[TowerTalk] Or2800DC smoking control box

[Les Kalmus]

The OR2800DC runs on 30-47VDC. Polarity determines rotation direction 
and voltage determines speed.
If the control box is smoking, there is probably a stray wire strand 
shorted in the control cable somewhere.
I would think that the likelihood of a short in the rotator itself is low.
Pins 1 & 2 on the rear of the controller are the turning voltage.
Pins 5 & 6 are around 10V, low current, used for the pulse counter and 
shouldn't be a problem.

Recheck the controller cable connections for stray strands or cracks/cuts.

Les W2LK

On 6/1/2012 7:14 AM, Zivney, Terry wrote:
> What do you mean by 'smoking?'  Does a fuse blow?
>
>   Does the control box stop smoking when you fire it up
> on the dining room table?
>
> You should be able to turn the DC Orion with a 12v
> power supply or battery at the base of the  tower.
> I can do that with my prop pitch which uses an Orion
> control box.
>
> I know it's insulting, but did you check the voltage on
> the AC socket going to your Orion control box?
> An overvoltage (such as from 240vac into a 120vac
> outlet) or a missing neutral at the main power panel
> can raise hell with things.  A few years back the
> neutral at the power company's transformer burned
> up, resulting in unequal voltages on the 120 lines
>   throughout the house.  One side had over 150v,
> the other side less than 100v.  This was discovered
> when my daughter's hair dryer would cause the
> lights to dim dramatically.
>
> Switching power supplies, such as in many newer
> electronics devices are relatively immune to varying
> AC voltage (up to a point) but the Orion (and the
> Green Heron) motor control circuitry is pure
> analog so overvoltage could strain things!
>
> Terry Zivney, N4TZ
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