Peje

Damn, I was hoping it was too much of a coincidence that this was loose. If it's not slipping, what would have caused the pulley to get jammed on the motor shaft?

You're too quick lol No, haven't tried that. Will give it a whirl but I doubt I'll be able to move it as it only slips under heavy load

Do you mean the idler? EDIT: Oh, do you mean can I turn the dec pulley on the worm shaft? I doubt I'd be able to move it as the slip only happens under big load

Checked belt and it wasn't loose to I pulled out the motor and discovered one grub screw completely loose and the other seemed tight. (Image attached) I removed both screws in an effort to remove the pulley to see underneath but it won't come off. It'll move about 1mm, I put it in the vice (wrapped in kitchen roll) and was able to move it around 10mm but decided not to push my luck so pressed (hard) to get it back on. I'm guessing that this supports the slipping theory as it has probably gouged a lip into the shaft and this is stopping the pulley coming off. Rain has stopped any further work at the mount tonight (I have a small roll off shed), I'm wondering if I should get some locktight onto the screws tomorrow??

Thanks. My slight struggle with doing it on the pier is that its outside so light isnt an readily available but I can figure that out. The guy got back to me, he didn't file a flat into either motor, maybe this is the problem. Did you both file the flat? Pete

Top marks for sorting it out mid-session!! TBH I wasn't sure what was wrong and with me being a bit bullish, I figured it was best to just leave it be. Looking at the options I can see three potential causes: (1) Dec Belt too loose > This should be easy to check without removing the mount from the pier, tighten it a little and see if the problem changes. If the problem gets worse then it points to item (2) or (3). > This could explain the 'hopping', mount moves but belt jumps a tooth, then it moves again, and so on. > This would be the happy path but it feels quite unlikely. (2) 47 Tooth pulley (Worm shaft) grub screws loose > Not much else I can do other than strip the Dec to bits, ensure everything is solid and rebuild. (3) 12 tooth pulley (Dec motor) grub screws loose. > I notice in the guide it say to file a flat on the motor, have asked the guy who modded mine if he did this. > This one could be easier checked that (2) but rebuild involves what I'm told is the hardest part, getting the motor back in with engagement on the belt. Any advice on how best to do this? Thanks again for the great information. Pete

Thanks. The logic in my head right now is that the only places for the 'slip' to occur would be the belt side or the worm mesh side. If the worm mesh adjustment was so far out that it was skipping I think it would be very noticeable, in terms of noise and play in the axis. I think the pulley at the motor would be most likely, I'd just like to figure out the best way to attack it without risking making a mess of it. It looks like there are 3 bolts that need to be removed to take out the dec motor, doesn't seem like a complete nightmare other than how to know if the belt is engaged with the motor without being able to see it

Hmmn... now that's something I hadn't thought of. Is it common for them to be not tightened enough? I guess tightening the belt would probably be the first thing to try as it involves less stripping. I'm now wondering if the motor can be removed (to get at the grub screw) without stripping the rest of the dec assembly to bits? EDIT: Looking through the belt mod instructions, it seems like this should be OK (fiddly, but OK)

As title, I had my NEQ6 Pro belt modded by a friend and initially all seemed well, I had some minor niggles with worm gear mesh adjustment but got over that hurtle after some advice on SGL. What I am now seeing is that the Dec axis sometimes isn't moving, the motor is running fine (no stalled noise) but no movement. I *think* I can provoke this behaviour by unbalancing the mount, even just a little. I first noticed it this evening when I put my dew shield on and the dec wouldn't move, remove the shield and it seemed happy. This is causing me other issues to do with plate solving but I think they will go away once this issue is cured. Something else I do see from time to time is the scope 'hops' as the dec is slewing at full speed, rather than a smooth movement it is quite jerky, there are no unusual sounds when this happens. My current best theory is that the tension on the dec belt is too loose, once the belt is loaded up then it is slipping. Before I start fiddling about I wanted to check if anyone here had any better ideas or had seen this before?? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Pete

Mine ended up being differential flexure. After a while each night it resolved itself. I tightened everything up and it seemed to reduce the issue dramatically. Eventually I moved to a permanent setup which tracks outside temperature so I haven't seen the issue for a long time.

I hadn't considered the temperature, it has been much warmer the last month or so. I wonder if when I previously adjusted for no backlash it was fine because the temp was around 10C cooler.

Took some time this evening to completely slackened the worm mesh and redo from scratch. Left it with a little more backlash that I wanted but it seem to not bind anywhere. Only took it for a quick spin around the sky so will need more testing to be sure.

Thanks. I'm going to have a play with the mesh and see how I get on, I have a feeling that I got binding when fully loaded in numerous mesh positions so this might point at one of the other two factors. Have ordered a little USB endoscope to see if that helps me see belt tension

Thanks, my main concern is how to know how tight the belt is / should be when I have no access to it.

OK, I will forget about the float adjustment for now. Having one thing to adjust is certainly preferable. Something that keeps coming back to me is that it seemed to bind up in different adjustment places, I need to try again and get better data. It would be good if this binding was the float but don't want to go changing too many things at the start. I've also heard people talking about adjusting the tension of the belts but it don't see any reference to this in the rowan guide.

That's the one I'm looking at, it seems to be starting with the cover down at the bottom and working up towards some free play. I'll maybe try that first, head is pretty pickled trying to figure out what way to sort it. You're comment on power is very valid, I'm using a 10a 13.8v block so I should be OK. One bit I wondered about was loosening the worm end float adjuster, mine is tight from when the belt-mod was done. Should this be loosened before adjustment? If yes, will this mess up the spacing between the casing and the belt pulley? I guess it could be that these are too tight and causing the mount to bind

Hi All, I'm aware there are MANY topics on this but I can't quite find what I'm looking for. I recently had someone locally belt-mod my NEQ6, all seemed well until a couple of nights ago I noticed the dec motor binding. I had a play with it tonight & it was a little odd, it seemed to work ok then after a few minutes of rotation it would bind up. I started fiddling with the adjustment but wasn't not getting anywhere with fixing it by minor adjustments, then I got frustrated and went for large adjustments so now I need to start afresh in terms of their adjustment as I have no clue where it's at. Looking at guides it seems the best approach is to start with the casing (and axis) pushed upwards, giving the least engagement possible and gradually work downwards (loosening top screw, tightening lower screw. Does anyone know if this is the correct procedure? At the highest point, should there be any engagement at all? Thanks in advance, Pete

I'm also having this problem, no idea what's wrong. My guiding performance seems pretty good but the images drift slowly

I have to unfollow this topic, as a hardware engineer I'm ashamed to say I just bought the Moonlite version and didn't even try making my own :(

And again!!

For all a couple of bags of sand will cost I suppose it's worth doing. Why would it rot? surely if no water is getting in it'll stay fairly dry, due to the mass it should be fairly resistant to temperature change also..though I'm not sure how helpful this will be

A quick question, did you use the standard center bolt to attach the EQ6? I'd like to not use this (given the huge length) so was wondering what length of bolt I need? I'd like to order it before I take the head off my current tripod as I am sure the second my kit is out of action we shall see an unprecedented number of clear nights and celestial marvels!!

I'd also be interested in knowing if the sand is actually necessary, I just got the Altair 8" pier

Left him a message earlier and haven't heard anything back so I'll just fire him an email directly. Wanted to get some advice from him on some of the different cameras he offers for sale.