bettarelli
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Chopper question

Mon Sep 02, 2013 3:12 am

Hello everyone

I have a TBolt 1000b that i got from WSS afew weeks back and i have just started to test it. The chopper works great it sounds like it should but when I turn on my rotator the gears are moving but the chopper is not turning. I look inside the rotator box and i see the gears and motor turning but the drive band is just sliding on the chopper tube which leads me to believe that something maybe rusted together which is not allowing the chopper to turn. I tried to tighten up the drive band but samething. Does anyone have any suggestions?

thanks!!
Chris

PS: not sure how long the siren sat before I bought it.

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Bryan
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Re: Chopper question

Mon Sep 02, 2013 3:20 am

Have you tried to rotate the horn by hand? If it will rotate by hand then your spring on the drive band and/or the drive band itself maybe worn out. If you can't rotate it by hand something maybe rusted together which means water got into the unit which could be bad news. Did it have all the bearing retainer bolts in the chopper cap?
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bettarelli
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Re: Chopper question

Mon Sep 02, 2013 3:37 am

hi mixerbd699

yes it did have the bolts in the chopper cap when i got it. I can not rotate by hand which i think like you said some thing is rusted which sucks because the chopper and motors work great.....=-(

bettarelli
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Re: Chopper question

Mon Sep 02, 2013 3:52 am

any other suggestions? What would be the best way to pull off the chopper from the rotator?

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Bryan
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Re: Chopper question

Mon Sep 02, 2013 4:02 am

the only way to really figure it out is to tear the head down pretty much. Take the horn and support off, take out the bolts that hold the chopper motor and cap to the chopper motor housing. once you get the chopper motor assembly and horn off/out you'll need to take the collector rings out, then you'll probably want to take the drive band off as well. by that point you should be able to try pulling the chopper housing (or intake tube whatever you want to call it) up and off the stand pipe. If that don't work you'll need to take the motor and gear reducer off and bring out the heavy hammers.

make sure to use LOTS and LOTS of penetrating oil ( PB-Blaster, Freeze Off) to help get that chopper tube to slide off.


once you get it apart and before you put it back together, you'll want to use liberal amounts of grease so that it won't do this again.
Owner/Operator of SirenTex LLC

Proud of a Federal Signal Thunderbolt 1000T, 2t22A, Model 2t, Model 3 Model 5, SD-10, STH-10, American Signal Corp. T-128, Whelen WPS-2750 and too many Whelen Lights

bettarelli
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Re: Chopper question

Mon Sep 02, 2013 4:29 am

I will give it a try =-) Thanks mixerbd699.....i will keep you posted

Chris

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SirenTech Ind.
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Re: Chopper question

Mon Sep 02, 2013 10:09 pm

By any chance did the Tbolt you get have a rotator panel that fell off and had a homemade looking screen? Just wondering, when I was there, they removed two, I wondered who was getting the other one...
Proud Owner of a wide Collection of Vacuum Tubes, ThunderBolt 1000T, Edwards Model 315
Age 16

bettarelli
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Re: Chopper question

Tue Sep 03, 2013 3:45 am

Hi Siren Tech Ind

No mine had all four panels intact, not homemade screens =-)

bettarelli
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Re: Chopper question

Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:10 pm

mixerbd699

I have used about three quarters of a can of BP blaster on the chopper tube up by the bushings and tried using a sledge hammer and its still will not budge. Not sure whatelse to try.

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holler
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Re: Chopper question

Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:57 pm

stand it up, get a sledge hammer and hit the bottom of the chopper tube (make sure you have removed the collector rings). Keep doing this until you get it apart.

You aren't going to hurt it, put some schwartz behind it.

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