When we arrived in Florida last week, we got settled in to our site at the RV resort, and powered on the Winegard satellite antenna. After a few seconds an error code EL Motor Home Fail came on the screen of the control box. A quick search found other posts regarding this error code, and one of them had a step by step instruction to stow the dish. (this was originally a DirecTV dish, converted to a DISH Network with Winegard's kit about 3 or 4 years ago). I went through the stowing process and the dish stowed, and shut off. A few days later, unhappy with OTA entertainment, I tried to raise it again. Again, the same error message; EL Motor Home Fail. I called Winegard tech support, and they walked me through another series of steps to try to get it to search, all in vain. A new error code appeared. EL Motor Stall. The tech person said that code indicates the motor is shot. It is a real old model, and they no longer have parts, so it can't be repaired. I believe its about 10 years old. When it was in EL Motor Stall, the dish was not in the position needed to use the protocol to stow when in EL Motor Home Fail, so the tech said I needed to go on the roof, remove the black plug from the rear, and then using a socket wrench with a 5/16 socket attached to a minimum 5" extension, insert the socket wrench in the hole that was covered by the black plug and turn it counter-clockwise. That allowed me to turn the dish until it was in what Winegard calls "Hard Stop". They didn't tell me this, but when I got it in that position, the EL Motor Home Fail procedure worked to stow the dish.
Since its an electric motor, I assume it has brushes and an armature. Do you think an electric engine repair shop will be able to repair it?
The only other alternative is a whole new set up per Winegard.
