Thunderbolt Question,

[Matt Hackler]

Hey Everyone,

I have a question about a Thunderbolt 1000. There is a Thunderbolt here in Muncie that on the 11:00 Friday test does not rotate. Now I've not noticed if the others in town do or not, they are a bit out of my way. The test is 1 minute long and the 2001's that I see on a regular basis are always facing a different direction after Friday. I was just wandering if a T-bolt can be programmed to not rotate during a test? I wouldn't think so since it's older technology but I'm not sure. I'm going Friday to observe one of the other T-bolts in town to see if it rotates during the test, but I thought I'd throw this out there and see what you guys and gals thought.

Thanks,

[Jim_Ferer]

If I understand it right a Thunderbolt will eventually be damaged if the horn doesn't rotate. The power for the chopper motor goes through rings and is picked up by a brush. The Thunderbolt controls start the rotator first so that the rings don't get burned out by all the current coming through one spot.

[Conky 2000]

No, it can't be programmed to not rotate, I don't think. The only time you would not see it rotate is if it has a broken rotator.

[Chad]

Blower controls on the Thunderbolt Eric restored

Looks to me that the rotator can be turned off pretty easily, assuming those switches have three posistions: test, off, and automatic, and it looks like they do.

[cdvtripleseven]

If I understand it right a Thunderbolt will eventually be damaged if the horn doesn't rotate. The power for the chopper motor goes through rings and is picked up by a brush. The Thunderbolt controls start the rotator first so that the rings don't get burned out by all the current coming through one spot.

It won't damage the thing if it doesn't rotate. Those collector rings
are each 1/8" thick 1/2" wide copper. I can't imagine how much current
it would take to "burn out" a chunk of copper like that. The 14 ga wires
hooked up to the collector rings would go long before the collector rings
ever would and that would only happen with a shorted chopper motor hooked up to an unprotected circuit.

The rotator switch in the RCM could have been left in the off position,
or the belt could be off the pulleys, or the rotator starter isn't working, or the thing was
never greased and the chopper tube is stuck and it broke the
teeth off of the drive gear, or the rotator motor is bad, or the the wire
twist nut thingies came loose and the wires came disconnected or the...................