Runaway Sadoun PowerTech DG280

[guapoharry]

Looking for advice on how to remedy this problem.

DG280 motor
Coolsat 5000 receiver
USALS setting

When setting up this motor, I changed position and it ran toward its eastern limit and stopped. As it was running, I tried setting the satellite position again, but it was unresponsive. I powered down and then it started working.

After that, it worked OK. Then after finishing the dish installation, and watching PBS on 125ºW for a while, I turned off the receiver.

Later, I turned the receiver back on and it said it was moving to 125ºW. After that, no receiver setting would result in acquiring a signal. Got busy and stopped trying.

Later on, I looked at the dish and it was pegged on the eastern position.

Is there a reset or some sort of troubleshooting thing to try?

 

[AcWxRadar]

GuapoHarry,

Do you have your motor manual? On page 5 it presents three reset procedures. I am not sure that this is going to resolve your problem in this case, but here they are:


HARDWARE RESET BY RECEIVER

Execute the command: GO TO REFERENCE (GO TO "0")

Cut off the power by disconnecting the coaxial cable.

Reconnect the coaxial cable

Execute the command: SHIFT "0"


HARDWARE RESET BY DiSEqC MOTOR

Cut off the power by disconnecting the coaxial cable.

Press and hold both EAST/WEST buttons for 5 seconds.

Reconnect the coaxial cable.

LED1 and LED2 blink for 5 seconds.


BUILT-IN SATELLITE TABLE RESET

Press and hold both EAST/WEST buttons for 5 seconds.

LED1 and LED2 blink for 5 seconds.


PLEASE NOTE:

IF you have any satellite positions stored using DiSEqC 1.2 motor control, they will be erased and restored to the factory set positions and you will have to relocate the sat and select "SAVE/RECALCULATE" (<-- Coolsat 5/6K) or "CALCULATE and STORE" or "SAVE POSITION" to override the factory position once again.

RADAR

 

[Sadoun]

It sounds like it is getting a DiSEqC signal from the receiver somehow to go EAST (bug in the DiSEqC programming). I don't think it is the motor.

You could test the motor if you have another receiver or power source (like a car battery). Make sure you connect it using the correct voltage polarity.

 

[Auric]

Mine did that when I was looking for new Sats with my 22KHz switch hooked up. When I removed the switch it worked great, locked position, then I installed the switch. But I use DiSEqC 1.2 command

 

[AcWxRadar]

Gupoharry,

Another problem could be the internal relays. If the DG-280 is anything like an SG-2100 in this regard (I cannot say as I have not had my DG-280 opened to investigate this), but....

The SG-2100 motor has a set of relays that control the motor power and motor direction. These are prone to failure in the SG-2100 motors. They usually fail in the OPEN mode or won't drive the motor, rather than continuously driving it. However, a relay can fail and remain in the closed position, too.

I have witnessed the SG-2100's drive only one direction or not at all because of a failed relay.

This is very unlikely in this case, but nothing is impossible. I say unlikely as I believe this mode of failure would require more than one device to fail at the same time. This would be highly unlikely.

I would tend to suspect what Sadoun has stated. That the receiver is continuing to send a command that causes the motor to continue moving.

The only way to know for sure is to swap the receiver and try it over again (swapping back and forth between two different receivers). If another receiver always works good, but this one always fails, then the receiver is causing this. You will want to do many redundant tests to ensure the legitimacy of this troubleshooting.

RADAR

 

[brentb636]

I've had the same thing happen with my DG380 motor, on perhaps 3 different occasions. In each case it was pegged over fully east, and I had to go out and manually drive it to center again. I tend to agree with Sadoun that it is a squirrely receiver command.

 

[guapoharry]

Thanks for the help.

Yesterday I went outside to move the dish off of the east limit. That went OK and then it happened again later when selecting different satellites.

This got me to looking at all of the receiver settings. The only odd thing was that there were settings to use port one of a DIsEqC switch, but there was no switch installed. So, I eliminated those settings. Could that be a problem?

The DG280 manual link on Sadoun's site brings up a DG240 manual. I guess they are similar.

I did the hardware reset by motor procedure Radar posted. Didn't understand how to do a Reset by Receiver. How do you do a Shift 0 on a Coolsat 5000? Is that like doing a recalculate?

So far, so good. :up