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+--- Thread: Proteco Aster 3 ram fault (/showthread.php?tid=6816)
Proteco Aster 3 ram fault - soother - 19-04-2021
This ram was buzzing and not moving, and replacing the capacitor made no difference. There is continuity from the grey common wire to the brown, but no continuity from grey to black. Pushing and bending the travelling cable makes no difference, so my diagnosis is an open circuit motor winding.
This job is a favour for an elderly lady neighbour, so I won't be charging for my time, and want to keep her costs down. Can anyone please point me in the right direction for a cheap replacement 300mm stroke left hand ram? A used one would be fine, and would match the rest of the double gate system which is about 10 yrs old and looks it.
Thanks!
RE: Proteco Aster 3 ram fault - soother - 23-04-2021
No replies! Before ordering a new ram I decided to get stuck in and find out why one motor winding was open circuit. I used an angle grinder to make two openings in the bottom end of the motor housing, then drove out the stator assembly by alternate whacks with a hammer and nail punch. Once apart, a burn spot was visible on the bottom end where the winding had burnt out. After some dissection, I could see that the arc had vaporised wires leaving 6 loose ends, so it was not surprising that the winding was reading as not connected. After some precision soldering under magnification and trying different permutations of the 6 to give equal resistance (about 75 ohms) for each winding, it is now re-connected, the motor is reassembled, and the ram is working properly and back on the gates.
I took the attached photos of some steps of the process.
RE: Proteco Aster 3 ram fault - soother - 14-07-2021
So three months later the other ram motor of the pair failed with a pop. When I took this one apart and found an almost identical burn-out in almost the same place on the winding, close to the sleeves which cover the joints between the wires from the power cable and the windings, I think the problem is that the enameled wire of the common connection and the forward or reverse windings cross almost at right angles so there is full mains voltage separated by two layers of enamel insulation which has broken down for some reason. Seems like a design flaw.
These rams are about 8 years old, Have other folks found that this make of ram fail after this sort of time ?