New latitude adjustment bolts

[Mr Flibble]

Hi,

I've been wondering why the latitude adjustment on my CG5 mount never seemed to work correctly - the one adjustment bolt is very stiff and could only turn one complete revolution.

To cut a long story short I've discovered that the longer bolt is bent which is the reason why it would only allow such little movement - I had to use pliars to get enough force to unscrew it and remove it from the mount.

Does anyone know a source for ordering a new pair of latitude bolts? As Celestron are based in the US I would like to try a UK source first. I'm also assuming bolts for the EQ5 mount would be suitable because they are more or less the same mount?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

[Stephen]

Telescope Mounts @ Modern Astronomy

[m.tweedy]

Upgrade Kits - Mount Upgrades -Astrodevelopments

[chemtom24]

unbeleivable how much they want for them! do you realise how cheap a couple of bolts are? can easily attach somethign to make it easier to grip and turn.

25 quid.. *--* me silly

[m.tweedy]

it's all relative i suppose. I got them for my NEQ6 pro and felt they did a good job and after spending so much on the mount and scope felt they were a worthwhile investment. Have you seen the threads about the bent bolts:eek:

[Stephen]

unbeleivable how much they want for them! do you realise how cheap a couple of bolts are? can easily attach somethign to make it easier to grip and turn.

25 quid.. *--* me silly

You could put a couple of bolts in yes, but are you sure they aren't going to strip the threads?

IMHO, I'm happy paying what's less than the cost of a night out for something I know is going to work, and protect my rather expensive investment

[Photosbykev]

The astro development adjusters have a ratchet built into the handle which makes life very simple and, imo, well worth the cost.

[Mr Flibble]

Hey thanks for the info everyone. I thought this bent bolt was due to some sort of fault with my mount or maybe that the previous user of my mount was a bit careless but judging by some other SGL threads that I've found this evening it seems to be quite a common occurence.

I must say those bolts at Modern Astronomy and Astro Developments look good but they're very pricey. They state that the bolts are hardened which I'm thinking may be worth the investment if it means no more bending in the future. On the other hand I could use the info in the other thread and DIY it and make a pair for a far lower cost but would they just be susceptible to bending like the originals?

[Neil McRae]

I agree with Chemtom £25 is rediculous for a pair of bolts.

This is just a rip off. I'm sure you can go to an engineering firm and get replacements that will cost no more than £5 at the most.

Next time I am out near an engineering firm nearby I will go in with my eq5 bolts and see what replacements cost and will post the results.

Neil

[martin_h]

I got mine from stainlessbolts items - Get great deals on items on eBay.co.uk Shops!here

[Nexus 6]

Hi martin thats more like it, I need a replacement for a Vixen Gp mount as it happens but for £25.00!

Thanks for the link

[Geno]

it's all relative i suppose. I got them for my NEQ6 pro and felt they did a good job and after spending so much on the mount and scope felt they were a worthwhile investment. Have you seen the threads about the bent bolts:eek:

As said above, it is relative. I bought the replacement bolts from MA soon after ordering my NEQ6. When you are paying over 900 GBP or 1300 euros in my case then 25 pound is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

[glowjet]

Make your own, 8mm for the HEQ5 and 10mm for the HEQ6 I believe, use stainless steel studding available from Ebay shops as already given by Martin_h you can buy Knobs of your choice from such as Trend Routers who sell them for jig making, just epoxy them onto the end of your cut length of thread

[Dave Smith]

The astro development adjusters have a ratchet built into the handle which makes life very simple and, imo, well worth the cost.

Thanks for mentioning this, I have these but didn't realise that one had the ratchet built into the handle and so mounted mine the other way round to avoid the lever hitting the polar alignment scope cover.

That is now corrected

Dave

[Lorne]

Made a set for my EQ6 out of stainless M10 rod, cut to adjust from 50 - 60 degrees latitude.

[steelfixer]

As an engineer if i can add my tuppence worth into the mix.

The most probable cause for these bolts bending is too many wheetabix.

As the plate the bolts push against is turning in a rotary direction the bolts do not meet square on to it. Therefore if you do them up to tight they will try to follow the angle of the plate and bend.

Simple solution less force = straight bolts.

You would be amazed how much torque the human hand can achieve.

These bolts only need to be 'felt' up tight.

It might also be prudent to slacken off the mount securing bolt before you try to adjust the latitude for exactly the same reason.

[Neil McRae]

As promised I went to a local shop and found two M8 eye bolts costing £1.50 for the pair which I will cut to length. Having the "eyes" they are easy to turn so as I said before £25 is a rip off. Come on folks don't give in to these places who get the items at cost price and then flog them to us at huge mark ups. :hello2:

Neil

[Photosbykev]

I think you should take a look at what you get from Astro developments etc before jumping on them too hard. It is not just a bolt with a handle glued on, the handle has a ratchet in it which makes life much simpler when adjusting the latitude and the end of the HT steel thread has been machine profiled.

The M8 eye bolts are likely to be made from monkey metal so will bend just as easily as the original bolts and you will need to profile the end of the thread to a smooth polished radius.

[Neil McRae]

Kev

Everyone to his own. If these bolts have to be HT steel then surely the threads in the mount would be likewise and the manufacturers would have fitted these considering the cost of the mounts. Is the ratchet made of "metal" or plastic ?

I think steelfixer hit the nail on the head (pardon the pun) when he said we the users are puting too much torque on the bolts when adjusting.

Filing the end once it is cut to length will give the round profile you talk about.

I merely wanted to point out that to charge £25 is in MY opinion a rip off.

Neil

[Psychobilly]

The ratchet bolts are available from loads of places including RS and Farnell if yuou only want a few... They aint cheap but very handy used them on a few products...

Never used the larger ones tholugh.. need to design something with them on it to get some...

I used Normal Stainless steel bolts which I shortened and profiled adjustign the length to cover UK mainland latitudes plus the addition of a lock nut and flat washer.. adjust them with a ratchet spanner...

It would be dead easy to wreck the thread in the casting tryign to save a few quid...

The mounts are often "tight" at UK latitudes so that problem should be sorted first... also peopel try and jack up out of balance "loads" with them which the bolts arent designed to do...

Peter...

[chemtom24]

As promised I went to a local shop and found two M8 eye bolts costing £1.50 for the pair which I will cut to length. Having the "eyes" they are easy to turn so as I said before £25 is a rip off. Come on folks don't give in to these places who get the items at cost price and then flog them to us at huge mark ups. :hello2:

Neil

exactly - just because they are for astonomy use does not automatically mean they can mark-up the price because of an assumed value. just goes to show how foolsh some people are tho, but it annoys me because it preys on peoples ignorance.

[Photosbykev]

The fault is down the design of the angled ramp in the main housing, it just isn't suitable for the UK latitudes but we are very much in the minority when it comes to sales lol.

I don't think there is a problem with stripping the thread in the housing the bolts will bend before that happens.

I do agree people do tend to bend them when they are trying to adjust the mount with it fully loaded BUT it is called an adjustment bolt so should be fit for purpose and I don't recall any warning in the manual about it.

As others have mentioned each to their own.

[Neil McRae]

Kev

Thinking about it a bit more I believe if folk do use HT steel bolts they stand a chance of stripping the threads in the mount if they overtighten the bolts. Although on a different subject I remember a garage puting spark plugs into an alloy head using an airgun and stripped the threads in the alloy head which cost a fair amount of money to rectify. Maybe it is better to have to replace the bent bolts rather than the mount head.

Neil

[Moonshane]

I don't have the mount but I bet for £25 you could get an engineer to insert some stainless steel threaded inserts into the mount and then use stainless bolts to prevent problems either way. this would cover all possible problems.

I agree that the adjustment bolt label will cause problems but of course it's the mount you are adjusting not the fully loaded mount. I bet there are only rare (if any) cases of bent bolts where the adjustment has been done unloaded?

[Photosbykev]

Kev

Thinking about it a bit more I believe if folk do use HT steel bolts they stand a chance of stripping the threads in the mount if they overtighten the bolts. Although on a different subject I remember a garage puting spark plugs into an alloy head using an airgun and stripped the threads in the alloy head which cost a fair amount of money to rectify. Maybe it is better to have to replace the bent bolts rather than the mount head.

Neil

Even mild steel bolts will strip the thread in the aluminium casting if the load is purely axial, the problem is the non axial load bending the bolt when it get loaded up. With reasonable TLC even the standard bolts are ok, even if the toggle lever is a bit naff.

If the bolt bends it is a bitch to remove so it's better if it doesn't bend. The spark plugs in an ally head was always fun but the failure there was overtorquing the thread not bending it