Could I have damaged my mount?

[x6gas]

Hi all,

I left my scope on an imaging run and crawlled off to bed last night. When I got up at 5:30 to pack up I noticed that the scope was fouling the mount and had obviously been sat there for hours merrily crunching away trying, but failing to move the RA axis.

So my question is this: is this likely to have damaged the mount / gears / motors / electronics in any way?

Thank in advance for any opinions, help and advice offered!

Cheers, Ian

[swag72]

I don't think for the one night you will have damaged anything. This often happened to me, until I set up a timer to switch the mount off when it gets past the meridian - Now it never gets stuck.

Just don't make a habit of it and I'm sure everything will be fine.

[x6gas]

Thanks for the reassurance!

I guess I'll find out if it's OK if the sky stays clear tonight.

Cheers, Ian

[brantuk]

If it's still working you may have gotten away without burning the motor out. There will be a little extra wear and tear on it but therwise it ought to be fine. Those motors are quite easy to replace anyway - might eventually cost around £80 if you diy

[dmahon]

No, the clutches will have just slipped.

Even if you tighten up the clutches as hard as possible, you can still move your mount if you shove it hard enough, without turning the motor.

[ollypenrice]

I don't understand the motors used on these mounts but the very competent imager Peter Vasey, an engineer, did explain to me once why it won't do any damage. He was talking about the EQ6 at the time but I dare say they are similar steppers. It isn't something to make a habit of but it has happened to me a couple of times and to many others. I think you can relax.

I'm not sure about pushing past the clutches though. This would certainly not happen on any of the mounts I use. The clutches are very tight. What happens is that the motors go chunk-chunk-chunk but are not like familiar electric motors on which you would just burn out the armature windings with continous current going through.

Olly