Hatch Lift Motor
 

Anyone know where I can get a replacement engine hatch life motor? Mine is running really slow, slower than last year.

If you have a local automotive electric co., take it to them and they can rebuild the one you have. Much cheaper, too.

First you might want to try putting in a relay box.With the lower current loss it may make a BIG difference.I know it did on my 36.Hatch goes up 3X faster.....
Steve

STeve, where do you wire in the relay box? Mine goes up really slow, if it goes up at all.

rough pic how to rig a 4 relay system for motor reversing. (standard automotive relays available at walmart)

At the switch disconnect the DPDT switch and ony use one side (SPDT).

bigger pic

O.K. I'm an electronic idiot I guess. That diagram means very little to me. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :crazy:

Michigan fan?

Just kidding:

look at the back of your switch, you will have 6 terminals (3 to either side). There will be a wire connecting the upper left to the bottom right and another connecting upper right to lower left. Disconnect these two wires.

Disconnect the ground wire.

Connect the Up wire on the upper side with the hot wire in the center. Connect the down wire to the lower terminal same side.

on the solenoids ground one side of all four coils. connect the up wire to one solenoid coil and bridge to the one next to it. Do the same for the other two solenoids for the down wire.

Connect ground to one of the main terminals on the up side and bridge to one of the down side.

Connect 12v to the remainging solenoid main terminals on the up side and bridge to one of the down side.

All four solenoids should have one main terminal left unused

Connect the motor each of the motor wires as shown on the up side...bridge to the opposite down side.

CLEAR AS MUD.

Mike,
Here's a pic (I hope) of the relay box I installed.Got mine from Eddie Marine.

Can I re-use the hatch switch that I have now with the relay block from Eddie Marine? If so, do I just disconnect the power feed to the switch, and disconnect the wires the connect the down to the up and up to the down?

Thanks
Allen

Allen,
You still can use the original switch,just disconnect the hot lead going to it.For covenience I added a second switch in the back seat area,now I can raise or lower from dash or rear seat...If you're lucky,you will have enough slack in the wires coming from switch to actuator,to just cut them and add terminals.Then run a hot and a ground to relay box...
Steve

Re: Hatch Lift Motor
 

Speaking of hatch motors, I took mine out and opened it up. It's been awhile since I did any DC motor repair, but what I found puzzles me.
My entire motor was filled with grease...packed in grease. almost like a wheel bearing. i would think this would affect the brushes or dc-motor principles.
I have cleaned all of it out, but wonder if I should repack or leave alone. Has anyone attempted a rebuild or know if packing a DC motor with grease is normal?

thanx.

Re: Hatch Lift Motor
 

I've found the power wiring to the dash, stereo, etc is undersized from the factory. Add to this connections becoming loose and corroded and electical problems start occurring. Check and clean all your connections and if that doesn't work install bigger gauge wire for power and ground. Good luck!!

Re: Hatch Lift Motor
 

Here is the wiring diagram I used, works perfect !

Re: Hatch Lift Motor
 

What Steve says about the relay box is correct.

I lost one them replaced it using the relay box and it made a big difference.

The only problem is that now I burn up the relay boxes. I replaced it twice.

At the Miami boat show I fell in love with the hydraulic cylinders they were using in the upscale boats.

Funny, but I just spoke to Fred at Trick Marine about this last Thursday and he said he could provide me with the complete hydraulic setup and would have a price Monday (tomorrow).

They are not cheap, but they are the best mouse trap in my opinion!

Give fred a call if you are interested.

Re: Hatch Lift Motor
 

Dock Holiday, are you talking about the dana hydraulics that attach to the gunwales? If so let us know how much as they are close to a grand in the latest powerboat mag. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Re: Hatch Lift Motor
 

Garshev,

I know what you are talking about. Those are very nice, I like the way they work, but are too hard to install and set up in my opinion.

What I referring to is simply replacing your electric screw jack with a hydraulic cylinder, like I pictured above.

They are smooth and fast. You do have to add an additional pump however.

Doc

Re: Hatch Lift Motor
 

The company I work for services BIG dc motors. We service motors up to 10,000 horsepower. Typically these motors come from steel mills, power plants and coal mines. I can tell you that I have never seen a large dc motor packed with grease intentionally. I would have to believe it would have an affect on the brush life and commutation both. I'm not sure with 12 vdc motors though.
Now I'm curious about what my hatch lift motor looks like inside...

Re: Hatch Lift Motor
 

DayTripper, I guess it's the DIY'er in me who needs to tear things apart in hopes of repairing...and with no extra parts.

But this should have been a straight-forward repair. The grease thing has me not putting the lift in until I know one way or the other. I've tried contacting Acculift and the parent company but so far I can only post a message. I'm trying Baja as well.

From what I can tell, the motor parts are in good shape with little wear. I assume the grease may have been slowing the lift down since the armature had to spin in grease and not freely.
...or it could be this was covered in college and I skipped that day

Thanx again. I'm curioius to hear what you found.

Re: Hatch Lift Motor
 

I dont know how old your boat is but I found 2 problems with the hatch motor on my BAJA.The first was the weight of a saturated piece of plywood under the upolstry and the second was the grounding of the system under the dash