How to Rotate Mounting Holes of Mini Actuators

In some electric actuator installations, the position of the motor housing, cable exit, or mounting holes can affect how easily the actuator fits into a project. This is especially common in compact assemblies where side-mounted motors or cables may interfere with surrounding frames, brackets, or enclosure walls. If your project requires a stock actuator and you are comfortable making this adjustment yourself, this step-by-step guide explains how to rotate the mounting holes on our select models. Please note that rotating the actuator mounting holes may affect its ingress protection rating and should only be done when environmental sealing is not critical to the application.

-Actuators

-Vice

-Phillips screwdriver

Front Mounting Hole

The standard procedure generally used for rotating the front mounting holes of most of our actuators can be followed for the following models of micro actuators:

1. PA-01
2. PA-09
3. PA-10
4. PA-14

The models PA-01, PA-09, and PA-10 have no method available for rotating the rear mounting holes.

Using a piece of leather or something similar to protect the shaft housing from the vice plates, clamp the shaft housing with just enough pressure to prevent it from slipping during the following steps.

Place a screwdriver into the stroke mounting hole.

Rotate the screwdriver counterclockwise to the 90° position. If this is the first-time rotating the mounting hole, some extra torque may be required.

Warning: Do not rotate mounting holes counterclockwise more than 1 turn.

Remove the screwdriver, and your stroke mounting hole rotation is complete.

To have the rear mounting holes rotated for either the PA-14 or PA-14P, a separate base cover piece with the mounting hole rotated will be required. We offer the PRT-14-8B, which has the mounting point rotated 90°.

Completely remove the three base cover screws and washers by rotating them counterclockwise using a Phillips screwdriver.

Remove the old base cover by pulling it in the direction away from the rest of the actuator’s body.

Place the new replacement base cover into position and secure it with the three base cover screws and washers below by rotating them clockwise using a Phillips screwdriver. Rotation complete.

To summarize, many actuators may need their mounting holes rotated for certain installation conditions and space requirements. By using a few tools and spending some time to follow our step-by-step guides, you too can rotate the mounting holes of an actuator to the required positions.

If you required further assistance or had more questions on how to rotate actuator mounting holes, you may call us at 1-800-676-6123 or email us at sales@progressiveautomations.com.