Larry Jaques wrote in
:

On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:59:49 GMT, the infamous Doug White
scrawled the following:

My shooting club has motorized target carriers on the indoor range.
They use "Maxitorq" gear motors, and one isn't working. The motor
shaft spins, but the output shaft doesn't. It doesn't make any
excess noise like grinding of gears or anything. These have been in
place since at least 1970, and they have been so realible that I
don't know if anyone is around who knows much about them.
snip
I'll bet it's a shear pin that let loose. And in a public setting,
it has probably been in service like that for long enough that the
broken nubs are worn down and it doesn't make noise any more.

I think this was a fairly abrupt failure. It was fine one week, and
when I came in to practice several days later, it had a sign on it.
We frequently have the range to ourselves on Saturday nights, and the
motor was dead quiet, spining merrily.

So, potentially, it could have been running for days if they're on a
gang circuit. YMMV.

Nope. Each position has a spring-return switch & a motor. It only runs
for 30 seconds or so each time the target gets run back or forth. You
have to hold the switch on.

There's likely an inspection or access plate on the geared end so
you'll probably be able to work on it live. Just make sure to tape
the switch down so nobody accidentally causes you to be one of the
targets moving along the line, Doug.

I'll have to get up there with a ladder & take a closer look. H adn't
thought about a shear pin. I don't even know if it's ac or dc. They
are operated with a manual 3-position spring return (on-off-on) toggle
switch to change direction, and the cords are tensioned such that the
pulley slips when you get to each end of travel. I'm assuming it's a
reversable ac motor. It looks a bit like one of these:

http://electricmotorwarehouse.com/Dayton/6Z073.htm

These guys want the same as Grainger, and I can get a discount there.

Don't forget to check Burden Surplus. They have better prices if they
have what you want. www.surpluscenter.com (187 choices today)

I checked out their selection. No joy at the moment. Nothing on eBay
either, but I have asearch in place for the future. I've got a catalog
in the basement from another surplus outfit that might have something.

snip
Once I get more
info off the nameplate, I'll have to see if I can find a manual
someplace.

A repair manual for those would be a sweet find.

No luck in that department. I found that the gear boxes are sealed &
full of oil, so working on it in place is out of the question. I looked
briefly in the back room where a lot of junk is stored & didn't see any
spare motors, but they could be buried in a wide range of places.

Doug White