Venture 24 actuator slack

[pacificrim]

I highly suggest you strap a STRONG piece of good braided steel wire (maybe vinyl coated clothesline wire?) from just in front of the motor on the tube, to where the bolt on its end is screwed down to the polar mount. Just long enough that it won't interfere with extension/retraction, BUT so it can keep your mount from flopping over fast and hard possibly damaging anything, IF the actuator breaks in half.

Great thinking! I had a very similar thought. It is a toy compared to the Venture 24".

 

[pacificrim]

It looks like I found a way to fix my Venture 24" - permanently or temporarily depending on the original cause. Time will tell.

So, I disconnected the actuator rod from the motor and noticed that I could press the shaft forward from either end. It would slack back and forth a couple millimeters. What if the actuator shaft was a better fit to the motor? So I used some small metal plates (pieces of a washer) to reduce the depth of the motor shaft into the actuator rod, thus pushing the rod forward. Taadaa!

 

[pacificrim]

Hooked it up and so far so good.