hygain basic rotor control box trouble shooting?

[mr_fx]

hygain basic rotor control box trouble shooting?

I have a basic hygain rotor control box... the brake seems to work... but nothing happens when I hit either of the direction buttons, not so much as a blip

I have it hooked to a ham 4 rotor both on the bench... I have tried to rotors...

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Assuming that there is proper voltage present then I would suspect C2 is bad. This is an AC electrolytic capacitor that enables the AC motor to reverse directions.It should be somewhere in the range of 120-150 microfarads and rated at 50 volts (or more). If this capacitor is bad then the motor will not turn in either direction.

 

[Robb]

IIRC, aren't they a non-polarized electrolytic cap?
Either way, they can be bought out of the 'Grangier's' catalog online . . .

 

[BJ radionut]

Assuming that there is proper voltage present then I would suspect C2 is bad. This is an AC electrolytic capacitor that enables the AC motor to reverse directions.It should be somewhere in the range of 120-150 microfarads and rated at 50 volts (or more). If this capacitor is bad then the motor will not turn in either direction.

Also be aware that the wiring configuration between several series of those rotors is not the same...Check the control box output and the rotor manual to make sure everything is correct...
All the Best
Gary

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

IIRC, aren't they a non-polarized electrolytic cap?
Either way, they can be bought out of the 'Grangier's' catalog online . . .

Yes it is a non-polarized electrolytic capacitor. Non-polarized or simply AC electrolytic....same thing. Old school says AC like an AC motor run cap etc. Just to distinguis from a normal polarized type.

Also be aware that the wiring configuration between several series of those rotors is not the same...Check the control box output and the rotor manual to make sure everything is correct...
All the Best
Gary

IIRC he should be OK if the box has a Brake release switch. I believe that all the units using that type control box were compatible with the Ham 4 type rotators. The smaller TR-44 series was definitely different.

 

[mr_fx]

well it reads a dead short in circuit... have not taken it out yet

 

[Road Squawker]

hygain basic rotor control box trouble shooting?....

go here http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...aHvTOqhH-4hvJYUZAf65tPQ&bvm=bv.58187178,d.b2I anything you want to know about hy-gain/cde rotors and control boxes is here

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

well it reads a dead short in circuit... have not taken it out yet

That capacitor should be across terminals 4 and 8. Simply lift the wires going to the rotator motor from these terminals on the back of the control box and measure it again. No need to remove it from the circuit to measure it if you do this.

 

[FatHam]

Timely thread...

My rotor started acting up the day this thread was started. I wasn't able to find a replacement 50V 120-140Mfd capacitor (tried Mauser, etc...) other than "NOS" CDE replacement parts on ebay. Pass on the "vintage capacitors".

I threw caution and $7.06 to the wind and put a Grainger "6FLK1" ( http://www.grainger.com/product/DAYTON-Mtr-Start-Capacitor-6FLK1 110-125VAC 124-149Mfd capacitor in the controller and I'm back in business.

This is larger diameter than the OEM part, thus does not fit in the bracket holding the original capacitor. There's PLENTY of room in the box for it, it just isn't going to slide back in to the factory bracket. I simply removed the bracket and set the new part in its place on the board. If I get ambitious I may cut/bend a new bracket out of some thin gauge metal, but I'm not seeing that in my near future.

Thanks CK. I was going to pull the rotor down before I saw your post.