Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Stren ADF-75D Problem

I have used this feeder for about 9 months. Lately, it will not thow feed. When it cycles, the first motor turns, but the second motor (agitator motor) doesn't start at all. I want to test the voltages from the timer in order to determine if the timer is at fault. It has 4 wires : Green, Red, Black, White. I am assuming the black wire is the ground. During a successful cycle, what should the voltages be for the green, red, and white wire? I am aware that the voltages change depending on which state the active feeder is in (pre-spin, feed, post spin). Any help would be appreciated.

Sarc

The red an black goes to the lower spin motor. The green and white wires are for the inside motor that apperato be givig you a problem. You can test the motors by touching both small red and black to each battery trminal. ALso do this for green and white. Not sure how you can test voltages for the timer???You might want to test battery though.

1. If smaller motor spins when you touch green and white wires then it might be battery. The timer is made to scale back power to small motor to 40% power. If the battery is a little weak it will spin lower motor but not top. So it appears it is mtor but is battery.

2.If motor does not spin at all when touching battery (that is 12 volts) then it is small motor problem and this is under warranty.

3. If it does spin with battery and its fully charged it is a bad timer, under warranty also.

Call 800-847-8269 and they will send you the right parts. Tell them the process you went thru. Sorry you are having trouble but good thing Aquapro feeders have 4 yr warranty.

Greg buddy you just made my day! I have 3 strens and none of them are operational. I had no idea of a 4 year warranty. I was trying to figure out what my next feeders were going to be. Looks like I'll give them a call and get these fixed. Thanks!

-lee-

It looks like Texas Hunter Products has perfected the directional feeder. They say they'll be available for sale sometime in January. The only Stren I ever bought blew a fuse after about 6 feedings and I ended-up sending it back. Looks to me like Texas Hunter has improved the Sweeney design by eliminating that gate and solenoid which would get stuck plus a few other nice features not to mention the price ($539). I ordered the free catalog with all the details and diagrams at TexasHunterProducts.com.

Lee I wish you would have called me. Sorry you had trouble with the feeders. I'm confident they wil make it right.

Great info Greg, as usual. I can test the votages by cycling the timer and using my voltmeter to check the voltages. If I knew what the voltages were supposed to be it would be helpful. I will give it a go tomorrow and let you guys know how it turns out.

Thanks
Sarc

In follow up to my last post
Results of the voltage tests:
Battery: 13.6v
Red/Blk: 13.6v(active)/.18v(resting)
Grn/Wht: 4.3v(active)/.18v(resting)

Does anyone know if this should be sufficient to power the agitator motor?

Sarc

I have three Stren feeders bought from Greg Grimes. They were all bought approx 18-20 months ago. Two of them gave me trouble with motors not firing - one failed followed by the other failing about 5 months later. I did the test with the red/black and green/white wires --neither motor worked.

I spoke with Greg, who suggested I call BA Products. They readily agreed to ship replacement units. The nice thing was the design was MUCH improved with battery and controls inside the hopper. I had experienced critter problems with chewed wires - the internal location of battery and control on the newest design eliminated the critter problem.

The customer service of BA Products is FANTASTIC. While diagnosing my issues one of the techs gave me his home phone number so I could call him on the weekend. They shipped me replacements and only asked that I return the defective units for their quality control analysis.

As far as batteries, I bought an extra battery. I charge it then swap it out with one from my three feeders, and rotate a freshly charged battery is put in each feeder every month or so. I bought the spare battery locally for $25.

I also had problems with both of my feeders. The agitator motors weren't working. The problem was simple. The solar cells had become dirty and weren't recharging the batteries. I cleaned the solar cells and also bought an extra battery. Now, if I have a problem, I just put in a freshly charged battery and clean the solar cells. Service was outstanding!

sarchasm that sounds low on the agitator motor. Call BA and ask them. Is it still not working? Did you test by touching wires directly to battery and what happened?

Sorry I haven't gotten back in a bit. So far this is what I have done. I charged up my battery, but this didn't significantly affect the voltages. Then I briefly connected the agitator motor to the full voltage on the battery without success. I got a spark on connection (so I knew I had a complete circuit to the motor), but it didn't turn the agitator motor. My next step is going to be to empty the feeder and open it up to make sure there is nothing freezing up the motor. I figure there is either something freezing up the motor, or else I have a bad motor. Thanks for all of the help so far... I was hoping I wouldn't have to take it apart... but now I have ruled out everything else.

Sarc

so you also tried out the other motor direclty and it worked?? If so yes you will have to take it apart and it is a pain. Lots of screws. If it is the motor BA will send it right out to you. Good luck and sorry for you troubles. I promise most Stren products have been trouble free.

Greg, sorry I didn't mention it, but I also hooked the other motor directly to the battery and it worked properly.

Sarchasm

My 2 cents regarding the Stren ADF-75D:
Ours has been trouble free 24/7 operation since 09-10-03 with only an occasional battery recharge.
Excellent piece of equipment in my opinion.
I will bet money Stren will solve your problems, with a four year warrranty in effect.

Just wanted to offset any negative publicity.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.

Have a Sweeny feeder . have had a lot of problems with the gate & solenoid getting stuck. you say the Texas Hunter Products has solved this problem and at an attrative price . will look into this . But Sweeney has sent me - a new Gate - solar panel & a new battery [ that was out of warrenty ] . Good service so far and friendy folks . it worked for a few months , but had to change the battery after a few months . the squirrel feeder worked well but the gate did not open , the new solar panel showed high battery but had to replace with a lower wattage battery, then it worked ok , so far but don't know for how long , am charging the sweeny battery to re-install . will call Sweeney to discuss . have not had time as yet due to X-mas season .Harvey

not sure about attractive price for Texas Hunter $539 is more than the large 200D Stren Aquapro @ $500 and the ADF-75D is $370???

Well, I have fixed the problem! When I took apart the feeder I noticed that the white wire had abraided down to the copper. It occurred where the wire harness goes through the hole in the sheet metal floor. This area was covered up by another piece of sheet metal, so I couldn't detect it without disassembly. About a 1" section of the wire harness was abraded with the copper wire of the white wire (ground wire for agitator motor)exposed. Evidently, this wire was creating a short circuit by contacting the sheet metal case. I taped up the wires and reinforced them, reassebled the feeder and it works great. I am not sure what might have caused the wires to abraid as they did. I suspect either: from the vibration of the operation of the feeder or possible the infamous 'critter did it'. I took a few pictures (poor focus unfortunately) if anyone has any interest. By the way... I would like to make it clear that I did not intend the original post to reflect poorly on Stren feeders. I apologize if this occurred. I LOVE my Stren feeder and would definitely purchase another (if I needed on that is). I would also like to add that both Greg Grimes and the tech support at Stren were very polite and helpful.

Sarc

The Pond Boss readers as well as Stren came thru for you which proves we all are good people and you made a wise investment in the right feeder. Perhaps Christmas brings out the best in some people?