Saturday 13 August 2016

KR600RC Maintenance

A few weeks ago I uncovered the Rotator and the control box for my KR600RC Rotator. Connecting it together and powering it up resulted in a lot of whirring from the rotator and only clockwise movement. Removing the cover the reason for the whirring was obvious; the drive band had perished.  I searched the web for the a replacement there was no obvious source. However there was a hint from the VKL reflector that the rubber nitrile band was a #29. Web Research showed that in the UK this is called a BS029, which were available on EBAY costing  £5 for 10, so 10 were ordered

The reason for no counter clockwise was also investigated. The reason was because the NC contact on the clockwise switch, through which the counterclockwise switch gets its power, was open circuit. Note that the 2 switches are different; the clockwise is DPDT (6 pins) , the anticlockwise is DPST (4 pins). Researching a replacement switch, I found someone was selling refurbished ones in Australia Kur02.com.au, so it must be possible to take them apart!

The replacement bands arrived last week so it was time to start repairs. First the rubber feet were taken off. The cover was then removed and the front panel detached. The gear train then had to be dismantled, by removing the calibrated bezel screws to get to the screws holding the metal cover holding the gears in place!) to get the band in place. Note that the rubber band goes round 3 axles to maintain tension

Powering up the indicator then worked properly. The broken switch was then taken apart by releasing the 4 lugs. I noticed that the 2 contacts had slightly different profiles. The non contacting contact was then removed and bent into a shape matching the working contact. The switch was then reassembled and was now found to be performing properly. Job done!

My only concern is how robust the controller is for mountaintop operation; I can see building an all digital controller with LCD display coming up!

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