My 10+ years old actuator finally choked and I guess it's time to buy a new 36 incher. Mistake I made was letting it sit on the same sat for a length of time and not moving it occasionally. Tried to move it with my GI 4dtv and received the error of east/west limits reached. The GI won't allow me to reset the limits nor do I want to reset the receiver because I will lose all sat maps. Went outside and the arm only clicks loudly and tries to move but goes nowhere. I am guessing the inside rod is stripped.

Good thing is, I had to search garage and found an older similar size actuator and a new v-box mover (never used before). I took the arm off the old actuator and spun the inside rod with a drill and it moved. But, the rod is stripped so it can't be used to replace my current actuator on the dish. At least I now have a spare motor less the arm should I ever need a replacement.

When I get the new actuator, I will be using the v-box instead of the GI 4dtv to move the dish.
Time to go shopping.....