and error approach unless you install a current meter inline with the motor. You can at any time back out the set screw to add play to the system.

 

[Tron]

Looks like a far easier backlash adjustment than the one on the SG-2100s (which are known for motor shaft slack issues)...

 

[Swamp_Rat]

I adjusted the screw on the side of my 380 as per Walrus' post and it does take the slop out. Be careful not to run it down too tight as it will lock up the motor. Takes about 30 seconds and the motor has never worked better.

 

[Sadoun]

Congratulations for finding a quick solution.

 

[brentb636]

I finally installed the correct screw in my problem DG380 yesterday ( a fine sunny day, for a change ) and the sweet thing now goes everywhere without stalling out and having to be helped back from the edges. Thanks Sadoun !!

 

[pback]

I am also happy to report back that my problem is fixed with the correct screw. It now moves everywhere on the arc without any problem. Thanks Sadoun and especially to Bill for the great customer service.

 

[Babadem]

I finally installed the correct screw in my problem DG380 yesterday ( a fine sunny day, for a change ) and the sweet thing now goes everywhere without stalling out and having to be helped back from the edges. Thanks Sadoun !!

I am also happy to report back that my problem is fixed with the correct screw. It now moves everywhere on the arc without any problem. Thanks Sadoun and especially to Bill for the great customer service.

Did any of you take a picture of this screw and what part of the motor it came from?

 

[brentb636]

Pictures are in Post #6 of THIS thread, http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/200724-dg380-fortecstar-1-2-meter-dish.html .

 

[Babadem]

Pictures are in Post #6 of THIS thread, http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/200724-dg380-fortecstar-1-2-meter-dish.html .

Thanks!:up