Pinnicle fine tune elevation bolt

[goaliebob99]

The fine tune elevation bolt broke on my dish. It was really rusted and i was trying to break it loose. I still have the block that connects to the dish but both sides are broken so im afraid it might be a lost cause trying to get the bolt to turn out of the block. Any idea what that block is called and if a place like Lowes would have it?

The block has a bolt that goes through it and as you turn the bolt and washers it moves the block up and down the bolt to fine tune the elevation.

Thanks.

 

[waylew]

In the manual they call it a bearing support.Doubt you'd find it anyplace like Lowes.Maybe an industrial supply like Kaman Bearing if they have one around you.

I'd just take it off,drill out the bolt and retap the hole,and get a new bolt and nuts of course.

 

[goaliebob99]

In the manual they call it a bearing support.Doubt you'd find it anyplace like Lowes.Maybe an industrial supply like Kaman Bearing if they have one around you.

I'd just take it off,drill out the bolt and retap the hole,and get a new bolt and nuts of course.

Yea I was thinking about trying Granger.. They usually have everything. There is a good portion of the bolt itself hanging still attached so it may not be hard to get it out. It's just a matter of breaking it loose.

 

[waylew]

Soak the hell out of it,or heat,or both.

 

[goaliebob99]

Soak the hell out of it,or heat,or both.

Well we went to battle today and the bolt won. I was in the process of extracting the bolt and my drill bit broke. Also It went a bit sideways and because the piece was rusted, it broke off a bit. So now I am going to have to have the part made or find one somewhere. I'm emailing winegard to see if they happen to have anything.

Most likely I will have to find someone who can fabricate it.

 

[. Raine]

Can you post up a picture of it? Maybe someone has one laying around that they can part with?

 

[goaliebob99]

Here you go. This shouldn't be too hard to fabricate. I just need to find someone who can do it.

 

[. Raine]

Wow, totally different than what I'd envisioned in my mind! Just went out and looked at the couple of old unused mounts that I have laying around here and neither of them has a piece like that on it.

It does look like it wouldn't be hard for a machinist to fabricate it. If you try drilling it out again and on the other side the bolt is broken off fairly flush with the metal you could try grinding it all smooth and then center-punching a mark in the bolt to keep the drill bit from drifting as you start to drill it, drill a small hole through it first and then move up to a bigger bit. Small stuff like that I mount in a vise mounted onto my drill press table and drill it that way, the small stuff can be a Pita!

 

[primestar31]

It looks to me like you could maybe fab one from a VERY heavy old-school door hinge. Remove the pin from the hinge, pull it apart, and cut to size...

 

[goaliebob99]

That's what I was thinking too. All I would have to do is tap the hinge part of it for the size of bolt needed and cut across. I think I will make a trip to home depot this weekend. All I need it to do is to attach to the elevation bolt and make sure the other bolt is long enough for adjustments.

 

[waylew]

It would be a bit more of a PITA to adjust,but,a piece of suitable tubing with a tab welded on,then lock the original adjusting bolt down and use nuts on either side of the tube to adjust.In other words,no threads in the tube,it will just slide on the bolt.

Cut the old barrel off the tab and weld a new one on and you're done.

Just thought of this,get a long nut,what you'd use to connect two pieces of running thread together,and weld that on the tab.Can now adjust as original.

 

[fred555]

Coupling nuts:

https://www.fastenal.com/products/f...ts"|~ ~|attrlength:1350|~ ~|attrlength:1370|~

 

[waylew]

Coupling nuts:

https://www.fastenal.com/products/fasteners/nuts/coupling-nuts?r=~|categoryl1:"600000 Fasteners"|~ ~|categoryl2:"600072 Nuts"|~ ~|categoryl3:"600076 Coupling Nuts"|~ ~|attrlength:1350|~ ~|attrlength:1370|~

egg zackly

 

[danristheman]

I bought those at my local hardware store.

 

[waylew]

Any place that sells running thread should have them.

 

[goaliebob99]

Basically it looks like a coupling nut welded to metal. Wineguard just called me as well. Basically when they cleared out their warehouse they got rid of all those spare pinnacles and trashed them. I wish they would have posted something as I'm sure someone on here including myself would have been glad to have them for spare parts for people. I would hate to know how much was thrown out.

 

[Magic Static]

There is a good chance I can get those pieces from the same Pinnacle mount the other parts came from. I need to go out and see. I want some parts for myself so hopefully soon
BTW the "Zenith" branded pinnacle I had rescued last spring/summer has been purchased from me and put to use.

 

[mikekohl]

Unfortunately when a company is going out of business or is bought out by another, the potential profit from selling spare parts rarely is discussed or even considered.
When KTI bought Orbitron in 1999, they spent a considerable amount of time dumping all parts and tooling made for Orbitron antenna models that KTI felt competed with their own. At best they got scrap value for both the remaining parts and much of the tooling.

Winegard is still in business, but they closed down their C-band division many years ago, and saw little need to make extra spare parts for potential sale to consumers.

When Paraclipse sold its assets to Patriot Antenna some one dozen years ago, at least there was a time period that some Paraclipse parts could be purchased, and at least one employee that knew about the product. Once that link is broken, the private market of selling used and/or unwanted antennas is all there is. With a frenzy in the scrap metals business four or five years back, many potential antennas that could have been salvaged for parts disappeared in a short time.

 

[waylew]

With a frenzy in the scrap metals business four or five years back,

I'll add that frenzy continues,at least around here.