Winterizing Your Actuator

[Guest]

Unfortunately old man winter is slowly creeping up on us and its time to prepare our actuators for it. I have my dishes at their extreme western limit with the actuator arm extended as much as possible. Many use different types of lubricant but I choose to use white lithium grease lubricant for my motors. Just spray the whole arm of the actuator and make sure you check all screws to make sure they are tight- tough to do at -20 and with snow on the ground. Once applied, I send my dishes to their eastern limit to make sure that the lubricant is well spread over the arm. Process takes like 5 minutes but keeps your motor in great shape to withstand whatever mother nature can throw at you.

[ViP3R]

Very good advice bro..Even if you live in a warm year round climate it's probably still a very good idea.

[easily confused]

Never done anything to my actuator and was wondering if this would work fine even with a rubber boot on the actuator, or should I remove the boot before applying the grease?

[Guest]

Removing the boot is too much hassle bud. I would lift it up as much as possible to get the arm lubricated. The wind can be nasty so checking to make sure all screws are tight is recommended, regardless of where you live.

[slayersux]

a little to late for me o winterize --but i will do this anyway over the weekend---and make sure to this when winter is near----
thanks for the info.

[Costactc]

Just a reminder folks, Old Man Winter and Mother Nature are about to get it on again so your actuator needs to be lubricated. Have a quick scan as well to ensure that all bolts are tight.

[Costactc]

Getting close to that time of the year again, depending on where you live. Time to break out the grease and get those motor arms lubricated.

[eastof111]

Another thing to check is rust points. My mount is about 15 years old and it was showing rust spots at the base where it exits the cement. The Winegard needed a little rust touch up too, along with the actuator arm. A little sanding and spray paint hopefully will give everything a few more years of life.

[Costactc]

Mounts and screws are all good, 3 motor arms lubricated.

[lexmark]

Thank you Costa,
Please make sure the cables are okay before gets too cold.

[rrob311]

I just moved my 7.5' dish after sitting for awhile and now its stuck. I'll go out there with the grease tomorrow and try to jump start the actuator. Voltage testing in the house was inconclusive.

[Costactc]

I just moved my 7.5' dish after sitting for awhile and now its stuck. I'll go out there with the grease tomorrow and try to jump start the actuator. Voltage testing in the house was inconclusive.

Any luck?

[rrob311]

My 4dtv quit sending voltage out so I temporarily retired it and hooked up an extra vbox 7 I had laying around. Actuator works fine still but I plan on winterizing it momentarily.

[eastof111]

Any idea what caused the 4dtv to fizzle out? Surge maybe?

[Costactc]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news folks but Old Man Winter is coming so getting your actuator arm lubricated is essential, especially if you live in a hostile climate as myself.

[rrob311]

Any idea what caused the 4dtv to fizzle out? Surge maybe?

I think the part that supplies voltage just has worn/dirty contacts. I am thinking it can be fixed later on.