Styxx Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Hi all, I've got a Mac300 that's faulty. If I set it away in test mode it will run a full test fine, then it will try to pan and tilt in one direction and will get stuck. It appears to be trying to both pan and tilt past where it should stop, causing the motors to grind. When it does this it won't let me turn test mode off to stop it. Does anybody either have an idea of how to repair this, or know of a company that will repair these?Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart.thompson Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Hi, Do any error meesages flash up on the display after this happens ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicktaylor Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 I have mac250 with the same problem. What I think happens with mine is the mounting for the pan stop has moved or is broken. So when the pan gets to the point when the microswitch stop should be it goes past and at some point hits a hard stop. I think as the microswitch clicks it registers the strt point so the optical disk on the pan knows where to start. Jamie on this board along with others have been very helpful to me in the past with these issues! More critically I imagine tension is put on the wiring looms as well. With the 250s its a pain to access the switch and metal pressure leaf. Theres a huge capicitor in the way. Oddly the one I have is okay right way up ,but hung it goes wrong. On my list of kit to mend, before I need all the units at once! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart.thompson Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Theres a huge capicitor in the way. Oddly the one I have is okay right way up ,but hung it goes wrong. On my list of kit to mend, before I need all the units at once! That capacitor can be unscrewed by hand in about 10 seconds to remove it, its common fault to see them work on the bench but not upside down. Once the capacitor is removed losen the microswitch bracket and reposition it so the micro switch and pan dampener sit around 1mm under the big pan cog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicktaylor Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Thanks for that Stuart, I did try and unscrew but was frightened of damaging something else! I have been right in before to another and did that by removing the transformer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart.thompson Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Thanks for that Stuart, I did try and unscrew but was frightened of damaging something else! I have been right in before to another and did that by removing the transformer. you cant damage it, theres a thread at the end of the PFC - just get a good grip on it and turn it Only thing to be carefull of is the wires as they can be a bit brittle after a little while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicktaylor Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 I think we might have had communications before are you towards the West Country? Thanks for tip anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart.thompson Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 I'm down in Kent in Maidstone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicktaylor Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Not the person I was thinking of but I think you have been in touch before because of Blueroom ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Styxx Posted December 12, 2013 Author Share Posted December 12, 2013 Thanks for the info! I will try re-positioning the microswitch. You say the capacitor unscrews? Is it not surely soldered in? I'm not certain this will fix the issue, as it manages a full cycle before failing, but I will try anyway. It did come up with an error of **** (that's four stars, I assume the unit is censoring its own swearwords. Makes sense, as it sounds pretty painful!), not one I've ever seen before and is much less informative than a standard error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicktaylor Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 The unit can turn 540 degrees so it goes rounf more than one turn before the stop works. Thats why the designe of the stop is pretty clever as it stops the yoke totating after 1.5 turns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Styxx Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Hi guys, Thanks for the help with this. Before I go ahead with what was suggested (Christmas got in the way of this!) I'd just like to clarify: Is this the capacitor that can be unscrewed in the picture below? When you say "unscrew", does the capacitor itself twist or are there some screws that I can't see? https://www.dropbox.com/s/oz9xhgewlqirevu/IMAG0322.jpg I'd rather ask before destroying it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marktownend Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Alex... Can you please fill out your profile properly? I know it sounds dull but we really do prefer to know who we're dealing with here on the BR. And the chances are that you may well live 3 doors down the road from someone who'll happily fix the unit for you or show you how to, but we've no way of knowing. I can't answer about the capacitor as I've never actually been inside a MAC300, but that style of capacitor almost always has a nut (and usually a lock washer) which attaches it to the metal framework of the light. Just make sure you don't lose the nut or washer into the depths of the unit. Although from Stuart's post #4 it sounds like in these they just screw straight into a threaded hole rather than having a nut. Anyway, let us know whether you're in Manchester or Mongolia... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Styxx Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 Funnily enough Mark, it looks like I'm just up the road from you! I've put my details in now, thanks for suggesting that, it does make sense to let people know where you are. Thanks for the info too, I'll check it out later this week :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Styxx Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 Just thought I'd update on this in case anybody was interested. Unfortunately adjusting the microswitch stopper didn't fix my issue, so my next port of call now is to switch out the main circuit board and see what happens. This should help me narrow down the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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