[TowerTalk] Hygain Rotator Checkup and Rebuilding

[Tony King - W4ZT]

I did the same thing last year. I found that the high temp disc brake 
grease was good.  Pictures here: http://w4zt.com/rotor/connect.html

73,
Tony W4ZT

At 09:00 AM 9/30/2003, Mike Gilmer - N2MG wrote:
>I am currently in the throes of checking out three
>fairly old (20 years?) Hygain Tailtwister rotators
>prior to installation.  Also one HamIV.
>
>Of course, I marked the relative position of the
>housing pieces before I started, and opened them
>inside a clean Rubbermaid container to catch any
>bearings that escape - I learned this YEARS ago ;-)
>Also, before I send them up the tower I will verify
>they are all pointing North!
>
>Anyway, I am replacing the (slightly corroded)
>terminal strips with the Rotor Doc's quick connects.
>I have also replaced one (so far) direction-indicating
>wirewound potentiometer - it had a noisy/dead spot
>which was a visibly "flattened" area in the windings
>that resulted in the control box's meter swingy wildly
>when the rotator turned through that direction.  I
>don't know what caused the flat area; it wasn't
>discolored.
>
>I am also cleaning the limit switch contacts with some
>brown paper bag strips soaked in contact cleaner slid
>between the closed contacts.  This paper removed a
>surprising amount of gunk!
>
>I have looked over the bearings and their "races" for
>damage/rust/flat spots but have found none.  I don't
>know if I will change the grease - it looks OK, but it
>is 20 years old at this point so I'm wondering...
>maybe some low-temp stuff from the snowmobile shop?
>
>Any common failures to look for in the brake hardware,
>etc.?  Any other trouble spots I should look for?
>
>I will definitely summarize any hints for posterity.
>Maybe have some photos, too, if anyone's interested.
>
>Mike N2MG
>
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