Introduction
Our long-suffering and well punished Winegard tv antenna now bounces as it's being lowered. The more the winder is turned, the more it bounces, requiring us to stop winding it down 2 or 3 times to allow the bounce to stop before eventually lowering it to the roof. Worn components resulting from grinding against each other are overdue for attention. Some very simple and cheap techniques along with minimal tools and parts (salvaged from the bin) have reduced the annoying bounce and extend the service life of our Winegard's winding mechanism indefinitely.
Content
All right that's our wine guard up on the roof.
I've just come down from fixing it of recent times when you're winding it down with the inside handle, the wine guard itself bounces, um.
And the more you wind as it's bouncing the more it bounces, and the things freaking handles, jerking around and and that's so much.
So that the princess won't touch it now because she's frightened she's going to snap it off and it's going to end up on the ground.
So anyway, I've got up there and had a look at it worked out what the problem is.
And and basically eliminate it for next to nothing.
It probably will come back.
But anyway, I'll show you what I've done all right before I get too excited.
I've taken the handle off the off the wine guard section inside.
Uh.
The wind is it's only held on with us with a, um small, hex nut hex, screw in the end of that and both that and uh and this.
Outer section just fall off into your hand.
Uh, you'll, probably notice that I've got a bit of a bit of coat can around the base of mine, just to firm it up a little bit and give that handle when the handle goes on just give it a little bit more, uh, it's, a bit more snug on there.
So it feels better in your hand.
Anyway.
So I've taken that off.
The reason why I've taken that off is is just so.
So when I get up the top, I can move that thing around and it's, not gonna it's gonna lock into these it locks into these little dimples here on the bottom.
So with that off, it just leaves it free.
Anyway.
So we'll go up on the roof and uh work out what's going on.
Um, taking a handle off downstairs.
Just allows this thing to spin around that wheel.
Uh, I've got a roof rafter up here.
We've got to be a bit careful.
So it's, not actually up vertical, very important point.
Uh, when you're making a youtube video is turn your radio off in the background, because if there's any music playing in the background, um youtube, practice, sh*ts and accuse you of, um copyright violation anyway.
So the radio is off so we're all good to go in the uh there's, a, um, one, single, uh, bolt through here, um dome, headed bolt, uh and a circlip on the other side.
So circlic just pull out with a little pair of pliers just clips over the end of the bolt.
So it comes out pretty easy.
And what I've found is that it's the slop in this, where this bolt hole goes through this solid part here and more importantly, this aluminium rod that's that the aerial is actually attached to this thing.
Here is quite thick.
I don't know, maybe four mil this thing here so it's not going to wear as fast as what this thing does, because this thing's like paper, thin so going up going down rattling around carrying on it's going to wear out a lot faster than what this thing does here.
This has worn out more so it's, just a matter of sleeving it with something and tightening it back up again and making a little bit snug inside this part here is a uh like a worm gear, vertical cog.
This teeth go into the the worm gear spins around that way the teeth lock into it.
And then just turns it up and down so it's, pretty simple, sort of a thing have a look inside when you take this off and I'll, take it off in a sec.
When you pull this arm off here have a look inside, just make sure that there's the the teeth on that worm gear and the teeth on here, which I'll show, you are actually all okay, there's, no teeth missing or they're, not ground down too far or it's, not obvious that there's something else wrong.
Another probably another point that'll make everything a little bit easier is you just disconnect this? This goes straight into the splitter up here for the antenna and just disconnect it and get it out of the way, um.
So it makes everything a little bit easier to work with all right bit of a close-up here, um that's, your splitter there, just until unscrew.
It take the end of it there.
You go just unscrew it into that unplug.
It leave it hanging down don't jerk around too much with that because it's, waterproof another good, probably good thing to do while you're up here is just check to make sure that there's, no no obvious gaps around underneath that seal.
Because if that seal goes not enough sealant in there or it's missing or it's fell off or whatever the water will get in there like in your roof.
So it's a good opportunity to have a look.
So anyway, what I'll do so there's? Your there's, your dome, headed nut there.
And on the other side, where the other side comes out, there's, just a circlip on which just pulls off.
So you get it get your spitting around a bit pair of pliers onto it.
And just pull him off don't, lose it for christ's sake.
Um, then all you have to do is just make sure you hold this thing, uh, while you remove that bolt through here and um, and then the whole thing will just come out and I'll show you what it looks like all right now that it's off this thing will spin around freely we'll, put a bit of light into there and you'll see the see little worm gear inside there that just spins around.
So just check it I'll, go sideways a bit there.
You go get a better idea what it looks like that just spins around, um just have a look at the teeth.
So the teeth on that are pretty good.
Um it's would have worn a little bit, um, but they're, actually, you know, it's all fairly even there's, no chunks out of it it's spinning quite freely.
And then at the end of the the antenna arm is the corresponding gear that meshes into that.
And this as this one spins, this one just climbs up tilts the thing up like it's, a pretty pretty sh*tty system really.
But this is a relic of what used to be the old bladed wine guard where it had two, they actually had two of these bars and one in the bottom one in the top.
So it was a lot sturdier.
And when it tilted up it flattened out at the top, because it had two bars and then what they've they've just done is they've taken the bottom bar off left.
This thing here exactly the same as it was and uh and thrown the bottom part of the sheet house.
And now they're just relying on one single, one single bar at the top.
What I've done, you might pick up you don't, have you won't have this thing on the bottom here? Um, because what I've done when this thing sits in there at that level, you'll, notice that that's a bit able to tell but you'll, notice that the this v section this v section here, which is supposed to hold, um, stop it from spinning.
So when it sits in here, it won't spin sideways.
So it gives it a bit of support.
All of that support is now missing because they've taken that bottom bar off.
So the whole thing now sits up here above it, which is just mind-numbingly stupid.
So all I've done is just got a piece.
I think 25 mil channel and beveled it off and just pop riveted into the bottom of that.
So that that little piece there now sits into this receiver at the bottom here and stops this aerial from dancing around on the roof, takes all of the pressure off the internals because without that in there, this thing only thing is stopping this aerial from spinning around on the roof of those little plastic teeth on the winder down down below anyway.
So this has borne out a little bit here.
And this corresponding section on here is also worn out.
So all I've done is, um there.
You go probably see a bit better there.
So all I've done is all right.
So all I've done is uh grabbed a piece of this plastic, which is, I don't know, something a torch or something like that's come in it, or I often use pieces of milk carton.
They make fantastic shims and co*ke cans or pepsi cans with a drink of choice, or beer cans or whatever make the best shims for anything, but I don't have any cans here.
So this is not going to work it's going to it works, but it's, not going to work forever, because I've had to use plastic in this case, whereas I would prefer to use the the aluminium, which makes a better shim.
But anyway, so what we're doing is we're getting the the pin and um and basically just wrapping the plastic around working out roughly where it's.
So it fits in snugly cutting it wrapping that around and shoving it in that hole and that's pretty much it.
And all it's doing is that because it's flogged this hole out here so it's a bit bigger than what it should be.
So what we're doing is just sleeving it with a piece of plastic, um.
And if need be, um, I would be prepared, uh to put a drill through here and uh and make it.
If I could couldn't get milk carton, wherever the hell I've put that if I can't get put the milk use, the milk carton, which makes fantastic shims, just a piece of a place, that's, really thin, uh, or the co*ke can and it's, not quite the hole's, not quite big enough to use the milk carton as a shim.
Then I'd be quite happy to draw that out and make it a little bit bigger.
So it will take that.
So what we probably need to do and we'll, probably do it down the track I'm, not going to do it.
Now is shim that as well that little hole there and bloody camera keeps turning off, um line it up in there.
So it's, nice and snug so it's, sitting in there quite nicely, prop it up so it's in the right spot.
And then all you have to do is push the sleeve all the way through from one side through to the other, if you're going to use you're going to drill this one out here, you'd have to drill that one out as well so it's the same size, and then put it back together run the put the the bolt back through and um, and it will snug it up and uh.
So this is heaps better than it was it's, not perfect, because I also need to shim that one which I haven't done, but I'll do that down the track, um, but just trimming that one with the piece of this piece of sh*tty plastic.
I just took out of the bin actually that firms it all up and um, smash me and uh and yeah, and it doesn't bounce anymore, um.
And now the princess will be quite happy while it's off give it a little bit of lubrication.
Um, I've got a bit of, uh, dry, ptfe, um, anti-friction, lubricant.
So it won't pick up it's only a can from bunnings.
I use it at the factory for machinery and stuff.
So I've got heaps of it lying around, it won't, attract dust, uh, it won't hold dust and it dries off and uh, but it's.
It stays lubricates, and it stays so stick a bit on this spray it a bit on the worm gear and give it a bit of a blast on the sides here and and you'll be amazed at how much easier.
It will wind up and down it'll stop the bouncing.
If you do it with the coat can maybe drill it out a little tiny bit if you need to, I wouldn't be taking too much off it, maybe a mill and uh and you'll find that it'll be it'll work like new anyway, I'll work it back together and uh and we're done.
I think all right we're, finished everything's back together, we're going to have a look at that and just reseal around this edge.
Here there's nothing much there.
So whatever I put there will be better than what's here.
Now so you'll see here, hopefully that piece of aluminium that's been pop riveted to the bottom of the thing there you can see where the other one would have come out along underneath it and that's.
What would that's? What sits in that locator? Whereas that locator is missing.
So there is nothing to stop that from rocking from side to side and coming all the way over to this point here.
And and all the way over to the other side and given the amount of bounce that these things can generate popping over the top of that thing.
So it's putting all of the locating and holding storage pressure on the plastic ring that's in the roof, downstairs underneath.
But anyway.
So we've finished the job put it all back together, put the handle back on underneath and uh, I wound it up and down a couple of times as far as a bit of lubrication goes just whack a bit down there like a pick on there, a bit down the side here bit down that side.
I've probably done it.
But anyway, you can't have too much lube and uh.
So they say and yeah, so, and so I wound it up and down a couple of times and there's, no bounce in that thing whatsoever.
Whereas before it was freaking horrendous so that's done another thing that I put a house door, stopper thing underneath it to sit this thing here where it sits on the roof, because where it sits on the roof, where there's nothing under here, there's, no rafter or anything under that section of the roof and there's a rafter here.
So that's, actually sitting on the solid piece of the roof there, whereas there before it would just bounce up and then creates more bounce that I don't need so I'm more than happy for that to be located and it'll be a little bit stronger and um, last a bit longer, the corrugations and stuff that we've done in the van it's done really well and everything that we've done to it and the mods that we've done to it have held up pretty well.
And this is just one of them right back back inside the van.
We've put the handle back on here and located.
So these little pins up the top here, that's what's, actually holding that thing stable on the roof stopping it from swaying from side to side without that second bar on.
So in my opinion, it needs that little block that we've put on when you're putting this thing back on again for christ's sake, don't do that thing up too tightly.
This thing is plastic, and that is screwed into a plastic thread.
And if you screw it on too tight I'm, telling you now, you will snap it in half in a nanosecond.
So you just be real careful with that.
You only need a tiny bit of tension on that grub, screw to hold that thing in you're better off the grub.
Screw is not going to come out it's, not going to vibrate out if it's loose you're better off getting to your caravan park or your travel destination.
And finding these two things on the floor, um and just put them back on rather than bust.
The bastards now and and then have to go and buy new ones because they're, you know, this this piece of plastic junk here is probably 30 bucks or whatever.
And I wouldn't be surprised if you have to buy it as a kid anyway.
So be a little bit careful with that.
But anyway, all works like a dream there's, no bouncing.
So we wind her up lines up, very very smoothly probably should have done this job months ago and winding it down.
There is no bounce whatsoever in that seam up the top there see beforehand it was bouncing it.
Bounced like bloody owl.
But now so there's, no, bouncing it whatsoever.
Good as gold.
Another good job done.
Another one, you can have a crack at uru.
