Antenna Problem

[twb-dbb]

Hello,

My Hirschmann antenna just suddenly quit. No noise or grinding from the antenna - just nothing. Now it is in the down position and had been working great (I lube the mast often).. Fuse is good under the hood and trunk light works so power is in the area.

I am missing something? Another in-line fuse or relay or something? Been reviewing the great posts here but haven't seen anything yet on this failure mode. Any pointers would be appreciated before I start tearing everything up in the trunk.

Thanks!

Tom
92 500E

 

[gsxr]

If all the wiring to the antenna has the expected voltages... the circuit board inside the antenna may have died. I've encountered several of these over the years. I don't know a way to test or confirm other than taking it apart and swapping out the board with a different, known-good circuit board. The unit can be bench-tested outside the car. If the mast, motor, etc are all good it's likely the new circuit board will resurrect it.

On a side note, complete new antenna assemblies appear to be NLA via aftermarket sources, and I'm not even sure if they are available as refurbs from either MB or Becker.

 

[Sean L.]

OK, I am an idiot. I recently purchased Cabrio Steve's 1993 500e, which I sold to him in 2012. I turned on the radio and then went through a car wash. I bent the antenna and ruined it at the base. It basically snapped off and I pulled the white wire out.

Does anyone know what the latest options are? I do not believe this one to be fixable? Is there a fixed antenna option? Thanks in advance.

-Sean

 

[gerryvz]

You should just be able to remove the white plastic toothed cable and buy another antenna mast. It inserts easy and automatically.



Do some searching for antennas and antenna mast and you should find plenty of information.

I know there is also a HOW-TO on refirbushing/lubricating an antenna.

 

[nocfn]

I bought one not long ago, and just did a spare in the last two weeks. AntennaMastRUs for the gears Amazon and power antenna w124 is your search.

 

[gsxr]

Sean, as Gerry stated above... if only the mast is broken, you should be able to replace it. Search the forum (and interwebs) for instructions on mast replacement. It's unlikely the carwash damaged any internal parts/gears.

 

[Sean L.]

Thanks gents!

 

[gerryvz]

HOW-TO: Rebuilding / Refurbishing a Hirschmann Antenna | "HOW-TO" Tutorial Articles

Recently, I volunteered to provide one of the 500Eboard forum members with a used Hirschmann antenna for his car. I did not want to sell him a non-working antenna, so I took one of my parts antennas as a spare and then refurbished the primary antenna for him. Basically this entailed opening up...

www.500eboard.co

Hirschmann Antenna Rebuild and Control Change

www.benzworld.org

 

[geraniumtr]

Folks, I recently stumbled upon this site which appears to be the official Hirschmann catalog for car antennas and masts. Might be helpful. Maybe you guys are already aware of it. Google Layout 1 Kopie then go to layout 1 Kopie-Yumpu.

Regards,

Peter Weissman

 

[Ntrepid]

Layout 1 Kopie

Layout 1 Kopie

www.yumpu.com

 

[gerryvz]

I have downloaded the catalog and attached it as a PDF file, for future reference.

 

[gsxr]

Thanks, Peter! I'll add that to my website. Bummer that most all the 124 Hirschmann stuff is NLA now.

 

[Sean L.]

Thanks for the help. I ordered up a replacement mast, fed it into the power unit, and it worked out well. I found the mast on Amazon. It was cheap. I ordered an extra and a a conversion kit for a short fixed mast. Both as a spare.