Winegard Travler 3005 Problems

[ktnhog]

Is anyone else having problems with their Winegard Travler 3005?

I had mine professionally installed at the time of the RV purchase from Lichtsinn in Oct of 2010.

It worked well for about 3-4 months and then failed. I worked with Winegard and they ended up sending me another one to install myself as there is no one else to do it here.

That one worked for about a month. They sent me another to self install. Did I mention they are heavy to get up on the roof by yourself?

That one worked for a week... So I have to call them in the morning and see what is up.

This is getting tedious, I have to wait for a dry day to install the antenna.

I used to have a manual dish on my previous Winne. That was a little bit of a pain to find the satellite, but at least it worked, and I didn't have to go up on the roof and crank it down by hand...

Dan

[SCVJeff]

What does "failed" mean, and is each "failure" the same as the last?

I installed mine several years ago and its worked flawlessly. I have to say that this is the 1st I have heard of any 3005 "failures". Can't even recall minor problems other than the rubber feed foot sticking to the reflector on mine.

[nkwazi]

Have had mine for over two years now and take many short trips. It is used constantly and has had no problems.
Notice you are in Alaska. Not sure if this is the problem but read somewhere that the pinch point needs to be shimmed so the dish can point lower to get the signals.

[ktnhog]

It is good to see no one else is having issues, gives me hope for the next unit!

The failures are usually EL home motor failures. The tech says I must be unlucky on the first three. I am in the works of getting another replacement. Tech support has been good, and I am getting quicker at changing them out.

When a unit works, it works well finding the satellites, even this far north.

[ktnhog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ktnhog It is good to see no one else is having issues, gives me hope for the next unit! The failures are usually EL home motor failures. The tech says I must be unlucky on the first three. I am in the works of getting another replacement. Tech support has been good, and I am getting quicker at changing them out. When a unit works, it works well finding the satellites, even this far north.

I should say EL motor failures, I went through the EL Home part. There have been other warnings on the control unit as well...

[JCM]

A friend of mine couldn't lower his unit and it kept coming up with EL errors. I hand cranked it down - what a job. The dealer found that the elevation motor gears were rusted together.
It was replaced and the new unit had a plastic shield and was well sealed after installation.
It seems that the older units are susceptable to corrosion problems.
Maybe this will help.

[Dave and Jaime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ktnhog It is good to see no one else is having issues, gives me hope for the next unit! The failures are usually EL home motor failures. The tech says I must be unlucky on the first three. I am in the works of getting another replacement. Tech support has been good, and I am getting quicker at changing them out. When a unit works, it works well finding the satellites, even this far north.

Given the generally low failure rate for quality electronics, 3 failures is likely more than just bad luck. I would guess that a bad initial install, particularly in the electrical hookup, is somehow contributing to these failures (or your coach is being subjected to electrical surges, etc.) Have a professional (not the guy you did it originally) verify the install wiring and mounting with the next unit. Something is definitely not right and it is highly unlikely you are repeatedly getting bad units from Wingard. Good to know they stand behind the product but I suspect they, too, will soon conclude that it has something to do with installation or misuse, not a bad product off the line and may stop replacing them for free.

[ktnhog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave and Jaime Given the generally low failure rate for quality electronics, 3 failures is likely more than just bad luck. I would guess that a bad initial install, particularly in the electrical hookup, is somehow contributing to these failures (or your coach is being subjected to electrical surges, etc.) Have a professional (not the guy you did it originally) verify the install wiring and mounting with the next unit. Something is definitely not right and it is highly unlikely you are repeatedly getting bad units from Wingard. Good to know they stand behind the product but I suspect they, too, will soon conclude that it has something to do with installation or misuse, not a bad product off the line and may stop replacing them for free.

I have been looking for something that may be the culprit, but have not figured it out yet. Everything is changed out so far, except for the base plate, which wouldn't have any bearing, and the wiring cable coming from the control box. The tech says that wouldn't be an issue if the box is communicating with the satellite unit.

I did get the clear plastic shield referred to and installed it last time I was up there.

Still working the issue out, there must be an answer...

[winegard]

If you haven't done so yet, please give our tech-service a call at 800-288-8094. Our techs will be happy to speak to someone with actual product issues. They spent most days troubleshooting receivers.

[SCVJeff]

I just read this again... Maybe the reason that you ARE that far north has some bearing on the fact that these are always EL failures? As mentioned about the shim, there was someone awhile back posted that the antenna just didn't want to work on the horizon, so he shimmer it with a Nickel and problem went away.

Dunno, but it's curious that you're probably working on the extreme edge of the antennas search pattern, and these are all EL failures...

[Bill Adams]

Even if the location was causing search failures, it should not be causing the EL Home errors. Something is screwy. Hopefully, you have changed out the power supply as well as the other elements.

[SCVJeff]

Agreed, but ya gotta wonder.... I was thinking more along the line that it's doing a search in essentially a stow position where the load (weight) of the dish on that side of the gear box is usually not seen except as a continuous motion on the way to full stowed and resting on the roof, as opposed to taxing the gearbox with minute up and down movements, and max torque on the gear box each trim command. Usually the load would be much better balanced down south.

Or not...

[Bill Adams]

Yeah, I understood. However, the Winegard uses a worm drive on the elevation so there is no more strain on the motor, once the arm is raised from the roof, if the antenna is searching high or low. It's a very unusual situation and I hope the poster will follow up with Winegard Tech. support and report back with the results.

[bkphotog]

Hi guys

Well I am another owner of a Travler 3005 and have just experienced a failure of the LNB unit. I have had this unit since late 2008 and up until now it has worked flawlessly. My MH and the system has been in storage for several months and has not been activated. The problem has been identified as the LNB is not working properly in receiving the sat signals. I have had DTV out to check the system but they will not deal with the antenna. In the mean time I have had to order and pay for a new LNB part from Winegard. I just received the part late yesterday and have not had the time yet to replace it on top of the MH. Needless to say I am a bit disappointed with this issue. I hope replacing the LNB corrects the problem. If not I just might pull the plug on DTV and Winegard.

Bill