How to Test Satellite Servo Motors

Servo motors are used in automated appliances, such as the boom of a satellite dish on your home roof. These motors are typically referred to as closed looped motors because they give a feedback control signal to the rest of the system. If you are having problems with your servo motor, there are a few things you can try before you send it out for servicing. You don’t have to be a mechanic to fix your servo motor. You can do it yourself with little hassle.

Megaohm meter
Wire cutters
Soldering iron

Instructions

- 1
  Turn off the satellite dish’s power by unplugging it or turning off the breaker.
- 2
  Use a megaohm meter to test the T1, T2 and T3 lines on the motor. Put the positive lead from the meter to the T1 lead, then place the negative lead to the ground wire. The ground wire is the green wire. Make sure that the meter is reading between 600 megaohms to 2,000 megaohms. If the reading is “0” then you have a short.
- 3
  Look over the cable if you do have a short to the motor. Look for burns or frays to the wire. Use a wire cutter to cut out the short. Use a soldering iron to replace the short or fray.
- 4
  Check the connection pins on the motor to make sure that they are not touching. If the connection pins are touching, the motor will short. Separate the pins so they are not touching.
- 5
  Use the megaohm meter to test the resistance on the connection pins. If you are getting a reading under 20 megaohms, you need to replace one of the cables to the motors.

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